The Jordan Harbinger Show - 1094: Vanity Products | Skeptical Sunday

Episode Date: December 22, 2024

Balding blues? Magic pills? Mouse juice? Michael Regilio untangles the hairy history of vanity products on this week's Skeptical Sunday! Welcome to Skeptical Sunday, a special edition of The Jordan Harbinger Show where Jordan and a guest break down a topic that you may have never thought about, open things up, and debunk common misconceptions. This time around, we’re joined by skeptic, comedian, and podcaster Michael Regilio! On This Week's Skeptical Sunday, We Discuss: Hair loss treatments have evolved from ancient Egyptian mouse-grinding adventures to modern pharmaceutical solutions like minoxidil and finasteride — though these modern miracles come with some rather unsettling side effects, from growing unwanted breasts to potentially losing interest in, well, everything. Vanity-boosting discoveries often happen through delightfully accidental means — minoxidil started as an ulcer medication, while finasteride's development stems from studying a fascinating genetic condition in a Dominican Republic village where some children experience dramatic physical changes at puberty. Collagen supplements, while sounding like a smoothie made from the entire barnyard, actually show promising results for skin elasticity and cardiovascular health — though their benefits for hair and nails remain unproven despite widespread marketing claims. Teeth whitening has a rather colorful history, from ancient Romans' creative use of public urine collections (yes, really) to modern peroxide-based treatments, which thankfully carry far fewer risks than their historical counterparts. The most empowering approach to appearance-related concerns might be the one suggested by an 18th-century British newspaper: the best cure for something like baldness is simply not being bothered by it. This mindset doesn't just save money and avoid side effects — it offers a path to genuine self-acceptance that no bottle, cream, or ground-up mouse could ever provide. Sometimes the most revolutionary thing we can do is simply rock what we've got. Connect with Jordan on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. If you have something you'd like us to tackle here on Skeptical Sunday, drop Jordan a line at [e-mail] and let him know! Connect with Michael Regilio at Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and make sure to check out the Michael Regilio Plagues Well With Others podcast here or wherever you enjoy listening to fine podcasts! Full show notes and resources can be found here: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Start your free trial today. This episode is sponsored in part by Conspiruality Podcast. You know how I'm always talking about critical thinking and spotting manipulation? Well, there's a podcast that's all about dismantling new age cults, wellness grifters, and conspiracy mad yogis, basically the wild overlap of spirituality and misinformation. It's called the Conspiruality Podcast. The hosts, a journalist, cult researcher, and a philosophical skeptic, dive deep into how this stuff spreads, from Project 2025 and the Heritage Foundation's dystopian vision of the future to how former

leftists get pulled into far-right conspiracies. An interesting episode to check out is called Speaking Truth to Goop, where Jen Gunter breaks down the pseudoscience behind the wellness industry in a way that is super entertaining and eye-opening. It's sharp, funny, and makes you a lot harder to fool, which if you listen to this show, you know I'm all about that. From exploring cults to analyzing our cultural and political landscape, the Conspiruality Podcast will help you stay informed against misinformation and resist fear tactics. Find Conspiruality on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Skeptical Sunday. I'm your host, Jordan Harbinger. Today I'm here with Skeptical Sunday co-host Michael Regilio. On the Jordan Harbinger show, we decode the stories, secrets, and skills of the world's most fascinating people and turn their wisdom into practical advice that you can use to impact your own life and those around you. Our mission is to help you become a better informed, more critical thinker. During the week, we have long-form conversations with a variety of amazing folks from spies to CEOs, athletes, authors, thinkers, performers. On Sundays, though, we do Skeptical Sunday. We're a lot. We're a lot-informed. We're a lot of people. a rotating guest co-host and I break down a topic you may never have thought about

and debunk common misconceptions about that topic. Topics such as why tipping makes no sense, circumcision, ear candling, crystal healing, diet pills, internet porn, and more. And if you're new to the show or you're looking for a handy way to tell your friends about the show. Anyway, I suggest our episode starter packs.

These are collections of our favorite episodes on persuasion, negotiation, psychology, disinformation, cyber warfare, crime, and cults, and more. It'll help new listeners get a taste of everything we do here on the show. Or at least, be intimidating enough to scare them away from the show.

Just visit jordanharbinger.com slash start or search for us in your Spotify app to get started. Vanity. As kids were taught, it's both bad to be vain and that we should look good. Vanity products like hair loss treatments, collagen, drinks, teeth, whitening products, they fill the shelves, they make billions of dollars. The fact is, it's good to look good. Today, skeptic, comedian, and guy feebly attempting to age with grace, Michael Regulio is here to reflect on vanity products.

Hi, Jordan, you're a recognizable figure. I'm sure there's some pressure to be presentable. I don't know how recognizable I am, and yet, yes, I feel a little bit of pressure to look good. I was actually unable to upload a photo for my ski pass because the selfie I took was, quote, a photo of a celebrity, end quote, according to the website. So that felt pretty good. That's amazing. Who did they think you look like? Yeah, not funny. Okay, kidding. Seriously, what'd you do? did you put on like a fake nose and try again?

No, I actually have to go into the office and prove that I'm me because otherwise it's just too unbelievable that Jordan Arbinger would get a ski pass in California where he lives. All right, good luck with that. Look, certain things we do to look good like working out and eating right have health benefits. We look good and we feel good. Certain things we do to look good have health risks like taking drugs to regrow hair. Hair loss is no joke. It can lead to serious depression.

and baldness, for that matter. Yeah, it can. In fact, one study found that some women with breast cancer were more distressed about losing their hair than their breasts. By age 50, 50% of men and women are experiencing some level of hair loss, and 85% of those people experience anxiety. Hair is important, I guess, to both men and women, as long as it's in the right place.

Speaking of which, on average, a human has between 2 and 5 million hairs, of which about 100,000 are on the scalp. So the majority of our hair is not on our head, which I guess makes sense, surface area and all that. Right. And blonde-haired Caucasians have the highest hair density, which I can relate to because as a younger man,

I had a thick blonde shock of hair, but no longer. I now have a thin patch bordering on a bald spot at the back of my scalp. This crop circle used to bum me out a lot. Now it only bums me. out a little. But recently, I've noticed that there are a lot more hair regrowth products and drugs being advertised. Yeah, it would be hard to miss those things. Hair regrowth products, they're having a moment right now, big one. The advertising targets more than just middle-aged dudes now, too.

I remember as a kid, even, is this in the 90s, I guess, reciting the Rogaine commercial. That was in middle school. That was early 90s. Yeah, and all these commercials have made me wonder if I'm, like, missing something. Have there been like some major breakthroughs, just how effective are treatments now? Yeah, I'm doing okay in the battle to hold the hairline, but like all guys, I'm curious about the technology just in case I needed someday, which seems kind of inevitable. Yeah. When I first realized my hair was thinning in the back, I was really insecure about it.

Then one day, I went to the movies with a bunch of friends, and as fate would have it, I was in the row directly in front of my friends. Why weren't you in the row with your friends? Look, I don't want to get into that. Look. But there they were, all staring at the back of my head. Let me tell you something. When you have a bald spot on the back of your head, you might not be able to see it, but you can feel it.

Weird or still, you can feel people looking at it. So it's like you feel a draft, but also lasers. I mean, look, it's not that weird. But sitting alone in the row in front of your friends at the movies, that is weird. Fine. But look, the fact that matters, I could feel the heat from their stairs, those laser. you mentioned. It completely ruined the movie. I was so self-conscious, but somehow after that night, I was less self-conscious. I didn't need to hide it anymore. Everybody knew. Then I began making

jokes about it on stage. Those jokes got laughs, and suddenly, I was okay with my patch. That is, until this new wave of hair replacement advertisements came along. Suddenly, I started feeling all weird again. I could feel my bald patch again. In the advertisements, all these cool dudes are just taking a pill and presto. They have a full head of hair. Even without doing research, though, I know that's not how it works. When I looked at the topic list for skeptical Sundays, I saw this topic and I thought, let's do it. And while researching this topic, let's figure out if I should try one of these treatments. Wow, so this is like a personal episode for you. And I know that subliminal advertising is on the list too. I'm wondering if maybe you should have researched

that first since these ads, they sure seem to have messed you up a little bit, but, you know, Here we are. Okay, so look, obviously, I'm not alone in wanting to go back to a full head of hair. The history of hair replacement goes back thousands of years. In fact, it was around the year 4,000 BCE that ancient Egyptians rubbed their heads with a concoction of ground-up dates, dog paws, and donkey hooves. Ooh, dog paws and donkey hooves. I'm curious why they thought that would work. I'm not sure why specifically they believed animal feet cured baldness, but in general, people losing their hair will believe anything and try anything.

Like another Egyptian cure found in a medical text called the Iber's papyrus, which instructed people to boil porcupine hair and press it to their scalp for four days. Were they trying to grow the porcupine hair? I don't understand. I don't know, but I'm guessing most people would take porcupine hair over no hair. In fact, I bet it would look sharp. Isn't that kind of the point? Indeed. Porcupine hair seems tame. compared to what the father of Western medicine, Hippocrates smeared on his big brain case,

opium, horseradish, pigeon droppings, beetroot, and spices. First, and spices. Second, once you got pigeon boot rubbed on your head, no one is thinking about your hair. That must have smelled horrendous and looked worse. Right, so in a way, it was a cure. I'm also guessing that once you've rubbed enough opium into your scalp, you'll stop caring about your hair. Yeah. You know what? This was an okay treatment for baldness.

Hippocrates did, by the way, tap into the true root of hair loss. For real, he noticed that Unix never go bald, and he wasn't wrong to notice it. He was on to something. Wait, what you mean, the men who had their testicles cut off? That's some Game of Thrones stuff right there. Those guys never go bald, which is funny,

because isn't the guy in Game of Thrones totally bald, the eunuch? I don't know which guy. There's a guy that got his penis cut off. He's got hair, I think. It's been a while since I've seen it. Oh, I don't know. There's a lot of castration in that series, so I'd have to go back. Oh, no, no, no.

No, you're right. There is a guy who's got his balls cut off, and he's totally bald. So they're playing both sides on this one. But look, as we'll see, testosterone and its byproducts are a part of the hair loss equation. I'm guessing no one ever decided to go with Hippocrates and just snip, snip, because they don't want to go bald. Seems like a bad trade. Look, who's to say?

In Rome, around 50 BCE, a popular treatment for balding was to rub mer berries into the scalp. And I'm guessing that also did not work. No, but it probably dyed the scalp purple. Baldness is like a real catch-22. There's nothing more embarrassing than balding, except, of course, getting caught with lame attempts to cover up balding. Totally. The Romans who believed a full head of hair was a sign of favorability with the gods, they were particularly snarky to bald dudes. as illustrated in this famous poem,

on your bald paint, no wig you use. You draw hairs on with no excuse. At least no barber needs to trim it. You can erase it in a minute. I love that the Romans actually spent time, what, chiseling that into stone, a poem, making fun of bald people. They're like, this needs to withstand the test of time.

Make sure this one lasts. Yeah, actually, to be honest with you, the Romans wrote poems making fun of a lot of people. And there wasn't just one about bald people, There's also, how can you have so little hair, yet have it show up everywhere? Man, Rome is a tough room. I'm actually more impressed at the poems rhyme in English. How did that happen?

I'm not sure, but one has to wonder what jokes were made at Julius Caesar's expense as the most famous example of the combover. It's a hard look to pull off. First of all, you can spot one a mile away. No, no, no. Those are just the bad combovers. I've known some guys who take the art form to new levels, truly remarkable how effective a determined man and a bottle of hairspray can be.

I'm thinking of a former president or that movie Kingpin where the guy's comb over flops the other way while he's bowling. It's just hanging out like a platter. Man, look, I never did anything that drastic, except I did once consider converting to Judaism for the Yamaka. Maybe Caesar should have done that. Now it's not a bad idea. Yeah, well, Caesar tried a bunch of stuff, including a home remedy recommended by his lover, Cleopatra, which included ground-up mice and horse teeth. Oh, that's gross. Ground-up mice is gross. Yeah, it didn't work.

Well, that's, yeah, no surprise there either. Ugh. And after he got the ground-up mice wiped off his head, he opted for the cover-up many people eventually adopt. The hat. In his case, a laurel wreath. Oh, I forgot about that. No, but seriously, ground-up mice?

Why? What's the logic on that? No, man, you and the ground-up mice. Hey, look, the mice thing has legs. so to speak. Ireland, around the year 1000 CE, there was a cure that instructed people to

shove mice into a clay jar, seal it, bury it next to a fire, and leave it there for a year. Oh, gosh, more mice. What am I missing here? I mean, mice are hairy. Is that kind of where the logic begins and ends, or what? I'm not sure, man, but look, smearing the dead mouse on his head

was wild, but Caesar was onto something with the wreath. I say bring back the laurel wreath. Can you imagine if dudes wore wreaths instead of baseball caps? I'm not dissing the baseball cap. I'm just very pro-reef. Instead of sweatshops pumping out pollution and baseball caps, we'd have farms growing baseball reets and cowboy reeds. Yeah, I mean, those are biodegradable. And of all the crazy things you've said on this show, and that list, by the way, is impressive. This one is actually kind of interesting.

Time to invest in a wreath farm? Not just yet. Keep me in the loop. California agriculture is having a moment. I guess so, but hair loss has stumped doctors for a very long time. As recently as 1889, doctors believe baldness could be prevented with exercise, fresh air, and good hygiene. That can't hurt, right? If you've got the blood flow going, you're washing yourself once a year or whatever the standard was in 1889. Come on. Totally, you're right. It can't hurt. But if you've got hair loss coming down the genealogy highway, you can't exercise your way out of it. I've always heard that it's something like, oh, your grandfather on your mother's side, and if that guy's bald, you're in trouble. Is there truth to that at all? Although hair loss is hereditary,

that old nugget of wisdom is not necessarily true. So if you're looking at a bald maternal grandfather and worrying about your luscious locks, don't. It might not be your fate thanks to modern advancements. Starting in the late 19th century, the first real treatments began in the form of hair transplants. The early techniques were crude and often resulted in unnatural looking hair. Yeah, to be fair, I've seen some modern examples of hair transplants that absolutely look unnatural. And I think we've all seen that. There's a few famous people with those bad 80s hair transplants, right? Yeah, the fact of the matter is the cutting edge of hair transplants are starting to look really good. Doctors have been refining the techniques that were begun

in the 1950s with the concept of donor dominance. That's a technique that uses hair from the back and sides of the head and transplants them to the top. I'm surprised nobody ever tried sewing dead mice to the top of someone's head. I mean, when did that die out? Those dead mice treatments, they did a number on you. Yeah, man. You know what? I've actually seen a few hair transplants that did look like someone sewed a dead mouse to someone's head. But the problem with hair transplants is that they don't address the root causes of hair loss. Understanding those causes and creating drugs to counter them have changed the game. You know what's better than sewing dead mice carcasses to your bald head? The fine products and services that support this show. We'll be right back.

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You know what makes the holiday special? Those warm, cozy moments at home, the smell of pumpkin pie baking, the joy of sipping hot cocoa with the kids, that sense of togetherness. but there's another way to bring a little extra comfort and peace into your life, no matter what time a year it is. Therapy is not just for moments when life feels like too much to handle. It's a space to invest in yourself, to grow stronger, to develop a toolkit of skills that'll help you tackle challenges with confidence.

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subscribe and contribute to this course. So come on and join us. You'll be in smart company where you belong. You can find the course again for free over at six minute networking.com. Now, back to Sceptical Sunday. Now I know last time during the campaign, cannabis episode, people were like, there's too many puns. I'm just going to say roots of hair loss.

I'm going to let that one slide. Okay. One cause of hair loss is stress, which sucks because losing your hair stresses you out even more. Oh yeah. And then you lose more hair and you stress more because you're going bald and you're losing more hair in the shower. I've actually personally, when business would be like really bad, I've had some periods where I was so stressed, my hair was falling out in clumps. Not like you pull it and there's a big bald spot, but you're just like, oh, normally when I shower, there's 10 hairs on the ground. Now there's 50, and it's my morning shower, and then my evening shower for the gym. And it's, oh, God, it's really terrifying because you just think there's no going back. Luckily, that stress stopped. And I guess my hair grew back, because I still

have all my hair, or at least most of it. Yeah, well, lucky you. Most people over 50 are experiencing some level of hair loss. So what happens on average at age 50? Do we know? Hair loss has probably been happening very slowly since 30, but at 50 you start to notice. Bright overhead light become your enemy. Hair goes through three stages of its life cycle. The first phase is called the antigen phase, and that's where the hair is still growing. Interestingly, the antigen phase for the hair on your head is up to eight years, which is why you can grow your hair so long, while the an eyebrow is just a couple months.

Except for, I have one stray eyebrow hair. and this thing, the antigen phase is considerably longer, possibly infinite. Jen, she'll be like, oh, hold on, I got to get this thing. And she'll pluck this sucker, and of course I want to see it. But if she let this thing go, it would, like, interfere with my eating. This thing goes inches long, and it's just amazing and gross. And it's one of those things where I'm like, okay, when we're both 80, you're not going to be able to see that, and I'm not going to be able to see that.

And our grandkids are going to be like, holy crap. Grandpa's got an eyebrow that's wrapped around his whole head twice. As a comic, I have to say, I'm very impressed. That might have been the first antigen phase joke in history. Phase two is called the catagen phase. This is where the hair is growing dormant and is dying from the inside out. Kind of like me.

That's a dark turn. For a guy that just witnessed the first antigen phase joke in history, I mean, we should be excited about that. We should be celebrating that. Okay. Phase three is called the tealogen phase. The hair pinches often dies. Some hairs can re-enter the life cycle.

Others can't. Scientists now understand that it's hormones that drive these phases. Hormones are the drivers and the brakes on these processes. Hormones determine if you're a shag rug or a hardwood floor. I'm getting way outside of my pay grade here, but dihydro-testosterone or DHT, which comes from testosterone, is a hormone. And I'm totally oversimplifying here, but DHT can send your hair into the telogen phase, and that's bad. So the issue stems from testosterone is in the male hormone. That's why Hippocrates maybe noticed Unix, aka guys with no testicles, all kept their hair.

Once castrated, I guess a guy would, has no testosterone. What, that can't be right? Well, women, by the way, also have testosterone. In fact, I learned that women have more testosterone than estrogen, but they have more estrogen than men. But testosterone, that's for everybody. Yeah, that makes sense. It's been a minute, but that seems obvious now. So why is it that younger men who have more...

more testosterone, right? Their stuff's healthy. They got those 900 counts or whatever. Why do they have more hair? Shouldn't it be less? And why, if women have testosterone, don't they also experience hair loss at similar rates as men? And I know that's two questions, but... And you're asking the wrong guy because, again, this is way past my pay grade, but I did actually ask the same question. And the answer I got was that it's the conversion of testosterone to D.HT. As men age, they have more DHT, which causes hair loss. The other thing that causes hair loss is decreased blood flow to the scalp. A healthy blood flow replenishes nutrients and oxygen. Understanding these mechanisms built the entire hair growth industry. So here's where I assume you're going to tell us about all the drugs on

the market that deal with dh t and whatnot. Yes, but let's go in order of potential side effects. This is a good place to mention that a lot of these treatments work best in tandem with other treatments. One thing that works really well with other treatments has almost no side effects, and that is microneedling. Have you heard of it? I haven't, but that sounds super painful. Needles in general, but microneedling just sounds like there's a lot of needles happening. Yeah, well, I'm surprised. I didn't heard of it either, but microneadling is, it's like a kind of acupuncture for your scalp, except it seems to work.

Okay. Unnecessary jab at acupuncture, although we've done our skeptical Sunday on that as well. What is microneedling, though, exactly? I mean, it sounds like a zillion small needles. Am I close? And it kind of is. Microneedling is using a roller device of really small needles to micrumpure the skin, which promotes blood flow, which in turn promotes hair growth.

Obvious question, does it hurt because a roller device with tons of small needles on it? Sounds like it hurts quite a bit, actually. Yeah, apparently it can. In fact, it can even bleed, which is still better than the side effects of modern drugs. I suppose that makes sense. The idea of doing that to myself, though, is making me feel a little bit sick. Are there any, I don't like herbal treatments that are doing anything? Sure, yeah, there actually are, and they're not all placebos.

Some herbal remedies have been studied, like Salt Palmetto. Oh, I've heard of that. This herb is being investigated for his potential to inhibit the enzyme, which converts testosterone into DHT. DHT, which causes hair loss. And that's why before people right now, they're like warming up their emails, like, testosterone doesn't just randomly convert, there's an enzyme. We know, we just, we didn't want to have to draw hexagons all over the script for this

episode and explain it. But we're taking some serious shortcuts. Yeah. We're going to get into the enzyme because it does some really interesting stuff that we're going to get into in a sec. But the fact of the matter is saw palmetto might actually work. So might laser treatments, which are being studied. The lasers are thought to have an anti-inflammatory effect on the scalp and promote hair loss. But either way, you're getting zapped in your head with a laser and that's pretty sci-fi, kind of cool. Kind of how I imagined all medical procedures will look like in the future someday. day. It reminds me, do you ever see Starship Troopers, that movie? I saw it, yeah. Yeah, I mean, a million years ago, right? But it reminds me of when they were getting a tattoo of their

unit, when there's the montage of them, like, bonding and having fun and going out and get wasted and stuff. Instead of going to a tattoo place, they just hold their arm in front of these lasers that burn the tattoo into their skin, and they're like, yeah, because they're hammered. But it does feel right for a 21st century treatment. It would be weird. If the key to hair laws turned out to be opium and donkey hooves, that would be the surprise. Yeah, that would be weird if the cure for baldness was a drug we had all along, like caffeine, which, in fact, turns out to be an effective treatment for growing hair. No way.

How was that possible? Everybody's been drinking coffee for, what, centuries and tea before that for a thousand years? If caffeine cured baldness, there would just be no baldness, except for Mormons. They're blonde and have that thick hair, but they abstain from caffeine. Those guys would all be bald. just because I've had a conversation with a Mormon recently about this, it's not caffeine that they're not allowed to have. It's hot drinks, which was interpreted as coffee and tea. And most Mormons are soda pop addicts. Really? Full of caffeine. Yeah. Okay, I always thought it was caffeine. Hot drinks, that's a kind of a weird prohibition. I understood the caffeine because it gives you a mood lift and maybe that was the logic. But now we just don't want you to have warm stuff. Kind of a little bit more abstracted. We can get into Mormons another day. But look, I'm trying to be respectful. They know how I feel about.

spiritual belief, but they're still welcome to listen to the show and learn about hair loss. Absolutely. God bless. Anyway, you said drinking, and that was your mistake because who said anything about drinking? This is caffeine that you would apply directly to your scalp. Wow. So are people rubbing coffee on their heads, which I guess is brown like some people's hair, and also not as bad as horse teeth and pigeon poop, but comes in slightly behind opium

in terms of the fun factor. Yeah. The best part of waking up is having folders grounded. into the back of your head does have a certain ring to it, but no, it's not coffee, but cream, a caffeine cream. Okay. Other new treatments include platelet-rich plasma in which a person's own blood cells are injected into their scalp.

Ooh, I'm glad you told us it's a caffeine cream. I get some emails from people that I'm like, we did not advise you to do that on feedback Friday. That's the whole do your own research before applying anything you hear on the show, and people are like, of course I will. Because I don't want a dozen emails from people who dump scalding hot black coffee on their head as the result of this episode. They're like, yeah, it also promotes blood flow and it has caffeine. People have done some insane stuff as a result of the advice here. So I'm highlighting that it's

likely a prescription caffeine cream that is for applying to your head. What about the biggest dog on the balding block, which is Rogaine, and not to be confused with Spotify's most popular podcaster. Yeah. Okay, so here we go with this stuff with side effects. The active ingredient in rogane is monoxidil. Monoxidil was developed to treat high. hypertension. Actually, it was developed to cure ulcers, but it didn't work for that, but it did lower blood pressure, so it was approved for blood pressure, but it ended up growing hair on people's head, so they just switched it to that. Wow. Okay. So it started as ulcer medication, switched to a blood pressure medication, then switched to hair loss medicine. So they just sort of,

it seems like they just tripped and stumbled into the hair game. Yeah, pretty much. Medoxidil works by increasing blood flow to the scalp and everywhere else. As one would expect when taking an ulcer slash hypertension slash hair regrowth slash dessert topping medication, there are side effects like ankle swelling, headaches and dizziness. That's definitely not good. Other side effects include reduction in libido, reductions in overall feelings of well-being, and increases of male breast tissue. Oh man. That's a hell of a catchphrase. Menoxidil, grow hair and breasts and also maybe completely lose interest in sex and life altogether. That's horrible. Yeah, it's not always an easy choice. Plus, the hair growth is only effective as long as you're on

monoxidil. So it's either take it for life or stop at some point and watch your hair fall back out. So monoxidil might not be for you. There's always finisteride. That's the drug in all the other big brands, like propitia. I have heard of that one. Actually, I thought that was something else, but I have heard of that. The history of Finisteri turns out to be an interesting one as well. It all started with the study of a group of intersex children in the Caribbean who were raised as girls, then at puberty, grew external male sex organs. Wait, you're saying these girls grew penises.

Tell me what you mean right now, Michael Regulio. This is so bizarre. Okay. That's not quite what I'm telling you. What I am telling you is that these individuals who appear to be female at birth and are raised as girls grow penises at around 12 years of age. And usually they'll switch from identifying as girls to identifying as boys. They're called Guava Doses, which in Spanish means penis at 12. Right.

Okay. Oh, my God. I have no idea what this has to do with people growing hair. But I think everyone's on the same page when I say we absolutely. are going down this rabbit hole right now. People growing a penis spontaneously is way more interesting than anything else we could have planned for this show. So can we do that?

This is so weird. Of course, you're right. And it is super interesting. And it does, by the way, have to do with hair regrowth. It all has to do with a genetic condition that is incredibly rare everywhere on earth except one small village in the Dominican Republic called Salinas. In Salinas, one out of 90 boys are born. with this condition. Before any of this was understood, one would have been justified in saying that

in Salinas, one out of 90 girls born, turn into boys at around 12 years of age, which is what people used to think. Hey, ladies, did you grow a penis at age 12? If not, console yourself with the fine products and services that support this show. We'll be right back. This episode is sponsored in part by Flykit. If you travel internationally, you know how brutal jetlight can be. Used to wipe me out for days, sometimes even weeks after a trip, and as I get older, it kind of seems longer. Until I found FlyKit, which is amazing, really, truly, like a kind of a miracle product, I've used it on countless trips, and I've heard from many of you who've tried it as well, saying how much it helped you beat jet lag and actually enjoy your time overseas.

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play on comparing auto rates. Quote at progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Comparison rates not available in all states or situations. Prices vary based on how you buy. This episode is also sponsored by Factor. Jen started ordering Factor meals a few months ago, and it's been absolutely fantastic. She's juggling work, the kids, you name it, and Factor makes it easy to have delicious, healthy meals ready in just a few minutes. Even when the in-laws come over, so yes, even my picky parents, there's something for everyone. They're actually impressed. And I have to say, I am as well. I love the taste and the nutrition is actually there. I'm like the crap my parents usually

eat. Jen loves that factor tastes all the hassle out of meal time. So there's no shopping. There's no prep. There's no cleanup. The meals are chef prepared and dietitian approved. There are 35 options, 35 every week to pick from. So there's always something new to try plus extras like smoothies and press juices, which I kind of thought were going to be whack, but they're actually really good. It's perfect for feeding everybody without lifting a finger. And the meals, like I said, are super good. They're actually good on like a lot of these food delivery kind of services. I'm actually hooked as well. Factor's protein-packed meals were awesome for staying on track with my macros. I dieted, as they all know, a few months ago, and this is what I ate primarily.

There's options like truffle butter, filet mignon, garlic herb-roasted baramundi, really next-level stuff that you usually don't get delivered to your house. Factors cheaper than takeout, but the meals are just as good as something you would actually get at a restaurant. And since they're fresh, never frozen, you can actually trust the quality. Head to FactorMeals.com slash 50 Jordan and use code 50 Jordan to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping. That's code 50 Jordan at factormeals.com slash 50 Jordan to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping while your subscription is active. Thank you for listening to and supporting the show. It is your support of our sponsors that keeps the lights on around here. All the deals,

discount codes, and ways to support the show are over on the website at Jordan Harbinger.com slash deals. Now, for the rest of Skeptical Sunday. So, okay, it's a genetic condition. Because I'm thinking, how have I never heard of this if it's so common? But this is starting to make some sense because Dominican Republic is on an island. Is Salinas also an island? I don't know. It's a small village. So what's the condition? Do we know anything? What's going on here? As we know, at conception, a person destined to be a girl has a set of X chromosomes. Well, a person destined to become a boy has an X and a Y. Then at around eight weeks after conception, the sex hormones kick in. If you're genetically male, the Y chromosome instructs your gonads to become

testicles and sends testosterone is to something called the tubercle. And the testosterone is converted into Dht. Ah, yes, DHT. I'm starting to see the connection here. And the DHT turns the tubercle into a penis. In Guvedosays, the reason they don't have what we would recognize as a penis when they are born is because they are deficient in an enzyme, which we mentioned earlier, called 5 alpha reductase, which converts testosterone into D.HT. But at puberty, when genetic males get a second blast of testosterone, they finish growing the penis. This is why people believed that these girls were growing a penis at 12. This is flat out incredible.

So at birth, they're believed to be girls. It's not like some sort of weird superstitious thing. They just, they look like maybe every other girl. They're raised as girls. and then it's like, oh, Miguel is actually a boy. Let's have a party. Yeah. Wow.

That opens up a whole host of new questions, and we still haven't even discussed how this has anything to do with hair loss or finisteroid. Oh, my gosh. You're right. It does open up a whole host of new questions, and I'm sure we could do a whole episode here. So I'll just hit you with this little fact that I thought was so interesting, despite being raised as girls' most guavidosaes grow up to be heterosexual males.

So much for the people who think you can turn someone gay or turn someone straight, sorry gay conversion advocates. Yeah, I don't need to learn about Guavedosa's to understand that. Gay conversion has been an intellectually bankrupt idea for a long time. And this whole thing with the enzymes and stuff has profound implications for people that are transgender or all this stuff that we're just now beginning to fully understand. But you haven't told me how this has anything to do with Finisteriite. Are we getting back to that?

Yes, right now. It's because Gueva Doses had smaller prostates due to their genetic disorder. Scientists used what they learned about Guavidosaes to help people with enlarged prostates. It was in studying Guava doses that scientists were able to develop finisteride. Wait, finisteriite is for hair growth, not enlarged prostates, or is it for both? Yeah. Turns out the taking finisteride grows hair. That's the hair growth industry's motto.

Someone will accidentally invent something for us. How effective is this? can increase hair growth by 20%. It can reduce hair loss in 90% of people. It increases hair thickness by 20 to 30%. I mean, that all sounds pretty good, but does it make you spontaneously? Well, I guess if it makes you grow a penis, most guys would be fine with that. I don't know if women maybe should take this. It kind of has the opposite effect because it can also cause erectile dysfunction, suicidal thoughts, depression, and low sex drive. That all sounds pretty bad. man, they never tell you to appreciate your side effect free head of hair when you're young, do they?

No, they don't. But those are just possible side effects. For lots of people, these options work out great, especially when done in conjunction with other stuff like microneedling. Hair is so important that we're going to risk erectile dysfunction, suicidal ideation, we're going to rub poop and opium on our scalp, stab ourselves in the head thousands of times to grow it or keep it. Yep. So that's Vanity Product number one. You are also going to tell us about collagen drinks, which just can't, sounds fake to me, and it always has.

Guess what? Collagen is all the rage. Influencers and celebrities are downing collagen drinks like crazy. Collagen drinkers claim collagen gives them healthier, younger-looking skin, hair, and nails. And since the natural collagen our bodies make provides support for these very tissues, these claims actually seem plausible. It sounds cool, but it also kind of sounds like, oh, Rhino Horn makes your wee-wee work better. It's a little bit too much of a direct connection for me, but what exactly is collagen?

Collagen is a protein. It's the most common protein found in the body. It is in skin, hair, nails, bones, cartilage, and tendons. It works with other stuff in our body to give our skin its moisture and elasticity. It's also partly what hair and nails are made of. collagen also helps wounds to heal. So I assume our bodies make it. Why do I need to eat it, for example? Okay, well, our bodies do produce collagen using foods like bone broth, meat, and fish, but old man, time, sun exposure, smoking, and drinking decreases the amount we produce. Although I'm sure smoking sun and sipping booze deplete collagen, I'm guessing time is 90% of it or whatever the real factored player.

There's just no amount of sobriety in the shade that's going to keep you from looking old. Yeah, and that's true. Over time, our bodies make less and less collagen, and no matter what we drink, we get brittle bones, and we get all wrinkly. So in our never-ending quest to slow the hands of time, people have taken to gulping collagen. And where does all the collagen come from, that we're gulping? Because it's going to be something gross, for sure. Right. Well, you're not wrong. Mostly from cows, pigs, chickens, and fish. Nothing like a big glass of cow chicken pigfish juice. Ooh, yeah, you did find a way to make this gross, too. However, it almost had some. be, right? So, Bravo. Before I imbibed cow chicken, Pischvig juice, let me ask, does it actually work? Because if it does, I'll suffer through it. Yeah, several studies have been conducted, and results are promising,

particularly when it comes to the skin. The others found that taking collagen supplements daily for at least three months improved skin elasticity and hydration and reduced wrinkles. In addition, another study found that collagen supplements were linked to improvements in cardiovascular health, including blood pressure and cholesterol levels. All right. Sounds great. Get them animals in the blender. In addition, another study showed that men who drink the barnyard slurry while working out

showed increased muscle strength compared to those who just took a placebo. Okay, I've heard way protein, like protein made from eggway. Basically, the stuff you see meatheads like me drinking on the regular is better for building muscle than collagen. And I will say, like, the study shows that consuming protein helps with muscle growth. It's like, okay, that's not new. Yeah, and you're right. Way is better for building muscles, but if you're already drinking collagen for skin health,

this might be an extra added little benefit. Are there risks, though? No, not really. According to recent study, collagen is safe and carries very low risk of side effects, even at really high doses. I guess you can safely drink the entire cow. The only caveat I saw is that there's no real evidence

that collagen is beneficial to hair and nails. Yeah, that's okay. We always have our jars of porcupine hair and pigeon crap for that. I live in Southern California, and I can tell you that if you want to look good, there's something to that staying out of the sun advice. Well, yeah, Hollywood. I mean, tans are out and spray tans are in, and you see older folks that go to the beach every day, and they look like they've smoked their whole life, even if they're super healthy. Absolutely. You know what else is in is teeth whitening. And I've seen people whose teeth are so bright you get a tan just from standing in front of them. In fact, I kind of have this public service announcement. There is such a thing as two white of teeth. I'm looking at you, local newscasters.

I have noticed this. And I thought, oh, is it the lighting? But it's like veneers plus teeth whitening plus makeup plus the lighting. And I have noticed some insanely white teeth out there, not just on TV as of late, especially when I go to L.A. for meetings. I'm like, what is with everyone's teeth? You got to wear sunglasses and look at these people smile. That's true.

But actually, it's not just as of late. Our old friends, the Egyptians, started tooth whitening 4,000 years ago. They had a paste made of ground pumice stone and wine vinegar. Then, like now, white teeth were a sign of beauty and wealth. Back then, though, just having teeth at all was probably a sign of beauty and wealth. I mean, didn't people lose their teeth when they were like 20? Yeah, absolutely. But you're going to love this one.

Look, the Romans, they had a great way of whitening teeth. I bet they did. They used urine. Oph. The ammonia in the urine was the bleaching agent. Oh, this is, it's so weird. I did not expect this episode to be the grossest episode ever of Skeptical Sunday. I thought for sure it would be like circumcision or something like that. How did you make this grosser than the plastic surgery episode? It's really impressive. Oh, yeah. It's gross. And you'll notice, by the way, I did not say they used their urine to clean their teeth.

Oh, no. I just said they used urine. I couldn't find where they actually. got the urine to clean their teeth, but don't just assume because there were lots of places to get urine in ancient Rome. They used it for a bunch of stuff. They washed their clothes in it. Oh, this is so far off the topic of teeth whitening, but tell me more. No, it's not that far off of tooth whitening because, like I said, it's the properties in the urine that whitened the togas that also whitened the teeth. In ancient Rome, there were giant pots placed in front of laundry businesses. Anyone could pee in the pot.

In fact, the owners encouraged you to pee in their pot. Later, it would be collected and used to clean clothes or possibly whiten teeth. So everybody had a pot to piss and seems equitable. That's got to be where that expression comes from, for sure. Maybe not. Never mind. That was the Romans. In the late 1700s, the barber took care of your teeth.

He did normal stuff to whiten your teeth, like filing them and applying acid to them. Oh, my gosh. I barely trust my rubber to cut my hair, but I can think of two things wrong with using a file and acid to whiten teeth. My gosh, that is, they made mistakes with that that just ended horribly. Oh, yeah. Luckily, we discovered fluoride in the 19th century, which is better for tooth health than acid, but actually fluoride stains teeth. But it's not the real problem, like coffee and tea. Tooth whitening works by using bleaching agents.

The most common today are hydrogen peroxide and... carbamide peroxide. And the terrible side effects are none. Really? Really? Wow. Yeah, there is a risk of increased tooth sensitivity. I did find a horror story of a woman in the UK having her lips swell up like balloons, but after further reading, turns out she just went to some random person's house and God knows what this person put on her teeth. For the most part, it's safe. If you want white teeth, Go for it. I just think super white teeth look weird, especially on high-deaf TV, particularly in front of a green screen weather map. But hey, that's just me. Yeah, I almost wonder if the computer's making that worse, but they have to know. Gosh, her lips swelled up. It must have been the donkey hooves or whatever. But those giant white newscaster teeth always remind me of that movie something about Mary.

I was trying to think of the name of the movie. Yeah, that is a hilarious movie. It turns out white teeth come with half the headaches as a fresh news. head of hair in terms of the side effects and all that. What about that bald spot? Are you going to do something about that? Probably not. For one, I'm married, so she's stuck. And for two, in researching this topic, I decided that I disagree with the notion that

there's anything about me that needs to be cured. In fact, I was reading this old British newspaper from the 1700s when they had sham cures for baldness coming out. And the author said that the best cure for baldness is to just not be bothered by it. And I thought, you know what, that sounds great. Definitely has the least side effects. So that's what I'm going to go with. Unless, of course, a cheaper, more effective method

with fewer side effects comes out, then I'm all in. Thanks, Michael, and thank you for listening. Topic suggestions for future episodes of Skeptical Sunday to me, Jordan at Jordan Harbinger.com, show notes on the website as well at Jordan Harbinger.com. Advertisers, deals, discounts, and ways to support the show, all at Jordan Harbinger.com slash deals. I'm at Jordan Harbinger on Twitter and Instagram.

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn. You can find Michael Regulio at Michael Regulio on Instagram. Tour dates are up now as well. We'll link to that in the show notes because nobody can spell Regulio. This show has created an association with Podcast One. My team is Jen Harbinger, Jace, Sanderson, Robert Fogarty, Ian Baird, Millio Campo, and Gabriel Mizrahi. Our advice and opinions are our own.

And I'm a lawyer, but I'm not your lawyer. Certainly not a doctor. So do your own research before implementing anything you hear on the show, especially when it involves putting something in or on your body. Also, we may get a few things wrong here and there, especially on Skeptical Sunday because these topics are so involved. If you think we really drop the ball on something, definitely let us know. We're usually pretty receptive to that, and you all know how to reach me, Jordan at Jordan Harbinger.com. Remember, we rise by lifting others.

Share the show with those you love. And if you found the episode useful, please share it with somebody else who could use a good dose of the skepticism and knowledge that we doled out today. In the meantime, I hope you apply what you hear on the show so you can live what you learn. And we'll see you next time. If you're looking for another episode of the Jordan Harbinger show to sink your teeth into, here's a trailer for another episode that I think you might enjoy. What I tried to do was thank a thousand people who had even the smallest role in making my cup of coffee possible. And a thousand years ago, oh, that's not a lot.

It's a lot. Oh, my God. It was a lot. A hundred people would be a tedious. No, it was way more than I anticipated. Ten times that many. Everything we do requires 100. thousands of interconnected people and that we take for granted.

And just making this mental switch, just from a selfish point of view, is very good because it really does help you appreciate the hundreds of things that go right every day instead of focusing on the three or four that go wrong. There's a great quote. I wish I'd come up with it myself, but it says it's easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than to think your way into a new way of acting. So I had to fake it for a long time. You know, I would wake up in a grumpy mood,

but I'd be like, I have to spend an hour calling or visiting people and thanking them. And I'm not in the mood to do that. No. So it was like acting. It was like method acting. And I would force myself to do it. But I'll tell you, by the end of that hour, your mind, you know, the cognitive dissonance is too much.

Your mind will switch over to gratefulness. There's a great quote that happiness does not lead to gratitude. gratitude leads to happiness. Having that mindset really will make you happier. For more with AJ Jacobs and his fascinating journey to thank everyone involved in his cup of morning coffee and an inside look at just how complex the supply chain of our lives really is, check out episode 174 of the Jordan Harbinger Show.

This episode is sponsored in part by Something You Should Know podcast. Finding a new great podcast shouldn't be this hard, so let me save you some time. If you like the Jordan Harbinger show, you'll probably like something you should know with Mike Carruthers. It's one of those shows that makes you smarter in a practical, useful way. Same curiosity vibe we go for here, just in a fast-focused format. Mike brings on top experts and asks the exact questions that you'd want to ask, and the topics are all over the place in the best way. Recently, they've covered things like why we care so much

what other people think, the benefits of laughter, why sports fans get so invested, and what makes people like you or not. The through line is always the same. Smart ideas you can actually use in real life. Something You Should Know has been featured in Apple's shows we love, and it's got thousands of five-star reviews because it's consistently interesting. So if you want another show that scratches that I want to understand how people in the world really work, Itch, search for something you should know wherever you get your podcasts. Look for the bright yellow light bulb and start listening. You can thank me later.