The Biology of Hair Loss

Your body turns testosterone into DHT using the enzyme 5α-reductase. DHT is 5–10× more potent at the androgen receptor[2] — and in susceptible scalps, that potency is what shrinks follicles. Watch the molecules flow: every drop of DHT that reaches the follicle does damage.

Across successive hair cycles, DHT shortens the anagen (growth) phase. Each new hair is thinner, shorter, and less pigmented than the last — until terminal hair is replaced by fine vellus fuzz.[3] This is the single mechanism behind male pattern hair loss.

The protocol's core move: block the enzyme, not the hormone. Natural inhibitors (saw palmetto, EGCG, pumpkin seed oil, lycopene) and pharmaceuticals (finasteride, dutasteride) occupy the enzyme's active site, so testosterone passes through untouched — no DHT, no follicle damage, and your T stays high.[4]

Here's the counterintuitive part: skeletal muscle inactivates DHT with the enzyme 3α-HSD before it can bind androgen receptors.[5] So blocking DHT doesn't cost you a gram of muscle — testosterone is the anabolic signal, and it never left. This is why TRT + finasteride preserves performance in trials.[13]