This is one of the most asked questions about hair care and about hair in general: Why does hair turn gray? or What makes hair turn gray at early age or premature? Your hair turns gray by age, but also there are some instances showing that people can get gray hair at an early age too. Your hair will most likely turn gray around the same age that your parents got their first gray hair.However there are some external effects that can increase turning gray on your hair such as smoking, vitamin B deffiiciency especially B12 and thyroid conditions. Scientific explanation of your hair turning gray is : That has to do with the process of pigment control at your hair called melanin, the same pigment that changes your skin color under the sunlight.
Every hair follicle contains pigment cells called melanocytes. Melanocytes produce a certain element called eumelanin, which has the black or dark brown color, and pheomelanin, which is reddish-yellow, and pass the melanin to the cells which produce keratin, the chief protein in hair. When the keratin-producing cells die, they retain the coloring from the melanin. When your hair first turning gray, melanocytes still exist in your hair but become less active. Less pigment is processed to sent to the hair so it shows a lighter color. As graying progresses, the melanocytes reduces the level at your hair and die off until there aren’t any cells left to produce the hair color.
While this process of turning gray is a part of the aging process which nobody can change, there are also other factors that can make this process faster such as stress, smoking and vitamin B defficiency as we mentioned earlier. Although external factors can make this process faster the main reason is aging which is usually around age 35. We have many other articles in this blog about hair care and hair growth, such as this articles related to:
Products to make your hair grow faster and longer.