McDonald's french fries and curing baldness aren't two words you would normally associate, but alas, scientists from Yokohama National University in Japan have found out that the chemical dimethylpolysiloxane, an additive in fast food french fry oil, has aided in hair growth. According to the Evening Standard, dimethylpolysiloxane is a chemical found in silicone and is added to McDonald's fryers to prevent the cooking oil from bubbling and spitting.
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Japanese scientists studying hair loss have recently discovered that when using the chemical they could mass produce hair follicles which could then be transplanted into mice and grown. Their research seems to suggest this kind of transplant could also work with humans, especially those with male pattern baldness.
In a press release by EurekAlert, a science news website, the new study research is mainly focused on the method of mass producing hair follicle germs (HFGs) and how the germs can reproduce hair follicles at a mass state. In fact, this chemical, which is in our precious McDonald's fries, is able to potentially grow human hair.
Professor Junji Fukuda, author of the paper which focuses on Practical Hair Regeneration Technology which was published in the journal Biomaterials, states that, "This simple method is very robust and promising. We hope that this technique will improve human hair regenerative therapy to treat hair loss such as androgenic alopecia."
The preliminary tests were successful in the mass production of new hair follicles in nude mice. Yes, black hairs sprouted on new mice. So just how many years would it take to see the results? That question has not been answered just yet.
Wait. Is It Safe to Eat McDonald's Fries?
And if you are worrying that eating McDonald's fries are going to make you grow unwanted hair, you don't need to worry. The chemical itself doesn't make your hair grow but rather it acts as a base for the hair to grow properly with hair shaft generation.
According to Inc, McDonald's uses a mixture of vegetable oil, citric acid and dimethylpolysiloxane. The FDA deems it safe to eat if it's less than 10 parts per million in food, or 250 parts per million in salt used for cooking. It's an extremely small amount added just to prevent the oil from spilling, so don't think that eating that bag of fries is going to make you start growing hair.
