Procyanidin B-2 Extracted from Apples Grows Hair in Clinical Trials of Male Pattern Baldness

[PhilParma]

Sounds like no one has really tried it. The SalSphere product is $388 per kilo. Group buy?

https://www.salvona.com/product/salsphere-natural-hair-growth-promoter/

 

[Ben.]

Another impressive study.

They took apple polyphenols orally and the hair regrowth was surprisingly large, greater than with finasteride!

It's interesting that oral administation has just as much (if not more) of a pro-hair effect than the topical administration. Therefore I have started taking apple polyphenols.
Whats impressive as well that these changes were visible after 2 months already, with decent changes after only 1 month.

Very cool Mauritio. Keep us updated.
May i ask where you sourced it/bought it from?

 

[Mauritio]

Very cool Mauritio. Keep us updated.
May i ask where you sourced it/bought it from?

NP. I am using the the swanson brand. It has some silica in it ,but it there arent many alternatives at all and its cheap so I went with this one.
I also started putting apple juice on my hair for the polyphenol and sugar content.

 

[Ben.]

"Specifically, AMSbzs supplement exerted the most important effects, increasing the hair number/cm2 by 125.2% (95% CI: −2.54, P = .0095), the hair weight by 42.1% (95% CI: −3.41, P = .0019), and the keratin content by 40.1% (95% CI: −1.22, P = .0042), at the end of the trial period (Table 2) (Fig. 6). Noteworthy, very significant results were achieved already after 1 month of intervention study."

"It was observed an increase of 6.7 total hairs/0.25 cm2 after 6 months of procyanidin therapy. The same effects have been reported with minoxidil40–42 and finasteride (an inhibitor of type II 5α-reductase, Merck)8 therapy for androgenetic alopecia. In 2% minoxidil treatment, an increase of 250 total hairs/5.1 cm2 (calculated as 12.3 total hairs/0.25 cm2) after 12-month therapy was reported.40 In finasteride treatment (1 mg/day, oral administration), an increase of 86 total hairs/5.1 cm2 (calculated as 4.22 total hairs/0.25 cm2) after 12-month therapy was reported.8 The level of efficacy of 1% procyanidin B2 is concluded to compare favorably with minoxidil and finasteride therapy.15 "

- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5775114/#B21

So the study used

With regard to the clinical trial, the AFA supplements used in this study consisted of two different types of gastric-resistant capsules containing (1) AFA polyphenolic extract microencapsulated with maltodextrins (400 mg) (AMS) and (2) AFA polyphenolic extract microencapsulated with maltodextrins (400 mg), biotin (0.20 mg), selenomethionine (80.0 μg), and zinc acetate (21.0 mg), named AppleMetS Hair (AMSbzs).

How much capsules are you taking? Swanson seems to have 125mg per capsule. So you'd need around 4ish capsules 2 times a day yes? Depending on the Source maybe even more as procyanidin content seems to differ from source to source.
I went back on the big reddit thread that discussed procyanidin and i think most people following it came to the conclusion that the amount needed of procyanidin was not feasable money wise. They seemed to went with sulphorophane from broccoli sprouts instead.

However i still think the apple polyphenols in sufficient dosage to provide potential benefits:

There are five major groups of polyphenolic compounds found in apples: flavanols (catechin, epicatechin and procyanidins), phenolic acids (mainly chlorogenic acid), dihydrochalcones (phloretin glycosides), flavonols (quercetin glycosides) and anthocyanins (cyanidin)

While i am not sure how effective anthocyanin from apple is they generally seem to contain anti-fungal properties. Plants seem to increase the amount when stressed/attacked by fungal infections and it is giving plants the purple/blue colour.

Also quercetin similar to ECGC from green tea seems to be used in both the NAD+ boosting department and treatment in lymedisease/coinfection.

How much you would get however from apple polyphenols extract i do not know.

 

[Mauritio]

So the study used


How much capsules are you taking? Swanson seems to have 125mg per capsule. So you'd need around 4ish capsules 2 times a day yes? Depending on the Source maybe even more as procyanidin content seems to differ from source to source.
I went back on the big reddit thread that discussed procyanidin and i think most people following it came to the conclusion that the amount needed of procyanidin was not feasable money wise. They seemed to went with sulphorophane from broccoli sprouts instead.

However i still think the apple polyphenols in sufficient dosage to provide potential benefits:



While i am not sure how effective anthocyanin from apple is they generally seem to contain anti-fungal properties. Plants seem to increase the amount when stressed/attacked by fungal infections and it is giving plants the purple/blue colour.

Also quercetin similar to ECGC from green tea seems to be used in both the NAD+ boosting department and treatment in lymedisease/coinfection.

How much you would get however from apple polyphenols extract i do not know.

I tackle hair loss from different angles.
Im not sure how much you would have to take to get results, it might be less than what they used in the study, they simply did not test that. A lower dose for a longer time might be just as effective. What I often see in the hair loss community is that they are only willing to "start" when someone presents them the perfect solution on a silver tablet ,a.k.a. I learned helplessness. Taking some certainly helps more than taking none!

Plus: I eat apples, drink apple juice, apply apple juice to my scalp and supplement with apple polyphenols, they all have procyanidins and are synergistic for hair loss.
And in the topical procyanidin study they used procyanidin B2 only. While the concentration of it is lower in apple juice, there are the other procaynidins in apple juice that have a pro-hair effect that is just as strong as B2's, and it's a good and cheap source of sugar, which Peat mentioned for hair loss. So apple juice also has advantages over the topical solution used in the hair loss study.

 

[Mauritio]

Apple polyphenols also have some interesting effects on their own:

1. Increase UCP1 and Akkermansia
- Apple Polyphenols Extracts Ameliorate High Carbohydrate Diet-Induced Body Weight Gain by Regulating the Gut Microbiota and Appetite - PubMed

2. Reduces hepatic steatosis and increases Akkermansia
- https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jafc.3c00596

3. Increases short chain fatty acids and tight junction proteins in the gut and decreases TLR4 and NF-kB expression
- Apple peel polyphenol alleviates antibiotic-induced intestinal dysbiosis by modulating tight junction proteins, the TLR4/NF-κB pathway and intestinal flora - PubMed

4. Lowers neuroinflammation, TLR4 and NLRP3 ( which is also implicated in hair loss)
- Apple Polyphenol Extract Ameliorates Atherosclerosis and Associated Cognitive Impairment through Alleviating Neuroinflammation by Weakening TLR4 Signaling and NLRP3 Inflammasome in High-Fat/Cholesterol Diet-Fed LDLR-/- Male Mice - PubMed

5. Increase tyrosine hydroxilase and thus dopamine synthesis and UCP1, reduce fat acumulation
- Apple polyphenols induce browning of white adipose tissue - PubMed

6, Increases oxygen consumption, heat production and AMPK
- Dietary apple polyphenols promote fat browning in high-fat diet-induced obese mice through activation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase α - PubMed

7. Increase hepatic FXR level,and reduce hepatic steatosis
- Apple Polyphenol Extract Improves High-Fat Diet-Induced Hepatic Steatosis by Regulating Bile Acid Synthesis and Gut Microbiota in C57BL/6 Male Mice - PubMed

 

[golder]

Can’t find the Swanson procyanidin anywhere

 

[Mauritio]

Can’t find the Swanson procyanidin anywhere

I got them from iherb

Swanson, Apfelpolyphenole, 125 mg, 60 Kapseln

de.iherb.com

Btw I notice that the apple polyphenol make my skin look smooth and that it also seems to have a pro liver effect, at least im loosing some water retention.

 

[Mufasa]

@Mauritio I feel really with taking more apples as well. Btw, ursolic acid is another very promising substance that is in apple skin (apple skin wax).

Ursolic acid derivatives as bone anabolic agents targeted to tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (Tph-1) - PubMed

Tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (Tph-1) initiates the biosynthesis of peripheral serotonin. As peripheral serotonin suppresses bone formation, inhibitor of Tph-1 provides a useful tool to discover anabolic agents for osteoporosis. In the present study, series of ursolic acid (UA) derivatives were...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19490976.2021.1972746

Ursolic acid reverses liver fibrosis by inhibiting NOX4/NLRP3 inflammasome pathways and bacterial dysbiosis

 

[Mauritio]

@Mauritio I feel really with taking more apples as well. Btw, ursolic acid is another very promising substance that is in apple skin (apple skin wax).

Ursolic acid derivatives as bone anabolic agents targeted to tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (Tph-1) - PubMed

Tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (Tph-1) initiates the biosynthesis of peripheral serotonin. As peripheral serotonin suppresses bone formation, inhibitor of Tph-1 provides a useful tool to discover anabolic agents for osteoporosis. In the present study, series of ursolic acid (UA) derivatives were...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19490976.2021.1972746

Ursolic acid reverses liver fibrosis by inhibiting NOX4/NLRP3 inflammasome pathways and bacterial dysbiosis

You feel really what?

Ursolic acid seems really interesting. So it also lowers serotonin. Thanks for sharing that study. I remember it from this study on covid Vitamin K, D and A bind to the SARS‐CoV‐2 spike protein

It seems to mostly be in the peel, just like pectin, so thats is another argument for eating the apple with its peel.

BTW Apple polyphenols increase the enzyme CYP7A1 ,which coverts cholesterol into bile acids and is the rate limiting enzyme in this reaction.

- Dose-dependent hypocholesterolemic actions of dietary apple polyphenol in rats fed cholesterol - PubMed
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6893479/

It also has an anti-bacterial effect ,in this case, against C. difficile, plus a strong anti-inflammatory effect.
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9694464/

It increases autophagy, cytochrome c and several mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes

"...mitophagy-related protein levels were significantly increased. The enzymatic activities of mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes II, III and IV were significantly higher in the AP intake group..."
- Dietary apple polyphenols enhance mitochondrial turnover and respiratory chain enzymes - PubMed

 

[Mufasa]

You feel really what?

Really good :)

 

[Mauritio]

Really good :)

Nice. Me too, I think it might even lead to weight loss, without trying.

 

[Mufasa]

Nice. Me too, I think it might even lead to weight loss, without trying.

I noticed that as well. Weight loss. More stable energy. Better focus than ever. I can read for hours without going into a "distraction (not really worth it) mode" (youtube/social media etc).

 

[Mauritio]

I noticed that as well. Weight loss. More stable energy. Better focus than ever. I can read for hours without going into a "distraction (not really worth it) mode" (youtube/social media etc).

I think the weight loss might be due to its ability to increase UCP1 and the foucse because it increases tyrosine hydroxilase and thus dopamine! How much are you taking and which brand ?

 

[EvanHinkle]

This is a very interesting thread. I have always been compelled to eat apples and apple juice/apple cider have always been favorites of mine. Please keep this thread going. I’m gonna try out that Swanson product that was mentioned up-thread.

 

[Mauritio]

This is a very interesting thread. I have always been compelled to eat apples and apple juice/apple cider have always been favorites of mine. Please keep this thread going. I’m gonna try out that Swanson product that was mentioned up-thread.

Cool, let me know how it goes. I really like it. It does seem to help my gallbladder as well, which I had problems with for the last 2 months. the only issue is that is a bit underdosed and contains silica, but Im going to order a few more bottles for sure.

 

[Mauritio]

Topical application of apple polyphenols drastically shits the rats hairs from telogen to anagen phase.

Annurca Apple Polyphenols Ignite Keratin Production in Hair Follicles by Inhibiting the Pentose Phosphate Pathway and Amino Acid Oxidation

Patterned hair loss (PHL) affects around 50% of the adult population worldwide. The negative impact that this condition exerts on people’s life quality has boosted the appearance of over-the-counter products endowed with hair-promoting activity. Nutraceuticals enriched in polyphenols have been...

www.mdpi.com

 

[Mufasa]

@Mauritio Do you have any idea if eating (a lot of) apples might give the same benefits?

 

[Mauritio]

@Mauritio Do you have any idea if eating (a lot of) apples might give the same benefits?

Theoretically eating an apple should give you the same amount of polyphenols as one capsule, but I get benefits from taking the supplement that I dont get from eating an apple or even two.

 

[Mauritio]

Another reason for apple polyphenols/ procyanidins pro-hair effect might be that increases PGE2.
This study shows that it increases PGE2 ,while inhibiting histamine.
PGE2 is known to promote hair growth.
(procyanidins are a class of proanthocyanidins, which was what they used in the study)

"As to gastrointestinal hormones, the secretion of gastrin, somatostatin, and histamine was significantly inhibited, while prostaglandin E(2) secretion was significantly stimulated."

- The protective and hormonal effects of proanthocyanidin against gastric mucosal injury in Wistar rats - PubMed