How hair turns gray
Hair and skin is colored by a pigment called Melanin. When hair turns gray, it is because it has lost all pigment. And we all know that the absence of color or pigment is white.
When someone decides to have their hair bleached out white, they are removing ALL of the pigment. As we age, hair looses its pigment. People often tell stories of how their hair suddenly turned gray after tragedy or cancer treatment. Although this can happen, it’s not an “over night” process. But rather something that happens over a few weeks, or even months.
Hair can turn gray for a very young adult, which is often called premature graying. This is not an indication of bad health, or even tragedy in their life. It could be simply genetics. Once your hair turns gray, it will not ever go back to being brown, or black or blonde again. Scientifically, this means that new melanin will not grow in a strand of gray hair.
Hormones play a big part in how and when hair turns gray. If you are lacking the hormone HGH, your hair color will change to gray as well as becoming much thinner. Women, who were brunettes before becoming pregnant, sometimes end up having a full head of salt and pepper gray when the baby is only a few months old. Clearly this shows how powerful hormones are. It’s not surprising that they can control the color of your hair.
Poor circulation has been blamed for hair turning gray. This claim is very popular in the Chinese medicine world. Stimulating your scalp, applying lotions and potions are among the many fixes.
How hair turns gray is not so much a mystery, but much more a part of the cycle of life. Gray hair gets a bad wrap in today’s society. It seems to indicate old age in a time when everyone wants to look younger, except for men of course. For men who are showing signs of gray in their hair – the world says he is distinguished and good looking.
There are clear scientific reasons your hair turns gray. The most popular being the loss of pigment in the hair follicle. Other scientific studies show that hormones and illness can cause hair to turn gray as well. Although not proven, it is still a popular belief that stress and sudden tragedy are reasons for hair turning gray.
Some other popular reasons why hair turns gray are smoking, Vitamin B deficiency, thyroid imbalance and of course genetics. So the next time you are stressing over why your hair is turning gray, calm down. You could only be making it worse!
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