Reishi Mushroom Inhibits 5-Alpha Reductase?

Hello Dr. Rassman,

I know that you don’t put a lot of stock into herbal remedies for hair loss, but an article I found on the Reishi Mushroom does have some interesting information regarding the mushrooms effects on 5-alpha-reductase.

Perhaps you’d like to look at this: Study

Thanks for you wonderful blog and let me know what you think in regards to this helping at least slow hair loss.

It would not surprise me to find finasteride type of molecular formulations in things that grow. The original finasteride was identified in the Amazon rainforest as the natives ate tubers that had DHT-blocking abilities. In the naked native people it was clearly seen that the children did not develop their external genitalia (their penis) until they were close to puberty, there was something wrong. The drug finasteride (a DHT blocker) was eventually formulated from the analysis of this tuber. The sexual side effects were also identified in some of the children who were hermaphrodites, probably caused in the first trimester of the mother’s gestation. So I would want to know more about the Reishi mushroom (pictured at right) before you use it, and I would take Propecia (finasteride) rather then take a gamble on anything unknown. Propecia is taken by millions of men, so we know the side effects, rare as they are.