Article Summary:
- Hair health is greatly influenced by various hormones; for example, an insulin level that is too high can increase the levels of androgen hormones, resulting in hair loss.
- Berberine’s support for maintaining a healthy glucose level through different signaling pathways can indirectly help with hair loss.*
- Tesseract’s BerberActiv® is an innovative supplement formulation ensuring optimal absorption of berberine to support your endocrine and hair health.*
Are you experiencing sudden hair loss? In women, hair loss can be due to several reasons, such as stress, hormonal changes, medical conditions, and side effects of medications. Certain medical conditions can result in an imbalance in hormone levels in the female body, which can lead to sudden and noticeable hair loss.
The therapeutic effects of berberine are well-known for supporting endocrine health and maintaining healthy hormone levels.* So, can berberine help with hair loss, too? Let’s look at how berberine limits the impact of oxidative stress on hair health* and may address hair loss.
How Does Berberine Limit Hair Loss?
Various hormones influence the hair cycle and hair follicle structure. Some of the hormones that can impact hair health are —
- Androgens: The class of sex hormones that are responsible for maintaining secondary sexual characteristics in males. In females, conditions such as metabolic disorders of the endocrine system lead to an androgen excess, resulting in hair loss or baldness.
- Estrogen: The category of sex hormones responsible for developing and regulating the female reproductive system and for maintaining secondary sexual characteristics in females. These hormones play a role in the stimulation of hair growth.
- Insulin: This essential hormone is responsible for maintaining the blood glucose level in the body. Insulin resistance and subsequent hyperinsulinemia (a higher-than-normal level of insulin in the blood) can lead to increased synthesis of androgens, resulting in hair loss.
- Cortisol: It plays a vital role in the body’s stress response and also affects the hair follicle’s function and cyclic regulation.
- Thyroid Hormones: Help control metabolism, growth, and several other health functions. Thyroid hormones are partially responsible for maintaining the frequency of the hair growth cycle.
Patterned hair loss involves progressive hair follicle miniaturization — a hormone-driven process in which hairs shrink in size over time, resulting in a balding scalp. Unlike male-patterned baldness, pattern hair loss in females is an overall thinning of the normal hairline.
The following table highlights its influence on the body’s hormones with regard to hair health, suggesting berberine’s potential role in limiting hair loss in females.
| How Does Berberine Influence Hormones for Hair Health? | |
| Alleviating insulin resistance and promoting insulin secretion: Insulin stimulates the ovaries to over-secrete androgens, which can play a role in hair loss. Berberine, an antioxidant, protects the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, which promotes insulin secretion and reduces insulin resistance through various cellular signallingpathways, such as the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) pathway.* | |
| Lowering the level of serum androgen: Androgen receptor levels are typically high in females who are experiencing hormonal imbalance and subsequent hair loss. Various studies1 show that berberine can reduce androgen levels by enhancing sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels and suppressing androgen receptor signaling.* | |
| Maintaining estrogen levels: There is growing evidence2 that berberine helps maintain estrogen levels, thereby minimizing the negative consequences (such as hair loss) of low estrogen levels.* | |
| Influencing cortisol levels: An increased circulating level of cortisol has been found to impair insulin sensitivity. Because berberine attenuates insulin resistance, it can play an indirect role in influencing cortisol levels.* | |
| Restoring thyroid function: Berberine has been found3 to help restore normal thyroid function in individuals suffering from thyroid disorders, further suggesting berberine may have a beneficial role in indirectly impacting hair growth cycles.* |
There is ongoing research on berberine’s role in minimizing hair loss in various endocrine conditions.* The antioxidant property of berberine and its ability to maintain the body’s natural inflammatory response has led to its extensive use as a nutritional supplement. Because raw berberine is usually not part of a regular diet, including a berberine supplement in your diet to support hair health appears to be a suitable option.*
Supporting Your Hair Health with Advanced Berberine Supplement
Tesseract Medical Research’s BerberActiv® is a unique berberine supplement available in both quick- and sustained-release formulations. Powered by Tesseract’s proprietary CyLoc® – DexKey® nutrient delivery technology, BerberActiv® transcends the common absorption and palatability challenges associated with berberine. With unprecedented absorption, this berberine supplement will support your endocrine system and optimize hair health.*
The power of Tesseract supplements lies in enhancing palatability, maximizing bioavailability and absorption, and micro-dosing of multiple nutrients in a single, highly effective capsule. Visit our website for more information about how Tesseract’s products can support your endocrine health.*
Citations:
1Xie L, et al. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : eCAM vol. 2019 7918631. 13 Dec. 2019, doi:10.1155/2019/7918631
2Caliceti C, et al. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity vol. 2015 (2015): 723093. doi:10.1155/2015/723093
3Han Z, et al. Frontiers in Immunology vol. 12 826067. 10 Jan. 2022, doi:10.3389/fimmu.2021.826067
