Drinking a cup of coffee in the morning can shake off morning drowsiness and give you energy to power through the day. However, if you drink more coffee than recommended and are experiencing hair loss, caffeine may affect your overall hair health, making it grow back more slowly
In this post, we’ll delve deeper into the effects of coffee to see if there’s a link between coffee consumption and hair loss.
Coffee and Caffeine
Caffeine, a primary chemical in coffee, is a naturally occurring stimulant that revs up your brain and central nervous system, preventing tiredness and keeping you awake. By binding with the adenosine receptors in your brain, neurotransmitters associated with relaxation and sleepiness, it blocks the effects of adenosine.
However, did you know that caffeine offers more than just energy?
Benefits of Caffeine for Hair Health
Caffeine offers amazing benefits for your hair, but that doesn’t mean you should consume it in large quantities. One cup of tea each day should suffice as it provides your body with the vitamins and minerals it needs to stay healthy.
How does caffeine result in hair health?
Caffeine also targets dihydrotestosterone (DHT) — a hormone that promotes hair loss by causing hair follicles to shrink and eventually stop generating hair. DHT stunts hair growth by binding with hair follicles and preventing the absorption of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients required to keep the hair cycle functioning normally.
What caffeine does is induce the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This organic compound stimulates the roots of your hair by encouraging the absorption of nutrients, resulting in hair growth.
Caffeine also protects cells from damage and has a beneficial effect on hair follicles. It can, therefore, be used to promote healthy hair and scalp. This is backed by research published in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science.
As with most things, remember that coffee should be ingested in moderation. Too much of it can have negative effects on your hair.
Start With A Caffeine Shampoo
Caffeine Hair Treatments
To take advantage of caffeine’s hair-related benefits, you can use a topical caffeine-infused hair treatment to make your hair thicker and healthier. When massaged into the hair and scalp, these products promote hair growth by increasing blood flow in the area, causing hair to grow faster and stronger.
Topical caffeine products provide a great way to reap caffeine’s benefits without risking overconsumption. However, you should still make it a point to check the ingredient list to ensure that a topical product doesn’t contain harmful ingredients.
Discover Our Caffeine-infused Hair Serum
Can Coffee Cause Hair Loss?
Caffeine doesn’t cause hair loss but it can prevent your hair from growing when consumed in excess. When it comes to the relationship between hair loss and coffee, the tannins in coffee are the problem, not caffeine.
Tannin is a type of biomolecule that binds to and precipitates proteins, amino acids, alkaloids, and other types of organic molecules. Coffee is 4.6% tannins while black tea has 11.2%. The tannins in these beverages can also increase your risk for iron deficiency and hair loss by limiting the absorption of iron and other essential elements in your body.
Try to minimize your intake or opt for healthier alternatives.
How Much Coffee Is Too Much Coffee?
What we eat affects our hair’s health and growth. While no evidence suggests that a moderate amount of coffee causes hair loss, drinking too much can be detrimental to your general health and may even damage your hair strands.
Drinking up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day, as recommended by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), isn’t likely to create problems, but if you habitually drink more than 400 milligrams of caffeine per day, it may become problematic for your hair’s health.
Caffeine consumption can stunt hair growth and may cause baldness, even in the early stages of life. It can also induce headaches, anxiety, insomnia, and other symptoms that can prevent you from living your best life. However, the extent of hair damage you experience is determined by your genetics and diet so no two people will experience the same level and rate of hair loss.
It’s recommended to limit your caffeine intake because coffee can stay in your system for up to eight hours. You should also avoid ingesting it after 2 pm so you don’t disrupt your sleep cycle and negatively impact your quality of life.
Wrapping Up
Coffee can provide us with a welcome energy boost while promoting hair growth and improving hair health. Though it isn’t likely to cause direct harm to your hair, it’s still a stimulant and should thus be consumed in moderation.
Instead of reaching for coffee to perk you up, focus on improving your sleep routine. If you want to see its benefits to your hair, look into topical caffeine-based solutions for an instant and safe boost in hair health.