Guava Leaves Promoted as Hair Loss Treatment

Many people want to find natural ways of treating hair loss and can be surprised when the advice from specialists is almost always negative.

That’s not to say that natural remedies can’t help nourish the hair and scalp, helping to improve the condition of the hair you have it’s just that there are no scientific studies that prove that they can actually stop hair falling out and make it grow again. After all, the condition of your hair and a hair loss condition are two separate issues.

A report this month from India, however, claims that guava leaves may just be the magic ingredient that natural remedy lovers have been looking for.

Winter leads to hair fall

Writing on Indian website NDTV.com, journalist Eba Khan notes the issue of seasonal hair loss and says that she dreads winter because it leads to hair fall. “It’s hard to put into words my struggles with hair fall over the years,” she writes, before going on to explain that all the paid-for remedies she has tried have failed to work for her.

Just as she was about to abandon all hope, she writes, she discovered “a miraculous natural ingredient that seemed promising to bring back my crowning glory.”

Khan writes that the leaves of the guava fruit contain vitamin B and C, which “help boost collagen activity required for hair growth.” Once brewed into a kind of "tea" they can be massaged into the scalp to promote hair growth. She quotes a Cosmetic Surgeon/Hair Specialist in her article who asserts that “Guava leaves are a natural remedy for hair growth” and then goes on to extoll the virtues of their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties.

So what’s going on? Are guava leaves the miracle natural hair loss cure the world has been waiting for? Despite diet and nutrition playing an important part of the health of both the body and, therefore, the hair, the answer is almost certainly... no.

What seems to be happening as is often the case when it comes to natural hair loss remedies is that notions about healthy scalps and thinning hair have become a little muddled. While it is true that a scalp that is in tip-top condition will give follicles the best chance of being nourished and put them a prime state for growing hair, certain types of hair loss need a little more TLC (and science) to undo what’s going on.

Strain on the body leads to hair loss

In cases of Telogen Effluvium, for example a generalised full-scalp shedding condition which most commonly affects women the body is reacting to something biological or lifestyle related that is causing it some form of strain. A well-nourished scalp is not what is required to grow the hair back (though it may help); far more beneficial are time, a resolution of the problem that was causing the body to react so badly in the first place, and in some instances telogen effluvium treatment may also be useful.


In cases of genetic hair loss - Male Pattern Baldness or, for women, Female Pattern Hair Loss as it rarely leads to true baldness - profound changes at a biological level cannot be undone by any kind of natural remedy either. What is needed to address this shedding, which affects the top of the scalp only, is a recommended hair loss treatment course featuring clinically-proven components shown to address the underlying cause of these conditions and to promote hair growth.

Again, a healthy scalp can play a part in producing healthy hair growth, but it is only part of a much more complex picture.

Anyone worried that they are losing their hair, whether they can see clear signs of hair loss, a drop in their hair density and volume, or are experiencing sudden hair fall, should have a private consultation with a hair specialist. This way they can obtain a professional diagnosis of their condition, appropriate treatment recommendations based on their findings, and get answers to any queries they may have about the situation.