Eating more antioxidants Share on Pinterest Eating a diet with lots of antioxidant-rich foods, including vegetables and fruits, may help to prevent hair from graying. A person's diet plays a part in preventing white hair. A diet rich in antioxidants can reduce oxidative stress.
It's not possible to reverse or treat gray hair.
B complex vitamins such as B12, Biotin, and B6 are important for strength and colour of hair. Deficiencies of any of these nutrients are known to promote hair greying. B complex supplements are very useful in preventing greying.
Typically, white people start going gray in their mid-30s, Asians in their late 30s, and Blacks in their mid-40s. Half of all people have a significant amount of gray hair by the time they turn 50.
A new study shows that stress really can give you gray hair. Researchers found that the body's fight-or-flight response plays a key role in turning hair gray. Your hair color is determined by pigment-producing cells called melanocytes.
Reversible hypopigmentation of the hair can be seen in nutritional deficiencies protein-energy malnutrition and diseases of chronic loss of protein. Copper and iron deficiency also can cause graying of hair. A study reported significantly lower levels of copper in patients with PGH when compared to the control group.
Vitamin A, C and B12 are the most needed vitamins to increase the melanin production in your hair. Add citrus fruits like oranges, grapes, pineapple, and melon to your diet. Also eat vegetables like potatoes, carrots, beans, etc. Non vegetarians can try adding red meat, chicken liver, fish, and eggs to their diet.
Although the primary cause of premature hair graying (PHG) is considered to be genetic, certain environmental factors also play a role. Trace element deficiencies such as Vitamin B12, Vitamin D3, and calcium may also be associated with PHG.
Dr. Kraleti doesn't recommend plucking or pulling the hairs out. “If there is a gray hair you must get rid of, very carefully cut it off. Plucking can traumatize the hair follicle, and repeated trauma to any follicle can cause infection, scar formation or possibly lead to bald patches.”
Premature graying may be reversed with vitamin B12 supplementation only if vitamin B12 deficiency is the cause. If you are graying due to other factors, such as genetics, zinc deficiency, and medications, your gray hair cannot be reversed.
There's a commonly held belief that if you pluck it, many more grays will follow in its wake. This is actually a myth—what you do to a single strand can't spread like contagion.
“Plucking one grey hair from a follicle will not give rise to more greys, because there is only one hair that can grow from one follicle. Also, plucking one grey hair will not cause the surrounding hair to turn grey, because greying happens when melanin in that particular hair is affected,” she explains.
When there are fewer pigment cells in a hair follicle, that strand of hair will no longer contain as much melanin and will become a more transparent color — like gray, silver, or white — as it grows. As people continue to get older, fewer pigment cells will be around to produce melanin.
Collagen may help reduce the appearance of gray hair by supporting the healthy structure of the hair follicle (where the pigment that gives hair its color is produced). When collagen creams or gels are applied directly to the scalp, gray hair can appear darker and less dry.
One of the most popular and gentle ways to treat gray hair is using henna powder. Henna is a powdered form of leaves which essentially helps to treat the gray hair when used every month. Henna comes with natural color pigmentation, thus, covering the gray roots easily.
Using baking soda on your hair is essentially gently bleaching it, removing any natural color and leaving your hair looking faded or ashen. This kind of lightening can be really damaging to grey hair, especially if it's already dry or fragile.
The mixture of coconut oil and lemon juice nourishes the scalp and protects the pigment cells, therefore can prevent the growing of grey hair. Besides, coconut oil is rich in strong antimicrobial properties, medium-chain fatty acids and lauric acids, which can help reverse the original color and strengthen your hair.
Scientists still don't know why some people turn gray early, late, or not at all, although they suspect genes, nutrients and possibly the immune system play a role in depleting melanocyte stem cells.
"This is a predestined thing—it's genetic and can happen at any age." With that said, she cites the late thirties as the time at which pubic hair typically begins to gray. Some health factors, however, may accelerate the graying process, says dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, MD.