Nearly one in 10 people over 60 years of age is "naturally blessed" to have not a single grey hair on their head, says a new research conducted in more than 20 countries.
Grey hair and genetics
The age at which a person's hair turns grey is influenced by the IRF4 gene, and one specific variant (rs12203592) is a marker for premature greying. The IFR4 gene controls that activity of another gene called TYR, which encodes an enzyme that is needed for melanin production.
More likely than not, at some point in your life, your hair will start to go gray. Some individuals can maintain hair color well into their older age, but most do not. Opinions about gray hair vary, but understanding why it happens can help change the narrative around gray hair. After all, it's a natural aging process.
"While it's a natural part of aging for most of us, not everyone automatically turns gray when they hit the age of 50," she says. "Some people in their 80s don't have gray hair yet, while others get white hair in their late teens," she adds.
However, there are some general trends. According to the article, “graying typically begins in the mid-30s for Caucasians, the late-30s for Asians, and the mid-40s for Africans."
Your hair doesn't turn gray — it grows that way.
A single hair grows for one to three years, then you shed it — and grow a new one. As you age, your new hairs are more likely to be white. "Every time the hair regenerates, you have to re-form these pigment-forming cells, and they wear out," says Oro.
Don't assume that grey hair makes you look older
Hair naturally loses pigment as we age, but stylist Paul Falltrick points out that the notion that grey hair makes you look older is increasingly becoming a misnomer: "Grey shades can be stereotyped as ageing, but a clean-looking grey is stunning" he says.
It can be inherited from either parent. The color of our hair is determined by the form of hair pigment that we have. The pigment is actually produced along the hair shaft, and there are two main forms of hair pigment. There's eumelanin and pheomelanin.
Despite the claims made online and by product marketers, it's not possible to reverse white hair if the cause is genetic. Once your hair follicles lose melanin, they can't produce it on their own. As melanin production slows, your hair turns gray, and then white when melanin production has completely stopped.
Everyone will go gray at some point or another — but it's up to you to decide how to react to those silver strands. Do you have questions about ways to stay healthy and prevent signs of aging, including gray hair?
Just like the hair on the head, the hair on the rest of the body, including the pubic area, is subject to graying. As people age, their skin produces less melanin. Melanin is the pigment responsible for giving skin and hair its color.
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.
Vitamin B-12 deficiency is one of the most common causes of prematurely graying hair. Researchers have noted that vitamin B-12 deficiencies are often concurrent with folic acid and biotin deficiencies in people whose hair has started to turn gray early.
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.
Iron deficiency can also lead to grey hair. Iron is a vital mineral that helps create haemoglobin – the substance found in RBCs. Lacking an adequate amount of iron means lesser blood cells, which leads to insufficient oxygen supply to your scalp. Naturally, this causes grey hair at a young age.
Since baking soda is a scrubbing agent, washing your hair with it can gradually strip the dye from your locks. Baking soda can lighten all hair colors, but it might take a few washes to get your hair to the desired color.
Is Hair Color Inherited from Mother or Father? Hair color comes from both parents through the chromosomes passed onto their child. The 46 chromosomes (23 from each parent) have genes made up of DNA with instructions of what traits a child will inherit. The results can be surprising.
Genetics and Eye Color
You inherit one from the mother and one from the father. If the two alleles of a specific gene are different (heterozygous), the trait that is dominant is expressed (shown). The trait that is hidden is called recessive. Brown eye color is a dominant trait and blue eye color is a recessive trait.
'As we lose pigment in our hair, we also lose it in our skin' she explains. 'It's a gradual process, so our hair colour should reflect this. ' Basically, as your skin tone lightens with age, so should your hair colour.
Generally, these colours will make anyone appear older: black, cool dark brown, fiery red, yellow blonde, mousy blonde and dark grey. There's a common opinion that platinum blonde and silver hair dye age you, but we don't believe so.
It also found that one in 10 people over 60 had no grey hairs at all. Your race can play a part in when you start to notice the first signs of greying. In general, Caucasians start to go grey in their mid-30s, Asians in their late-30s, and Africans in their 40s.
Slowing Down Gray Hair
According to the LiveStrong Foundation, women may begin a vitamin regimen in order to prevent and/or slow the graying process which includes the following vitamins: Vitamin B12, Vitamin E, Vitamin B9, and PABA. This is the recommended protocol: when you eat breakfast, take 2mcg of vitamin B12.
It's estimated that 74% of people aged 45 to 65 have at least some gray in their manes. To understand why hair may gray at the temples first, it's helpful to understand why hair turns gray to begin with.