Author: Kate Scott, DipNut, mBANT, rCNHC, mIFM
DNApal co-founder | Nutrition & genetics specialist | BANT registered nutritionist

Welcome to Movember 2022!

November is another important awareness month in our calendars, as it’s Men’s Health Awareness Month. This month, DNApal will focus on important genetic and lifestyle factors affecting male health. Today’s blog is focused on hair loss / balding but be sure to look out for the following blogs covering prostate health, weight gain, and muscle mass. To all the women reading, these health tips may help your sons, brothers, uncles and dads. To all the men, this is for you because we value you in our lives.

How Genes and Lifestyle Impact Male Health

Now, no offence, but men are notorious for not wanting to ask for help, from “taking the scenic route” while driving to not reading the manual when assembling a new piece of furniture, particularly regarding health. It’s not just a stereotype; statistics show that fewer men visit their GP on average and tend only to go when their symptoms are more serious. [a]

So, to our men, chances are you feel/felt superhuman in your 20s?  It’s only around your late 30s that health issues begin to nag – energy levels aren’t what they used to be, the weight starts to creep in around the middle, and hair begins to thin. Age plays a significant role in the types of concerns men experience as testosterone levels, metabolism and physical activity decline. The good news is that it’s never too early or too late to start developing healthy diet and lifestyle habits and for those to positively impact your health.

Your health is determined by a combination of your genes and your environment. Genes set the scene, but their activity is highly positively and negatively influenced by other factors such as: what you eat and drink, your stress levels, the type of exercise you do, whether you smoke, the quality of your sleep, where you live etc. The impact of these inputs is called epigenetics. You might have heard people say, “your genes aren’t your destiny”, well, it’s true, and epigenetics is the reason.

What are genes, and how do they impact your health?

Genes are the basic ‘unit’ of heredity passed from parent to child. Genes are made up of sequences of DNA and are arranged, one after another, at specific locations on chromosomes in the nucleus of cells. In layman’s terms, your genes are like an instruction manual for your body based on a combination of your mother’s and father’s instruction manuals.

What is epigenetics?

Epigenetics is how your lifestyle, behaviours and environment influence the way your genes work. Epigenetic changes are reversible and do not change your DNA sequence (instruction manual).

Hair loss and balding

Male pattern baldness (MPB) is one of the most common concerns in men around their mid-30s. It usually begins with a receding hairline and a thinning crown. Some men aren’t too concerned, but it can seriously impact their self-esteem for others.

Hormonal factors play a role in hair loss, particularly the hormone DHT (dihydrotestosterone), a strong form of testosterone. DHT is more potent than testosterone and initially causes increased hair growth, but eventually, it is responsible for the loss of head hair by causing hair follicles to shrink [b]. DHT can also cause acne and enlargement of the prostate gland (more about the prostate in our next blog). [c]

Genetics:

An enzyme called 5-aR (5-alpha reductase) is responsible for converting testosterone (T) into DHT. An inherited variant on the 5-aR gene causes testosterone to convert naturally into DHT at a high rate. So, what if you have this variant? Well, this is where epigenetics comes into play.

Epigenetics:

Various factors can also naturally increase or decrease 5-aR activity. If you have the inherited variant, you can actively reduce the gene’s activity by avoiding certain things and increasing others (see the list below).

Conversely, even if you haven’t inherited the variant, you can still have high DHT levels due to poor diet and lifestyle choices.

Things that naturally help to reduce DHT:

Zinc, pumpkin seed oil, EGCG (from green tea), saw palmetto, and nettle.

Things that naturally increase DHT:

High testosterone levels, smoking, high insulin levels, and high caffeine consumption increase DHT. Decreasing / managing these may help reduce DHT.

Order our Gold DNApal Test package today to get an in-depth health overview and advice, male hormone health advice and a 90-minute consultation.

Are you bored of buying the men in your life socks or ties? ‘Tis almost the season to be purchasing pressies, so order today.

Feel free to leave us a comment if you have any further questions.

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