Look of hair is an important factor on an attractive appearance. Most people know it and that’s why they try to take care of their look. Hairdressers, barbers, hair care products or hair health tourism are the ways how we look after our hair. Surely, there are a few characteristic hair colors for people. However, some might have differences from the “normal” who make the world more vivid and flashy.
White/gray/silver hair is seen quite normal for elderly. Therefore, some cultures even accept it for being a wise person and are proud of it. However, when it comes to younger generations, some may not be happy with it and would want to enjoy colorful view for some time. There are several reasons why human hair turns into grey early. What describes the meaning of early greying? What kind of measure we can take home for help our hair in traditional ways? Let’s check out the
explanations and suggestions:
The human body has hair follicles which are small sacs covering up the skin. These follicles generate hair and color, in other words pigment cells that includes melanin. In time, hair follicles cannot generate that much pigment cells, that ends up in white hair color. It’s the scientific explanation of the process. Nevertheless, there are more specific reasons that lead to losing pigment cells such as vitamin deficiencies, real-life stress etc. When it comes to analyzing the reasons, it depends on the culture and geography for definition of premature greying. Europeans wouldn’t appreciate greying before the age of 20, it rises to the age of 25 for Asians and lastly the age of 30 for Africans. Moreover, experts point out that premature greying is a common problem in the world. It is becoming widespread as cough and cold.
1- Vitamin deficiencies
Vitamins are one of the most basic needs of our body and they surely affect the health of our hair. Some studies show that vitamin D-3, vitamin B-12 and deficiency of copper have connection to graying hair.
For example, a vitamin B-12 deficiency is associated with a condition called pernicious anemia, which is when human body can’t absorb enough of this vitamin. Our body needs vitamin B-12 for healthy red blood cells, which carry oxygen to cells, including hair cells. A deficiency can weaken hair cells and affect melanin production.
If premature greying is linked to the lack of vitamin, there are a few ways to address the problem. It is suggested to take supplementary vitamin pills to compensate the deficiency as a medical way. Another option is to balance the diet regarding the needs of our body.
2- Genetics
Our genes are what makes us truly “us”. For this reason, any hair greying which is causing from the genes are not something we can control. In order to distinguish such factor, you can take a quick look at your family and upper generations. If you realize such a change at your early age, it’s likely that your ancestry had the same condition.
3- Certain medical conditions
Some medical conditions such as autoimmune diseases can also cause premature hair greying. A typical example of it is thyroid disfunctions which there is a public research about. It shows the connection between thyroid disfunctions and hair problem.
4- Real-life stressors
Stress is like an ivy that covers a tree and weakens it in time. A farmer should stop them from growing on his/her tree due to protect it. We need to take control of our stress in order to protect ourselves. Stress is the key factor to a lot of different diseases. Our hair would be affected by the level of our stress, as well. There is even a study that proves the connection between stress and a depletion of stem cells in the hair follicles.
📌 You can check out our article about stress-related hair diseases.
5- Smoking
Smoking is a problem like stress which affect a huge scope in human body. Nutriciency of hair cell is quite important for the health of hair. Smoking, at some point, would constrict blood vessel that leads to reduce blood flow to hair follicles. There is an interesting study has been conducted by the Indian Dermatology Online Journal over more than 200 people. The study shows us that smokers are prone to have premature greying more than nonsmokers.
How can we help our hair protect its health?
Basically, it depends on the roots of the problem. If it originates in medical problems, then there are some treatments regarding the disease. When it comes to stress or smoking, trying to canalize our lifestyle is the basic solution. We should seek the level of stress that would not traumatize our physical health anyway. However, besides having such addressings to the problem; we can help our hair, hair follicles etc. by supporting with some traditional methods:
Applying coconut oil infused with curry leaves, using henna or massaging the hair with traditional Indian black seed oil is a supplementary way to prevent premature greying.
📌 To learn more about natural remedies, read our article about Natural Remedies and Tips For Hair Maintenance
Photo Resources
- worthpoint.com
- time.com
- matrix.com
- medicalnewstoday.com
