6 Home Remedies for Hair Loss | Dr. Josh Axe

Hey guys, Dr. Axe here, doctor of natural medicine, founder of draxe.com. In this video, I'm going to be going through the steps you have to take to stop hair loss now, including the best essential oils, the best vitamin supplements and diet, and things you absolutely must avoid. Some of these are going to surprise you.

Also, I'll be going through how to get thicker, longer, and healthier hair, all part of this video. And let's dive right in right now and also talk about what what the root cause of hair loss is. One of the number one natural remedies and treatments you can use for hair loss are essential oils.

You know, essential oils are plant-based compounds that have been distilled to where you have the oil-based compounds that work as a natural form of medicine. These are called volatile oils and they're very high in certain compounds that have an aromatic effect and can also, in certain cases, be used internally. Now, rosemary oil is one of the best oils out there.

For naturally thickening the hair. What I'd recommend you do is take some rosemary oil, you can massage it in your scalp with some olive oil, great natural hair thickener. You know, rosemary has the properties of being strongly naturally anti-inflammatory as well as nourishing your body's reproductive organs. And again, hormones are key when it comes to hair loss.

Number 2 here is cedarwood and clary sage. Now, cedarwood acts by reducing stress. Clary sage acts by reducing stress and helping balance out estrogen and progesterone levels in the body. So again, those can be great essential oils to use, as can spikenard. Again, these are great blends to use here as well. Now, spikenard is a cousin of lavender oil. Spikenard also reduces stress.

You'll see stress is a major cause of hair thinning, as is a hormone called DHT, that's dihydroxytestosterone. In fact, Of all the things I'm going to talk about, DHT, as I'll talk about in a minute, is probably the root cause of hair thinning and hair loss. Here's a natural remedy for you to make an at-home homemade hair thickener.

You do 1.5 ounces of jojoba oil or jojoba oil as many say, correct pronunciation, grapeseed oil, cedarwood oil, rosemary oil, and sage oil, 30 drops of each of those. Place it in a glass container and then simply take it, rub it on your scalp 3 times a week for 20 minutes, and then you can actually take a shower. You can leave it in for 2 hours as well and then take a shower.

But that's how we recommend using this homemade hair thickener using jojoba oil, grapefruit seed oil, cedarwood oil, rosemary oil, and sage oil. Now let's talk about the best supplements to stop hair loss. Supplements. Number 1, saw palmetto. Now, saw palmetto is a traditional remedy that's also used in the treatment of prostatitis or male prostate issues.

Now, in prostate inflammation, the prostate gland, as are many reproductive glands, are very interconnected to the release of a hormone called DHT, that's dihydroxytestosterone. That's been shown to be the hormone that's correlated with male pattern baldness. So if a man starts to lose their hair or a woman, their body can be producing too much DHT. Here's the good news.

Saw palmetto is the number one DHT blocker of all supplements out there today, so it can be a great remedy for hair loss. Number 2 here, protein powder made from bone broth. You know, bone broth is very high in collagen. We know that collagen helps naturally thicken your hair.

In order for you to get rid of cellulite or have defined muscles or just in general for you to have thicker hair, thicker nails, healthier-looking skin, bone broth is the number one superfood in the world and I recommend using a protein powder that is actually made from bone broth, another great supplement. Next one here, pygeum, and pygeum is very similar to saw palmetto.

It's been shown in clinical studies to help improve prostate health, but in addition, both for women and men, help block DHT, that's dihydroxytestosterone. Pumpkin seed oil is very rich in zinc. Doing 1 tablespoon of pumpkin seed oil, because of the zinc and because of some of the antioxidants, has actually been shown to help naturally thicken hair and stop DHT production in the body.

All while supporting the immune system. And then one of my favorite herbs, this is famed in Ayurvedic medicine out of India, it's ashwagandha. Now, ashwagandha is known as being an adaptogenic herb, meaning it helps your body better adapt and deal with stressors you might face. Now, we've talked about there are many causes of hair thinning. Too much of the hormone DHT, that's one big one, okay?

Lack of certain nutrients in your diet such as certain B vitamins and zinc and collagen. And one of the third things that can actually cause issues is emotional stress or when cortisol gets too high. If cortisol gets too high in your body or then even drops too low, that can cause you to lose your hair or hair thinning.

And we've all heard this, hey, when you get emotionally stressed, it turns your hair gray. Well, we know emotional stress can also cause hair thinning is a big one and hair loss. And the number one herb that acts as an adaptogen that can help with hair thinning and loss is ashwagandha, using that herb on a daily basis.

A few other natural remedies here, another adaptogenic herb is rhodiola rosea, also known as just rhodiola. This has been shown to improve endurance, stamina, sexual function as well, libido. So rhodiola is used as well as Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine as a natural adaptogen that can be used in conjunction with ashwagandha. The next one here is B complex vitamins.

We know vitamin B12 really supports your nerve system. We know that folate supports hormones in your nerve system. But in general, B complex vitamins help strengthen your skin, hair, and nails.

So doing a good quality food-based certified organic— remember, if you're buying vitamins and supplements, you want to make sure they are all certified organic, made with whole food ingredients, but taking a good quality whole food B complex. Fish oil, you know, omega-3 fats. Most of us have way too much inflammation in our body. Inflammation can also lead to hair thinning.

And so if you want to naturally thicken your hair, doing 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams of fish oil a day or cod liver oil or some sort of omega-3 blend can help naturally thicken the hair. Aloe vera juice, aloe vera juice because of its really unique types of something called polysaccharides has been shown to increase cell communication in the body but also act as a natural hair thickener.

And then last but not least is zinc. Doing 15 to 30 milligrams a day of a zinc supplement can naturally help thicken the hair. And I'm telling you, I've worked with thousands of patients on helping them naturally thicken their hair. And let me go through just a breakdown of some of these.

If you know you need to break— if you know that you're having issues with baldness and actual losing hair, the most effective supplements for blocking DHT, that's dihydroxytestosterone, are going to be saw palmetto, pygeum, and pumpkin seed oil if you know that's your problem.

If you want to naturally thicken your hair, the most beneficial supplements will be protein powder that comes from bone broth which is high in collagen. Aloe vera juice, fish oil, and zinc, or if it's emotional stress you're dealing with, ashwagandha, rhodiola, and B vitamins can all help balance out cortisol levels there as well.

Now, let's talk about the foods you need to eat and what foods you need to stay away from when it comes to stopping hair loss right now. Number 1, go organic. You know, so many of the foods we're eating, if we're talking about meat and dairy products, are loaded with hormones and steroids and other medications.

And I'm not telling you not to eat meat or dairy, I'm telling you that if you're going to eat meat and dairy, make sure those foods are certified organic or wild, that they've never been exposed to herbicides, pesticides, or steroids and other types of chemicals. But go organic in your diet. Number 2 here, eat pumpkin seeds.

We talked about pumpkin seeds are rich in zinc, fiber, and other nutrients that can help with thickening hair. Wild-caught fish like salmon, very, very high in omega-3 fats. Tuna, mackerel, halibut, sardines are also good options. Green tea. You know, green tea extract contains a compound called EGCG that stands for epigallocatechin.

And EGCG is an incredible antioxidant-rich compound that can actually stop hair loss and really protect your body from the damaging side effects of high cortisol and other hormone imbalances in the body. Chia seeds, we know chia seeds are high in omega-3s as well, which are great for the skin, hair, and nails. Flax and hemp follow in the same suit.

And then bone broth, drinking bone broth on a daily basis is great because of all of the collagen, not to mention the hyaluronic acid, the glucosamine and chondroitin, which can naturally help thicken your hair. Here are the foods you want to avoid. Trans fatty acids. Reason being, these cause inflammation, which is going to throw off hormones and create more DHT production in the body.

Sugar causes inflammation and Candida to build up in the body. When your body has too much yeast overgrowth, it actually decreases nutrient absorption, so you're not getting as many vitamins absorbed, such as zinc and vitamin D and other nutrients that support having. Thick healthy hair and balancing out hormones that are important for your stress response.

Eating processed foods with all of the chemicals and food additives and fried foods, we know cause inflammation and can throw off your hormones. And then too much alcohol and caffeine. Now listen, 1 cup of coffee a day or a couple drinks of a tea a day, that's fine, but drinking caffeine in excess, I'm talking about 3 cups or more of coffee a day.

So 1 cup is fine for most people, 2, that's borderline, sometimes that's too much, 3 or more is way too much and can absolutely cause those cortisol levels to skyrocket, really wear out your adrenals, exhaust those. And then also too much alcohol we know can affect the body as well causing hair thinning and hair loss because of what it does to B vitamins and depletion in the body.

Here's another key factor. We've talked about cortisol, we've talked about dihydroxytestosterone. Reducing emotional stress is a key part of keeping your hormones balanced.

We know there are clinical studies showing if you have high stress levels, you age faster, your hair turns gray or white faster, it thins your hair, causes a number of other imbalances in the body from cortisol to leptin and ghrelin which Cause you to eat more and have more food cravings, which you might be having. All of those are signs of emotional stress. So my tip for that is take some time.

Here's how you reduce emotional stress. Write down all the things that are stressing you out. Figure out individually how to deal with those things better. Get them off your plate. Do something to reduce those stressors. Some things, you're going to have stressors, you just can't do anything about it.

And then you need to take time and write down the 5 things you love doing the most on a regular basis that can do locally. Maybe it's lunch with a best friend. Maybe it's going and walking trails or the mall or indoor rock climbing. I'm making stuff up. But whatever it is you love to do, write those things down and schedule those into your week.

Sometimes it's not about, you know, trying to sniper and get rid of all the stressors. Sometimes it's adding in things that you love to do that build peace in your life and that gets you to where you need to be. And then also some things to conquer dandruff.

I absolutely recommend if you follow all the diet things we recommended, that's going to help you get rid of dandruff, especially doing that rosemary, that hair thickening serum in your— as a recipe there as well. And I want to go over a few other things here for dandruff. One is apple cider vinegar. So washing your hair with a little bit of apple cider vinegar can actually help conquer dandruff.

Okay. Properly hydrating, getting plenty of water in your diet on a daily basis, 8 glasses or more, and then consuming probiotics. I'd recommend getting an SBO probiotic supplement, so soil-based organism probiotics are great for fighting dandruff. So here's what you need to do in order to stop hair loss now and naturally thicken your hair.

Use essential oils, especially rosemary oil, on a daily basis. Take specific supplements. Remember, a protein that comes from bone broth, fish oil, aloe vera juice, ashwagandha, those are some of the best. Eat more organic food, especially pumpkin seeds, wild-caught salmon, flax, chia, and bone broth. Also remember, reduce emotional stress and get these things out of your diet.

Ditch the trans fats and hydrogenated oils, get rid of the sugar, the processed foods, excess alcohol and caffeine. You do those things, you're going to have thicker and fuller hair. By the way, if you've enjoyed this live training video, make sure to subscribe here to my YouTube channel.

Also, if you want to learn a lot more about some advanced ways to naturally thicken your hair and stop hair loss, just Google my name online, open a new tab right now and search Dr. Axe thicken hair or Dr. Axe hair loss. I've got a really in-depth article on my website, draxe.com. That teaches you on how to do just that. And also, hey, make sure to check out some more of my YouTube videos.

I've got a lot more videos on essential oils, natural remedies, and teaching you how to use food as medicine. Thanks for watching. Hi, Dr. Axe here. I want to say thanks so much for checking out this YouTube video and also don't forget to subscribe if you want to get more great content on things like herbs, essential oils, natural remedies and how to use food as medicine.

Also, check out more of our content on my YouTube channel. Thanks for watching.