Question: Hello Will, I am a bodybuilder who has been experiencing typical male pattern baldness for the past few years from a family history of hair loss and the use of steroids on and off over the years. Though I would like to follow your recommendations from your site, is there any single formula you could recommend that might include virtually everything? I know there are literally hundreds of new products out there claiming incredible results, but I don’t know who to trust, which is why I come to you. Can you help me? Josh Brandies, London UK. 

Answer: Dear Josh, In fact, there is a single formula for hair loss, or male pattern baldness (MPB) that has virtually everything I would recommend and them some! The product is called Proxiphen and is produced by a Dr. Proctor out of Texas. Dr. Proctor is probably one of the foremost experts on MPB and one of the good guys in an otherwise shady industry. If you read my book Priming the Anabolic Environment, you may recall I mention Dr. Proctor in the ?Avoiding Side Effects? chapter. Proxiphen contains minoxidil, as well as the prescription agents phenytoin and spironolactone (a topically-effective antiandrogen) SODs, copper peptides, TEMPO, PBN…over a dozen active ingredients in all. As far as I am concerned, Proxiphen will grow significantly more hair on people than any other agent or formula currently available.

Another plus is that Dr. proctor never sits on his success with Proxiphen in that he is constantly adding new compounds to the formula if he feels they show promise for MPB. The only thing I would probably recommend in addition to Proxiphen would be 1mg per day of Finasteride (Proscar). The combo of Proxiphen and Finasteride should grow hair on just about anyone in my view.

Ok, now for the bad news. Ok, it?s not really bad news but it s something you will have to take into consideration and deal with. Because it contains prescription agents, Proxiphen can only be dispensed on a physician’s diagnosis of hair loss. This is not as big a deal as you may think, but you will have to see your doctor to get an official diagnoses of MPB. You do not have to travel to TX to get it, but your Doc will have to communicate with Dr Proctor for you to obtain Proxiphen. Dr, proctor does produce non prescription products that may also be worth a try, but none of them will be as effective as his prescription based product. Dr. proctor can be contacted at 800-926-1752 or 713-960-1616.

Question: Will, as a competitive cyclist I am interested in the higher fat low fat debate for athletes like myself. In particular, I wonder if I should use a high carb low fat sports bar on long trips or one of the newer higher fat moderate carb bars. What do you recommend ? All the best, Robert Moore 

Answer:

Robert, I cant cover the entire debate over higher fat vs lower fat diets here in this QnA. I can however give you some insight into the debate by focusing briefly on a study that looked at exactly what you are asking regarding which bar an endurance athlete might want to use. Certainly the past year or so has seen a dramatic increase in the debate over whether a high carbohydrate/low fat diet versus a higher fat/lower carb approach is superior for athletic performance. As expected, various brands of sports bars that emphasize different ratios of fat, protein, and carbohydrates, have hit the market for a variety of uses.

Researchers from the Exercise and science Lab at Central Washington University (Medicine and science in Sports and Exercise, Vol. 29, No. 5, p[s]250, 1997) put some bars to the test containing different amounts of carbs, protein, and fats. Using well trained cyclists doing 60km time trials, the study found that bars containing the highest ratio of carbs to fats (76% carbohydrates, 15% protein, 8% fat) fared poorly against the bars containing more fats and proteins and less carbs in the times of these athletes. When the athletes were fed the bars containing at least 30% fat (or more), 40% carbohydrates, and 30% proteins, one hour before exercise, they finished 2-4 minutes faster on the 60km time trial than when they were fed the high carb/low fat bars. Something to consider on your next Tour de France.