Is Creatine Responsible for Causing Hair Loss ?

Creatine is perhaps the most preferred supplement by athletes and sportsmen. Creatine is an amino acid that has been proven to be useful in muscle building, supported by many studies. It supports the athletes to get stronger and build muscle, meet their energy needs, and keep water in the muscles. One of the most discussed topics about creatine lately is whether it causes hair loss or not.

What is Creatine and How Does It Work?

Creatine is an energy source for your cells. It is naturally produced by your liver, pancreas, and kidneys. You can also get creatine through your diet by consuming red meat and fish. This can be broken down during physical activity to be used later as energy for muscle contractions.

When you take creatine supplements, you have more creatine in your muscles. Due to this increase in creatine levels, your muscles can produce more energy. Therefore, athletes can take creatine to develop their muscle and improve athletic performance.

Creatine is an organic acid in the body that helps provide energy to cells, especially muscles. It can be made synthetically and can be obtained naturally from red meat and fish. Sportsmen are often use creatine to increase their performance and muscle mass.

Creatine helps your muscles produce energy during weight lifting or high-intensity exercise. It is also beneficial in the treatment of diseases such as brain disorders, heart failure, fibromyalgia, depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson's, muscle and nerve diseases, skin aging, and multiple sclerosis (MS). In overdose, diarrhea and nausea may occur. Those with kidney problems are at higher risk of causing side effects.

Does Creatine Have an Effect on Our Hair?

Studies show that creatine has not been observed to cause hair loss. However, if you are experiencing hair loss and are afraid of its progression, you can stop using creatine. In general, we should say that there is not much to be afraid of. Consuming creatine in specified amounts will not cause you any health problems.

The correct use of creatine is to consume 4-5 grams per day for 20-25 days without overloading, then take a break for 10-15 days. It can be started again later. It is essential to increase water consumption while using creatine. Unconscious and uninterrupted use of creatine can cause harmful effects.

How is DHT Related to Hair Loss?

Hair follicles have their own life cycle. A hair growth phase is followed by a resting phase in which the hair is shed. Since there is less hair growth, more hair falls out than is replaced. Variations in a gene called AR can cause increased activity of hormone receptors located in hair follicles. Also, the enzyme that converts testosterone to DHT may be more active for people with hair loss.

Causes of Hair Loss

Among the most common causes of hair loss, we can say that Testosterone Hormone production. Testosterone, a steroid hormone, causes hair loss and thinning due to chemical reactions in the hair follicles. The most important reason for the occurrence of this condition is genetic factors. These genetic reasons cause most of the hair loss complaints encountered in men. In general, if your father's or mother's hair starts to fall out at an early age, you are likely to experience the same problem.

Another common cause of hair loss is stress. It is common to see skin diseases such as hair loss or eczema at an early age in people who live under intense pressure with constant concerns. It is complicated to change this situation and get rid of stress because it depends on environmental factors rather than the individual's initiative.

Drugs used in the treatment of important diseases are another factor that causes hair loss. In particular, drugs taken for cancer treatment can cause complete loss of body hair.

Although hair regrowth is seen in people who survive such diseases, unfortunately, it is not common to have natural and bushy hair as before. Apart from such specific events, the application of chemical substances such as hair dye and gel can also weaken the hair follicles over time and cause hair loss.

Finally, we can say that creatine does not directly cause hair loss. However, it can lead to conditions that cause hair loss by affecting some body functions. For example; If there is an increase in DHD levels due to creatine, the person will have hair loss. In addition, the increase in DHT does not cause hair loss in every person. Therefore, it is not correct to directly attribute the cause of hair loss to creatine.