I'm 29 and my hair is thinning majorly. I used to have thick, coarse hair but in the past 5 years it has thinned out and I have 2 patches (one in the back and one in the front) that are lacking.

My mother's father is bald so I am thinking this is due to hereditary. My older brothers are going through the same thing. My father and his father don't have this trait.

So, as far as supplements go, I have heard of nettle root, saw palmetto, silica, and Ho Sho Wu stimulating hair growth. I'm a bit turned off by the ones that halt DHT as a means to stopping baldness as it's interfering with a body's natural processes and that can't be healthy? I feel like silica is pretty safe to use and I could use some, and Ho Shu Wu seems interesting. Do you think I would be wasting money and time using these if the hereditary factors aren't in my favor? Can that be overcome?

One other thing is right where I part my hair in the front is where I am seeing signs of thinning -- can this contribute to balding? Perhaps I could switch the part.

We have a thread on this very topic going on here...

[www.rawfoodsupport.com]

Hair thinning in woman is most commonly due to hypothyroidism so checking your basal body temperature first thing in the morning will give you a good idea.

If you are vegan or raw vegan are you consuming an iodine source such as seaweeds if not your likely low or deficient and this can be the cause of the above.

It really depends on the cause of hair loss, there are many such as DHT as you mention, it wont hurt trying out a DHT inhibitor such as nettle root, licorice root etc.

Again supplementing with silica is never a bad idea either since it has so many benefical functions to the body. The best source is food grade diatomaceous earth, nettle leaf(not root), green leafy vegetables, seaweeds and rice bran.