Protein shakes increase baldness

The number of men seeking treatment for baldness has surged by a third in the last year - and experts say protein shakes are partly to blame. Young mining workers in Australia preoccupied with their appearance, who were also turning to Botox to keep their youthful looks, were driving the increase, according to Western Australia ’s only hair transplant surgeon Jennifer Martinick.

Dr Martinick said she was booked out for more than six months and performing more than 400 procedures annually – up about 30 per cent from a year ago. She was also seeing double the number of bald men in their 20s and 30s than a decade ago and partly attributed the rise to protein shakes which caused the body to produce chemicals that caused or worsened baldness.



“Lots of young guys these days are very image conscious,” Dr Martinick said. “They are 20 or 30-something, go to the gym, some even have Botox, take protein shakes to build up muscle but don’t realise it can contribute to baldness. They have lots of disposable income so they come for treatment because they also want a full head of hair.

“There is a growing feeling that people are getting balder earlier and it may be possibly because of diet. There are a lot of animal fats in the western diet and then guys go to the gym and take things like creatin, whey protein isolates and think they’re doing the right thing.” The New Hair Clinic physician said she advised patients to stop consuming protein shakes to prevent further hair loss and was able to delay baldness in some cases with medication.