Vitamins D, B12, B9, B5, and minerals like iron, calcium, and zinc can help reverse gray hair. Vitamin supplements can also prevent premature hair graying.
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.
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.
However, the rate of hair colour loss is largely determined by your genes. The chances are that you will experience premature greying if your parents do. However, certain nutritional deficiencies and underlying medical conditions may play a role. In these cases, yes, white hair can turn black again.
There isn't a lot of medical data to back it up, but some research does show that magnesium deficiency may be behind some (not all) causes of gray hair. If this is the cause of your greying, then making sure your magnesium stores are optimal could stop or even reverse the greying of your hair.
Your hair follicles produce less color as they age, so when hair goes through its natural cycle of dying and being regenerated, it's more likely to grow in as gray beginning after age 35. Genetics can play a role in when this starts.
It's not possible to reverse or treat gray hair.
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.
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.
Para-Amino benzoic Acid (PABA) and Pantothenic Acid are part of the family of B-complex vitamins. Both of these vitamins are available at health food stores and pharmacies. Use them to postpone the onset of graying.
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.
It might take 2 to 3 months or even a year to recover depending on the age. This is because after a certain age the scalp cells lose their renewal and absorbing abilities and also melanin production stops.
“Eumelanin production increases as we age, and as we age we tend to go grey. Therefore hair may get darker before the greys take over,” she explains.
In traditional Chinese medicine, fo-ti has been used for centuries as a treatment to keep dark hair from graying and to help maintain natural hair color. Fo-ti, or fo-ti root, comes from the plant Polygonum multiflorum (or tuber fleeceflower), which is a perennial herb native to China.