Why Do Hair Turn Grey?

Just like any other day, you’re looking at yourself in the mirror for the 14th time, wondering how you could change your look. You smile at yourself, pleased with your outfit choice for the day, when suddenly, without any warning, you discover that your worst nightmare is finally coming true.

What is it?

Why Does Hair “Go Grey”?

We all know that as we age, our hair starts to get grey, and then white, and then probably fall out. Basically, we lose the color that our hair has been for our whole life. However, some people don’t have a single strand of grey hair at 40, yet other people start finding grey hair before they hit 20. Why is there such a huge difference? More importantly, why does this happen in the first place?

Genes at Play

The most important thing to remember is that genes play a vital role in the greying of hair. In other words, if you have begun to notice grey hair more and more often, then it’s time you asked your parents (or grandparents) when they first started spotting their grey hair.

There is a good chance that you will start to spy those pesky grey hairs at about the same age as your parents. As always, genes always seem to play a role in our appearance!

The Scientific Angle

To better understand the greying of hair, let’s consider a single strand of hair.

A strand of hair consists of 2 parts:

1. Shaft (the black part that you see on your head)

2. Root

Now, the color definitely appears on the shaft, but the real coloring action occurs in the root. The root is surrounded by a tube of tissues (called follicles), which are made up of small cells. These cells produce a chemical called Melanin, which gives color to hair.

Now, as we grow older, these melanin-producing cells start to die down, which is why the black, brown, red, or blonde color of the hair begins to fade and turn white.

How Can You Prevent Hair from Greying?

Well, as the video shows….you can do NOTHING to save your hair from greying. Aside from dying your hair with harsh chemicals and spending money on beauty treatments, you can’t reverse this aspect of the aging process, nor bring those important cells back to life.

It is simply a process that naturally takes place on its own as you age. There have been major changes in the opinions of grey hair over the centuries. Sometimes it is seen as a sign of erudition, wisdom, and class, while other generations have done everything possible to hide the fact that they were aging.

Personally, I’ve always seen grey hair as a sign of wisdom, so what’s the harm in that? We all want to be a bit wiser, don’t we?