PDA

View Full Version : Caffeine & hair growth



Forever_Sophie
September 13th, 2008, 07:31 AM
I read somewhere here about people giving up caffeine for their hair (something I remember considering doing) - are there noticable results? I'm starting to drink more than 1 cup a day & am a bit concerned about the effect it may have on my hair...I guess the opposite question is what I'm asking, will too much caffeine impact hair growth?

Thanks in advance!

lora410
September 13th, 2008, 07:45 AM
I actually gave up coffee and most soda for about 95% water intake. More for health then hair but my hair has grown tons faster.

LaurelSpring
September 13th, 2008, 07:46 AM
I dont drink caffeine because it really messes me up, but I did read somewhere that actually putting caffeine on your head helps your hair grow. I cant remember now if it was a thread or an article but they did studies that showed caffeine helped hair growth when you actually put it on your head. I started thinking about coffee rinses but then remembered I only had decaf around.

Forever_Sophie
September 13th, 2008, 07:48 AM
Thanks girls! Problems is, the cappucccinos *taste* so good! ;)

I appreciate the answers!
Laura

Shanarana
September 13th, 2008, 08:01 AM
I always been a coffee drinker and haven't noticed any difference in my hair growth. Have to have my coffee in the morning. ;)

DiyaC
September 13th, 2008, 09:48 AM
I stopped caffeine because I was told that it increases the greys. I'm already a premature grey-er so I didn't want to worsen the situation and I quit drinking coffee.

LadyLongLocks
September 13th, 2008, 10:10 AM
I drink coffee and soda with caffeine and it has not effected my growth. I have read that drinking lots of water is good for hair growth though.

Forever_Sophie
September 13th, 2008, 10:29 AM
I stopped caffeine because I was told that it increases the greys. I'm already a premature grey-er so I didn't want to worsen the situation and I quit drinking coffee.

omg, this just might be enough for me to stop, I have this irrational fear of graying, I'm lazy enough w/ my highlights :p Thanks for this info.


I drink coffee and soda with caffeine and it has not effected my growth. I have read that drinking lots of water is good for hair growth though.

I know, right?! I can live on coffee & coke, (I don't, but I can ;) )! lol I'm normally good about water, glad to read this.

Unofficial_Rose
September 13th, 2008, 10:31 AM
This is so interesting! I've given up caffeine a fortnight ago as it was making me stressed. I've had my hair highlighted a week ago and I was amazed at how it's had a growth spurt.

Maybe this is a co-incidence, maybe not :eyebrows:

Gothic Lolita
September 13th, 2008, 10:34 AM
Funny, in Germany Alpecin sells a shampoo with caffeine which is supoosed to help with hairloss by making the growing period of a hair longer.

Also, caffeine is a stimulant and rises blood pressure. I doubt that taken in normal doses it can have a bad effect on hair growth.
But of course it is a fact that caffeine has a dehydrating effect so maybe people see more growth when quitting it because the body gets more water?

sahiba
September 13th, 2008, 11:35 AM
Here we add (very often) coffee powder in henna for good effect and colour.I think caffeine in application is good.

Iphinoe
September 13th, 2008, 11:46 AM
Just don't try using coffee grounds as a scalp treatment, or you will deeply regret it. Take my word for it.

FrannyG
September 13th, 2008, 11:54 AM
Just don't try using coffee grounds as a scalp treatment, or you will deeply regret it. Take my word for it.

I can only imagine.:scared:

I've never noticed a correlation between drinking coffee and hair growth at all.

Also, regarding grey hair coming in soon with drinking coffee, I think that's a fallacy too.

From the age of 21 to the age of 30 I didn't drink coffee at all. From old photos I can see that my hair grew at the same rate it does now, with me being a regular coffee drinker. I currently grow 3/4 of an inch per month.

I also went very grey in my 20's during my non-coffee years.

DiyaC
September 13th, 2008, 12:10 PM
I live in South India and over here we have traditional herbal medicinal system called Ayurveda apart from the regular doctors that we go to. Since I've had a spurt of grays lately, I went to an ayurvedic practitioner who told me that coffee could be one of the causes. My mother has also told me this several times but I've never listened to her since she's a regular coffee-drinker herself and yet her hair is great. But when this doctor told me the same thing, I decided I'd do just about anything to stop the grays coming so I stopped drinking coffee. However, my mother is addicted to coffee and she's been drinking several cups a day for years and her hair is still long, black, shiny, thick and healthy. She has very few grays even at the age of 50. So I don't really know how true this piece of information about coffee and graying is.

ChloeDharma
September 13th, 2008, 12:27 PM
Yup, there was a study showing caffeine applied increased the growth rate of hairs, but that's applied topically i think. There's a thread on it with a link to the study over on the natural and recipes board.
I'm not sure about it negatively effecting hairgrowth when taken in drinks etc. It might do, but i'm a tea drinker both green and black and don't intend on giving those up as i want the antioxidants. I have given up drinking coffee at home though, i started when i moved into my dads but just recently felt that the instant junk he gets was giving me icky feelings so now limit it to just occasionally having those overpriced things from fashionable cafe's.

LisaButz2001
September 13th, 2008, 08:33 PM
I drink one cup coffee and two diet sodas a day at a minimum. I don't know if it affects length, but I'm not going gray.

RavennaNight
September 13th, 2008, 09:26 PM
I drink coffee everyday, but kicked the soda habit a long while ago. I read somewhere that soda inhibits or slows hair growth. I also have trouble drinking it without getting the friggin hiccups! :)

BeatlesFanGirl
September 14th, 2008, 04:22 AM
Also, caffeine is a stimulant and rises blood pressure. I doubt that taken in normal doses it can have a bad effect on hair growth.
But of course it is a fact that caffeine has a dehydrating effect so maybe people see more growth when quitting it because the body gets more water?

I agree, I also don't think caffeine has a bad effect on hair growth. I drink 3-5 cups a day, and my hair grows fast. (1,5 cm/month) I can't even give up coffee, I love it :) But yeah, it's important to drink enough water/liquid. I also eat healthy food, do a lot of sports, use organic hair products, and meditate :)

Rosepatrice
October 2nd, 2008, 03:10 PM
I am not sure about the caffine internally,

I am concerned about using coffee on the hair, as a rinse.

How can that be used without the worry of it dyeing the hair brown? My hair is very light in color so that would just look terrible. However, I am curious as to the affect it would have....if it makes the hair grow faster...maybe a little brown streak here and there would be acceptable......:eyebrows: LOL I may turn out looking more like a skunk.....LOL!!!

Zombiekins
October 2nd, 2008, 05:03 PM
Thanks girls! Problems is, the cappucccinos *taste* so good!

You're in luck, espresso doesn't have nearly as much caffeine in it that coffee (especially if it's from a french press) does.

I drink two cups of strong french press coffee every day and have no ill effects. Granted, I also drink a ton of water. All told at least a gallon of liquid probably ends up in my body throughout a normal day. I think the only way drinking coffee is a bad thing, is if that's all you drink. The body needs water, and an overload of any one liquid is where problems occur (much like anything else, moderation is key). Also, I'm pretty sure that there have been studies done that count coffee toward your daily water intake as it's not dehydrating like previously believed.

Every so often in the shower I'll pour coffee over my head after shampooing. It doesn't get rinsed out until I'm done with everything else (five to ten minutes), and there's a noticeable softness, but as far as growing...dunno. I skimmed through the study posted here a while back that definitely showed results, but I didn't pay much attention to their methods. My hair always seems to grow fast when I keep up on hennaeing anyway- damnable light roots.

Oskimosa
October 2nd, 2008, 05:31 PM
I have been a heavy coffee drinker since I was 17 years old. I have been up to a pot and a half per day, and down to drinking 1 cup only on weekends. I've only stopped for up to 2 months at a time. I've always grown between 1/2 - 1" per month, but I've also always drank 8-12 cups of water per day. I don't drink sodas or juice or anything else (besides alcohol once in a while :p). The idea of growing faster if I quit sounds good, but, blah, I'm so much happier on coffee I think it outweighs the cons.

NeilTheFuzz
October 2nd, 2008, 05:58 PM
I don't think caffiene effects hair growth particuarly badly. I had to reduce my caffiene intake for health reasons (bad sleep) and although I still have a cup or two of coffee a day, I used to drink loads. Since the reduction (3 years ago) I havn't noticed a change in the pace of my hair's growth really.

EvaSimone
October 2nd, 2008, 06:11 PM
I know that caffeine stimulates your metabolism and will increase blood flow so I don't see how it can cause slower hair growth.

I drink lots of diet soda and absolutely no water (I know this is bad). I will occasionally (1-2x per week) have a glass of juice but that's about it.

I think drinking caffeinated beverages is bad if you aren't drinking lots of fluids. Although I drink no water I probably drink something like 80-100 oz. of diet soda and tea a day (I am embarrassed to admit this!) I've never been told by my doctor that I was unhealthy, dehydrated or had a high heart rate or blood pressure (my last EKG showed my rate was 58 and my BP is usually 95/50). I probably would be dehydrated if I only drank something like 40 oz. every day but because I put in more fluid than my body really needs the diuretic effect of the caffeine doesn't seem to stress my system out.

My growth rate has always been around .5-.75 inches per month (lately only .5 inch). I would assume that if anyone would experience slow hair growth from caffeine it would be me considering how much I drink...

mellie
October 2nd, 2008, 06:15 PM
FrannyG, I had the same experience. During my 20s, I didn't drink anything caffeinated at all, and I still got lots of grays then.

Fireweed
October 2nd, 2008, 06:47 PM
I drink about 5 cups of coffee a day and my hair grows about a half inch a month on average.

Rosepatrice
October 2nd, 2008, 06:52 PM
How many cups of coffee is in one shot of express, does anybody know?

Oskimosa
October 2nd, 2008, 07:25 PM
Espresso is supposed to be like triple strength coffee, they serve it in shot size! Sooo... wikipedia says:


While there can be significant variation, on a per-volume basis, espresso contains approximately three times the caffeine content of regular brewed coffee (1.700 g/l (50 mg per fluid ounce) of espresso versus 0.50–0.75 g/l (14–22 mg per ounce) for brewed coffee). Compared on the basis of usual serving sizes, a 30 ml (1 fluid ounce) shot of espresso has about half the caffeine of a standard 180 ml (6 fluid ounce) cup of American-style coffee, which varies from 80 to 130 mg.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espresso#cite_note-1)

Speedbump
October 2nd, 2008, 11:40 PM
This is totally anecdotal because I have been pretty bad about keeping track of my measurements, but I believe that after I gave up caffeine, my hair growth rate did increase. However, it is hard to isolate that from the effects of gentler care, daily scalp massage and less harsh products, so I can't be sure.

KiwiLiz
October 3rd, 2008, 01:31 AM
I was got addicted to caffeine when I was about 15 or so, I didn't really drink coffee, I just drank a lot of energy drinks like V and Red bull. I remember I once had 3 bottles of red bull in one afternoon, and I didn't even have trouble getting to sleep that night. I started drinking at least 2 cups of coffee a day when I started uni nearly 3 years ago.

Last year I had to give up caffeine completely, as I developed a disorder with my stomach, it produces too much acid and things like caffeine make you stomach produce even more acid. It was hard to give up, and I still had it a lot, until on afternoon I drank a red bull and then ended up in hospital that night because I was in so much pain.
I've barely touched it since, that was about a year ago and I haven't noticed any difference in my hair growth now that I'm off the caffeine.

I miss the kick though :P

Rosepatrice
October 4th, 2008, 03:35 PM
Maybe it's just that everyone is so different, coffee affects them differently, too. At least that is what I'm pulling together from this thread!!:pumpkin:

Rosepatrice
October 4th, 2008, 05:47 PM
Espresso is supposed to be like triple strength coffee, they serve it in shot size! Sooo... wikipedia says:

Oh, thanks, btw:cheese:

lynnala
October 4th, 2008, 09:30 PM
I consider coffee a healthy herbal drink!:D It's supposed to contain antioxidants. I probably shouldn't have posted because I've been drinking STRONG coffee for over 30 years, so I can't make a growth comparison. My hair growth is average, and the white hair is genetic. :coffee:

gallows_gallery
October 4th, 2008, 09:47 PM
I drink LOADS of coffee. A good two cups in the morning, another one or two through out the day, and if I work in the evening (at a restaurant) another few!

I have for years, and my hairdresser always comments on how fast my hair grows and how healthy it is...no noticeable changes here.

Auntbeast
October 4th, 2008, 10:33 PM
If caffeine slows hair growth, I would be afraid to stop drinking it. My hair grows ridiculously fast as it is, I've never measured, but I have to cut my bangs about every two weeks and I've grown my hair from chin length to bra strap length in less than two years.

My god, I'd look like Rapunzel in a week.