Substance in broccoli, celery inhibits graying of black hair
47 comments
·February 27, 2025A_D_E_P_T
amelius
Before anyone gets too enthusiastic:
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular-neuroscience/...
"The Dietary Flavonoid, Luteolin, Negatively Affects Neuronal Differentiation"
Stem cells, but still ...
amelius
What are the cofactors of this substance?
A_D_E_P_T
Luteolin itself doesn't require cofactors as it is not enzymatic and the human body does not produce it. To humans, it's simply an exogenous small molecule... Like, e.g., aspirin.
S-adenosylmethionine is presumably involved in its metabolism and excretion. This doesn't imply that you'd want to take SAMe with your luteolin dose.
cubefox
Note also that you don't necessarily need to ingest it. Both internal and external treatment worked for the mice.
TheSpiceIsLife
> If this stuff works, it'll be a staple of haircare and anti-aging products for decades.
You’re over thinking it.
I tried Luteolin at clinically insignificant doses both as a nutritional supplement and in this really expensive hair care product and not only did it regrow my receding hair line, colour my hair unnaturally black, and marry someone half my age, if you buy one month supply right now at this exorbitant priced we’ll throw in a set of stake knives.
IT REALLY WORKS!
Gys
> Luteolin was applied to the skin on their backs for 16 weeks. The results showed that mice developed gray hair less frequently than those that did not receive luteolin. Oral administration of luteolin provided similar results.
PedroBatista
Who’s “broccoli hair” now? Take that gen-xers!
sciens3_
https://www.intake.health/post/37-luteolin-rich-foods-ranked...
Radicchio looks to have the highest content of Luteolin.
snarg
What kind of insane metric is mg/kcal when comparing foods like radicchio vs. sweet green peppers?
Horffupolde
It’s quite a reasonable metric. It ignores water and non-dietary fiber.
frostyel
[dead]
ChrisMarshallNY
I have heard that lead does the same thing.
I read, somewhere, that Cleopatra had lead combs.
crossroadsguy
I read somewhere that Cleopatra took oragnic and natural snake venom vaccines for immunity. Cleopatra apparently did a lot crazy things. Apparently.
ChrisMarshallNY
Someone told me that Grecian Formula for Men has a lead-based active ingredient.
Never really paid much attention, other than being annoyed by the ads.
asimpleusecase
lead acetate. I worked in an environmental lab and one day all our water samples were spiking outrageously high in lead. As we began to check for contamination we traced it to my boss. He used Grecian Formula and had a habit of touching his hair. We were testing for ppm of lead at the time in waste water but this batch of samples was peeking out our equipment. Turns out Grecian Formula has %’s lead ! So just touching and equipment or glassware after touching his hair totally contaminated all the samples. So yeah, stay clear of that stuff unless you would like a measurable drop in IQ from nerve damage.
wrsh07
Seems like it no longer does in the US but it's incredibly frustrating that we wouldn't ban lead based ingredients more generally https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grecian_Formula
sciens3_
I think I’ll stay away from lead.
jraby3
In mice.
And it was applied topically by rubbing the substance on their fur.
joshuaissac
From the article:
> Oral administration of luteolin provided similar results.
So taking it as a pill might be good enough.
shermantanktop
Broccoli pills? You’re going to need to hide those in a treat to get me to take them.
petesergeant
We need an “in mice” tag like we use year tags
WhyNotHugo
Article mentions they’re working on creams and stuff to apply this. Does simply ingesting them not work? They’re both tasty and healthy foods, for most people, it's a good idea to eat the regularly.
A_D_E_P_T
The mouse study had them taking the stuff orally, but at 0.5mg per g of bodyweight per day. After scaling to human size and human metabolic rate, this would come out to about 3000mg/day.
That's an awful lot.
Green peppers are rich in luteolin, but you'd need to eat roughly 2500 peppers per day. It's rather more efficient to (a) take a synthetic supplement, or, even better, (b) deliver the stuff directly into follicles.
MattGaiser
> Luteolin was applied to the skin on their backs for 16 weeks. The results showed that mice developed gray hair less frequently than those that did not receive luteolin. Oral administration of luteolin provided similar results.
Seems so, although I can see taste being a barrier for many.
MortyWaves
Both taste disgusting, if the substance can also be provided by other means then that can only be a good thing.
sleepingNomad
Sadly a little late this news, maybe I can save my spawn.
billybuckwheat
Too bad I have brown hair. Well, had. It's mostly gray now. And I eat a lot of broccoli.
Oarch
My (human) black hair seems to have received no benefit from my love of tenderstem broccoli.
I'm 35 and really rather grey.
Also, if they plan on developing a treatment that stops hair going grey, what's the ultimate benefit against just using hair dye?
unclebucknasty
>what's the ultimate benefit against just using hair dye?
Permanent hair color generally contains PPD to penetrate the hair cuticle so the dye can actually bind to the hair. That stuff is notorious for causing wicked allergic reactions and sensitizing users over time.
sciens3_
Just because it didn’t work for your hair doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good decision to eat it, though! I have ADHD, and broccoli (which has folate) helps me focus.
pandemic_region
Wondering if eating pineapple then would make my hair blond.
SllX
I’m blonde and eat a lot of pineapple. You’ve got nothing to lose. If you’re not used to the taste, it’s a pretty popular pizza topping and you could try it that way.
Gualdrapo
I still remember a rumor that there was a kind of trend in the late 90s or so where pregnant women dyed their hair blonde thinking that will made their children have natural blond hair
inciampati
IIRC hair dying is not great during pregnancy. It is slightly, but measurably oncogenic in children of mothers who died hair during pregnancy and breastfeeding. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3543291/
exe34
pineapple has to be taken as a suppository.
smackeyacky
You first. Difficulty: not chopped up, green end up
jwmoz
Brb just washing my hair with broccoli.
null
Okay, so the actual paper is here and about three months old:
> https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/13/12/1549
The human equivalent dose of luteolin would be about 3g/day, which is a lot -- but this makes it more interesting, for although luteolin has been available as a nutritional supplement for decades, I don't think that people have normally taken it at that sort of dose. Or anywhere near that sort of dose.
Luteolin is a weak yellow dye, but there are presumably ways to formulate it for topical use so that it's colorless. In general, it's usually pretty easy to get chemicals into follicles. (As opposed to through the skin, e.g. with a nicotine patch, which is possible but more difficult.) If this stuff works, it'll be a staple of haircare and anti-aging products for decades.
It's not in that particular study, but more potent analogs appear to exist. They lack luteolin's easy off-the-shelf availability, though, and presumably the mechanism of action is the same at any rate.