German researchers discovered the caffeine connection. They took scalp biopsies from 14 men in the beginning stages of hair loss, extracted hair follicles from the samples and put them in test tubes containing various concentrations of caffeine. After five to eight days, they found that the hairs had grown by 33 and 40 percent. In different test tubes, hair from follicles mixed with testosterone grew much more slowly.

The investigators suggested that caffeine in coffee might prove to be a way to stimulate hair growth in men going bald.  If so, it probably would be applied to the head in a topical solution.

And so, it turns out that a German cosmetics firm named Alpecin has created a caffeine-rich solution that can be rubbed on the scalp.

“Caffeine is a well-known substance, yet little is known about its effect on human hair follicle growth,” said Dr Tobias Fischer, who effectuated the latest research at the University of Jena in Germany.

“But this study shows it’s a promising candidate for hair growth stimulation.”

It’s believed that most baldness is caused when hair follicles, the tiny sacs in the scalp from which hair grows, become exposed to too much dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. DHT is a chemical made by the male hormone testosterone.

If there is too much DHT circulating in the blood the follicles shrink, so the hair becomes thinner and grows for less time than it normally would.

Experts say that men with high levels of testosterone are more likely to lose their hair, especially if baldness runs in their family.

Over-the-counter scalp lotions have been a popular solution to boost hair growth, but these are largely lacking and scientific basis or proof.

Several anti-baldness drugs like Propecia have been developed in the last few years. They work by stopping DHT from reaching the follicles and stunting their growth.

However these drugs have only a small effect on men who have already lost their har.

Some men resort to hair transplants, taken from the back or sides of their heads on to the top to cover the receding patches. However this is dependent on transferring individual hair follicles rather than millions of active cells.

A British company called  Intercytex is developing a technique involving taking a tiny sample of skin from the head and using it to mass produce dermal papilla – the cells which have already matured into hair-growing factories.

These are then injected back into the scalp, potentially giving a full head of hair.

Despite these advances, a caffeine-based lotion could be a more affordable and effective alternative to curing baldness.

To test the idea, Dr Fischer took scalp biopsies from 14 men in the early stages of hair loss.

He extracted hair follicles and placed them in test tubes with solutions containing different levels of caffeine.

The samples were left in the laboratory for up to eight days to determine their growth. At the end of the experiment, caffeine had boosted the length of the hairs by between 33 per cent and 40 per cent.

In contrast, other test tubes containing hair follicles mixed with testosterone showed that they grew much more slowly.

Scientists behind the breakthrough believe caffeine affects hair cells in such a way that they are able to resist the damaging effects of DHT.

“Hair follicles that were treated with caffeine showed a highly significant growth rate at 24 hours, and still showed further significant growth at eight days,” said Dr Fischer.

See the study from the January, 2007, issue of the International Journal of Dermatology here

Related Articles: coffee and diabetes • coffee and diabetes type 2 • coffee for diabetics • coffee and blood pressure • coffee and bone loss • coffee and cancer • coffee and heart disease • Coffee and Losing Weight • Coffee Health Benefits • Does Coffee Help You Lose Weight? • Health Benefits of Coffee Drinking

Hey It looks like the New York Times has awoken (probably with a good dose of coffee) to the health benefits of Coffee drinking. The article, which appeared in their August 5th, 2008 online edition included some interesting information:

Does Coffee Help You Lose Weight?: The NY Times Article mentioned a study that found that coffee drinkers who increased their caffeine consumption gained more weight than those who didn’t. But, they also mentioned that for every 75 to 100 milligrams of caffeine, the resulting metabolism increase results in a caloric loss of 75 to 100 Calories. Hmm…lets do the math…say we have one of those Grande Starbucks Coffees once a day, for 6 days a week. That would put us at around 300 Grande’s a year. 300 days, times 87 calories (splitting the difference) equals 26,100 calories. There are, so to speak, 3,500 calories in a pound of weight loss, so that’s 7.5 lbs. of weight loss. Oh, wait, that’s for 100 milligrams, my Grande has 330, so multiply that times 3 = 22.5 lbs! Multiply that times a decade and I’d have a 30 inch waist. Perhaps the people in the study drank their coffee with a donut???

The article also said that Coffee aids the ability to burn fat for fuel instead of its carbohydrates. Did you hear that? If you’re watching your weight, this means that your cup of Joe is going to help you to lose FAT faster! The reason carbohydrate restricted diets work so well is that your body burns the available carbs before burning fat. If you always have a nice little reserve of carbs, then it doesn’t get to the fat. Does coffee help you lose weight? I’d say so! Stay tuned for my soon to be best selling book “Losing Fat the Starbucks Way.” Perhaps I can become the Jerrod of Starbucks?

The Myth of Hydration: In Texas, we have a plethora of 105 degree days. I’ve constantly heard the admonishment by radio and tv personalities to drink lots of fluids, but to avoid caffeine. Yes, you’ve got it, this is a myth! Studies on the health benefits of coffee reviewed last year found that people who consumed drinks with up to 550 milligrams of caffeine produced no more urine than when drinking fluids free of caffeine. Even a Grande Starbucks Coffee has only 330 milligrams of caffeine, and a 12 oz. Coca Cola has a mere 35 milligrams of caffeine.

Coffee and Heart disease. If you’re a heart patient, especially one that has been diagnosed with high blood pressure, you may have been told to avoid caffeine, one of the world’s oldest stimulants. However an analysis of ten studies of more than 400,000 people did not find any increase in heart disease among regular coffee drinkers, whether their coffee included caffeine or not.

“Contrary to common belief,” said cardiologists at the University of California, San Francisco, we’ve found “little evidence that coffee and/or caffeine in typical dosages increases the risk” of sudden death, heart attack or abnormal heart rhythms.

Rather, in the Iowa Women’s Health Study, among 27,000 women followed for 15 year those women who drank one to three cups of coffee a day reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease by 24 percent, although this benefit decreased as the quantity of coffee increased.

Coffee and Cancer. In 1981 a Harvard study sent the general public into a panic when our coffee loving public heard the tesxt tied coffee to a higher risk of pancreatic cancer.  The coffee industry took a temporary pluge until researchers concluded that it was probably smoking and not coffee drinking tht was the cause.

In 2007 a global review of 66 studies found that coffee consumption had little if any causal effect on the risk of developing kidney or pancreatic cancer.  And, quite to the contrary, another scientific review suggested that coffee drinkers, in comparison to non coffee drinkers had half the risk of developing liver cancer.

Similarly, a study of some 59,000 women in Sweden concluded that there was no connection between coffee, tea or caffeine consumption and breast cancer.

Coffee and Blood Pressure. But what about hypertension and coffee? Doesn’t a grande cup of Joe raise your blood pressure?  Well, caffeine does induce a small, temporary rise in blood pressure. However, in a study of 155,000 nurses, those women who drank coffee with or without caffeine for a 10 years were no more likely to develop hypertension than non coffee drinkers. But take note you diet cola addicts…. a higher risk of hypertension was found from drinking colas. A Johns Hopkins study that followed more than 1,000 men for 33 years found that coffee drinking had little overall effect in the development of hypertension.

Coffee and Bone loss. Isn’t coffee like coke? Can’t it eat through metal?  Although some studies by observation have linked caffeinated beverages to bone loss and fractures, human physiological research has  found only a slight decrease in calcium absorption and no effect on calcium excretion, suggesting the observations may show a decreased intake of dairy-based beverages among coffee and tea drinkers.

Creighton University professor Dr. Robert Heaney says that caffeine’s negative effect on calcium can be offset by as little as one or two tablespoons of milk. He advised that coffee and tea drinkers who drink the currently suggested amount of calcium don’t need to worry about caffeine’s effect on their bones.

Read the NY Times article here

A systematic review of 9 cohert studies of coffee and diabetes by two Doctors as published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows making coffee and drinking it like crazy may be the best counter to your sweet tooth.

The doctors identified 9 studies by other researches of coffee consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes, including 193,473 participants and 8394 cases of type 2 diabetes occurring in that group.

The relative risk of type 2 diabetes was lowest for those drinking 6 to 7 cups a day and increased as the coffee consumption decreased.

The association of coffee and the risk of type 2 diabetes did not differ substantially by sex, obesity, or region (United States and Europe). In the cross-sectional studies conducted in northern Europe, southern Europe, and Japan, higher coffee drinking was consistently associated with a lower pervasiveness of newly identified type 2 diabetes.

This analytic review supports the researchers hypothesis that habitual coffee consumption is associated with a substantially lower risk of type 2 diabetes.