The pharmaceutical drug Propecia is based on this very concept. Also called finsasteride, Propecia cripples the 5-alpha reductase enzyme that produces DHT from testosterone. 

So, how effective is this approach? Let's trek over to propeciasideeffects.com and ask the gentlemen suffering lifelong erectile dysfunction about it. They have some interesting things to say.

Like all diseases of civilization, hair loss pathylogy is rooted in the dysregulation of the hormones within our bodies. High DHT, which is public enemy number one to the pharmaceutical industry, is a symptom of the body going metabolically awry and not the sole problem. So what do we do? Do we take a drug to fix the problem? Do we rub goop in our hair every morning? Do we take fifty designer supplements with each meal?

All of these questions can be answered with a resounding no.

Hair loss, if not too far advanced, can be halted with a little know-how and determination. Let's go over the key players in what some have dubbed "the hairpocalypse"... Okay, only I have dubbed it the hairpocalypse.

So the question is, what do I have to show for it? Well, to be honest, not much more than last year. My hair is still on my head, which still amazes me, but I can't help but think that there is more ground to cover in terms of obtaining better health. As Dr. Harris pointed out, a zero carb diet is beneficial, not because it restricts all carbohydrates, but because it restricts refined carbohydrates, gluten containing grains, and vegetable oils.

Those of you who have followed this blog know that I'm not about weight. I originally set out to stop my hair loss in a drug-free, natural way. Well, I have succeeded. Yet I have had one persistent symptom that hasn't gone away no matter what I've done. 

Bare with me while I explain my morning ritual of getting ready for work:

I wake up and turn on the mini-heater next to my bed. When I muster up enough courage, I leap from my sheets and sprint towards the shower. I set the dial to scalding and procrastinate as long as possible before exiting in a flash to be next to my heater. Before I put on my clothes for the day, I add a thermal top and bottom. 

COLD INTOLERANCE. Not just some cold hands and feet, but purple hands and blue feet. I swear I was experiencing some kind of hypothermia.

For the last 6 months I have been working on a hair loss eBook that outlines how I stopped my progressive hair loss. My aim was to explain in lay man's terms, why our western diet is causing aggressive hair loss in those susceptible to balding.

When a man starts losing his hair the options he has are literally awful. He can turn to pharmaceuticals and risk "chemical castration", he can plan a hair transplant - which no one on this planet wants to go through, or he can gamble on a magic mix of supplementation and hope for the best.

Not being happy with the options out there, I turned to nutrition for answers. With tons of stumbling along the way, I researched tirelessly until I came upon a regime that kept my hair in my head and made me healthier in the process.

The eBook will cover the last four years of my experiment and will detail everything I have learned during my unique journey. I've worked extremely hard on this and I can't wait to bring it to the masses.

In a few more weeks the eBook should be ready. If anyone has any title suggestions, I'm all ears. 

Thank you for your patience dear reader, comment away if you have any questions! 

As for me, my health has maintained for the last year or so and I have nothing earth shattering to report. In July I plan on writing another annual update, as it will be my second year on the all carnivorous diet. I will expand on my heavy experimentation with dietary supplements (mostly all bad), as well as playing around with the fat percentage of my daily food. 

I will also dive into the nuances between eating an all meat diet compared to an all pemmican diet. The first year of this experiment was centered around lightly cooked store-bought ground beef compared to the second being grass-fed pemmican. I'll attempt to leave my romanticism at the door, and to give a clear and honest look at what life has been like eating "The Bread of The Wilderness" for every meal.

In other news...

Joanne of Joanne Unleashed got a chance to sit down with the legend himself, Lex Rooker, and ask him a few questions. I haven't had a chance to check out much of the blog, but the interview is good stuff.

http://joanneunleashed.com/2010/04/lex-rooker-talks-about-his-rawall-meat-diet-and-relief-from-migraines/

From Ken and the other forum members, I learned that when dry aging beef we want to accomplish two things; evaporate the moisture from the muscle (creating a greater concentration of flavor) and instigate enzyme break down, leading to more tender beef.

Things get very interesting several pages in the thread when Delfuego chimes in. Before I start putting words in their mouths, lets read the exchange.

Delfuego To Ken - "Thanks so much for all the info on dry-aging! Tried it with pemmican and have been very impressed with the results! Right after your first few posts on the process I thawed out 3 large primal rounds and set them on racks in our frig. I watched as the outsides of the roasts dried out - so far so good, after all I was going to eventually dry the meat for pemmican!

My main interest was toward the inside of the round - was it breaking down enough? I was hoping for lots of enzyme action and a noticeable effect on the muscle tissue. I wasn't disappointed! After the roasts had sat for three weeks, I sliced up 2 of the rounds and to my utter delight the meat was absolutely breaking down - so much so, that the thinner slices weren't able to hang from the wooden skewers I use in my pemmican light box dehydrator! This once tough, heavily muscled, thickly fibered roast had deteriorated to next to nothing!

All joking aside, we've been working extremely hard creating new content in preparation for the free release of our six song EP. I've spent sometime putting together a new website and I would love to share it with you guys. We have some really cool HD videos up, as well as a free live version of the song 'Undertow' available for download.

If you're a fan of melodic rock, you're going to like it.

Check it out and tell me what you think!

My experience is as follows:

Cramps weren't around during the day time, but loved showing up at 3-4am. Waking up - gasping for air - I would grab whatever leg was spasming and immediately leap out of bed to my feet. I would describe the pain as having felt like someone jabbed a knife in my calf and began to twist.

My nightly routine to counter these attacks was to hobble around for 10 minutes until they were gone. Once the cramp finally did go away, it was a toss up if I would wake up again from another cramp. It sucked.

Until now I thought this phenomenon was just part of the acclimation period to a very low carbohydrate diet (VLC) or carnivorous diet. My goal for this post is to garner some thought on the idea that cramps are related to a much bigger problem, a lack of hydrochloric acid (stomach acid).

Hydrochloric acid (HCL) is secreted in response to the food we eat, specifically protein. HCL in large is responsible for the energy intensive task of breaking down protein as well as promoting the absorption of many key vitamins and minerals. HCLs other duties include maintaining the acidic pH of the stomach and warding off bacteria, fungi and pathogens.

When we're low in stomach acid we're opened up to bacterial overgrowth, lowered resistance to infection, and high probability of nutrient malabsorption. If that wasn't bad enough, when the stomach lacks acidity, food will not be emptied into the duodenum for further digestion. Half digested food is now sitting in the stomach, fermenting, causing inflammation, stress and potentially causing acid reflux symptoms.

That's why it's disheartening that in his latest post, he included me in his article to cast doubt upon the efficacy of carnivorous diets.

Mark posted a link to the disturbing picture of my leg that I shared with the world. If I can sum up the whole post in a sentence or two; I was experiencing some kind of deficiency, that was later cured when I ate a higher volume of food (pemmican).

When you experiment the way I do, you're bound to run into a few road blocks. I work through them, I learn and I'm a better man at the end of the day.

My beef with Mark's article is… why chose me? Mark mentions one real life carnivorous eater in his article that happens to be myself. When the reader clicks on the link to my weblog they are greeted with a disgusting picture of my leg with ZERO context. The achievements made by all stars: Charles Washington, Lex Rooker, and Joe Andersen; all would have been better choices to represent what a carnivorous lifestyle can do. Highlighting me, someone that has been diagnosed with mercury and lead poisoning might not be an honest inquiry to the actual legitimacy of carnivory.

While the start of this weblog was to champion the zero carb lifestyle, it has blossomed into more of an open ended experiment guided by what works, and what doesn't. I've never claimed to be a success story, but only that a carnivorous diet has changed my life for the better. The deterioration of my leg in that photo was a small price to pay to win back my hair, good sleep, reduce my stress level, and increase my libido.

Dehydrating The Meat

I believe the dehydration process to be the biggest factor affecting the outcome of the taste of pemmican. I've found that higher temperatures (115F-120F) cause pemmican to have a "jerky-like bite". Daredevil friends of mine that have taste tested this type of pemmican find it to be a lot more agreeable than pemmican dehydrated at lower temperatures. I would guess that the "jerky-like bite" adds a salty taste that is missing from meat dehydrated at lower temperatures.

Meat dehydrated at lower temperatures (95-110F) has what I would describe to be a mellow, more subtle taste. After much experimentation, I've found that I favor lower temperatures for producing pemmican. It takes a few more days to finish the drying process, but I find the mellow taste to be easier to eat; bypassing the sometimes harsh taste of pemmican dehydrated at higher temperatures.

Keep in mind this is purely a taste issue! Try both and see what you prefer. Above all else, make sure the meat is dry enough to snap in half and contains no moisture.

When Lex saw pictures of my leg he graciously offered to supply me with meat as well as an invitation back into the wonderful world of raw paleo. Never being one to turn down free meat, I obliged and a few days later Lex dropped off a weeks worth of his patented mix of Slanker's high fat ground beef and pet food.

The ground beef is standard fair, but the pet food is where things get interesting. Slanker's website states that the mixture consists of trimmings from various beef cuts, heart muscle, jaw muscle, a little organ meat, tongue, plus a relatively small quantity of liver, kidney, and spleen. I'm excited to evaluate how I respond, given that I've only had rendered fat and powdered lean meat for almost a year.

Having had Lex's daily food before, I can say that I really dig the taste of raw meat. Having said that, the added pet food takes some getting used to, but I'm always up for experimentation. Does this mean I'm now RAW ONLY, NO PEMM ALOWED? Of course it doesn't, whether it be an all beef tongue diet or an all pemmican diet, I will always err on the side of how I respond and feel.  

Thanks again Lex!

More pictures after the jump.