Very few studies have shown that melanin production can be increased in the human body. One small clinical trial suggests that a prescription medication called nitisinone may help increase melanin in people with a rare disease that causes pale skin and hair and poor vision.
Currently, no safe or proven method exists to increase melanin – the pigment, or color, in a person's skin, hair, and eyes. A person's genetics determine their natural melanin levels and skin color. In general, people who have darker skin tones have more melanin than those with lighter skin tones.
Increase your intake of vitamin E: an antioxidant that helps to produce melanin for skin and shields skin cells from harm. Include items like olive oil, spinach, almonds, avocados, and sunflower seeds in your diet. These foods are abundant in vitamin E and can support the formation of healthy melanin.
Only their spread and production can be curtailed. However, it is not possible to remove melanin from the body permanently, since it is an integral part of our body and provides us with the much-needed protection from the harmful rays of the sun.
It has long been thought that reversal of gray hair on a large scale is rare. However, a recent study reported that individual gray hair darkening is a common phenomenon, suggesting the possibility of large-scale reversal of gray hair.
Your skin cells will start to make melanin again as your affected areas heal. Hypopigmentation will usually go away after a few weeks or months. If you have pityriasis alba, psoriasis or eczema, hypopigmentation usually goes away on its own without treatment. It may take a few weeks or months.
Some people also try to increase melanin production naturally to produce more pigment in the skin to achieve a sun-free tan. However, there is no evidence that taking a supplement or using other methods to increase melanin will give your body a more tanned appearance.
Caffeic acid, a compound present in coffee, was shown to decrease melanin production in B16F10 cells [40] and also diminish UVB-induced hyperpigmentation and dermatitis in a mouse model after oral administration [41].
If the cause of greying is genetic, it is not possible to reverse the process, no matter what some marketers on the internet claim. In case of nutritional deficiencies and underlying medical conditions, you can gradually slow down or even reverse the process.
Melanin binds reversibly to thermostable DNA polymerase and inhibits its activity.
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.
Melanocytes exhibit almost unlimited self-renewal capacity during regenerative processes such as mammalian hair recoloration and zebrafish fin regeneration. Melanoma utilizes many regulatory signals and pathways required during ontogeny and regeneration.
Light therapy or phototherapy is the treatment to help return color to your skin. Your provider will use light boxes, ultraviolet B (UVB) lights or medical-grade lasers directed at your skin for a short amount of time. It can take several light therapy sessions to see results on your skin.
The primary stimulus for melanogenesis and subsequent melanosome production is UV radiation, which upregulates melanocyte production of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) and its downstream products, alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH).
If you have non-segmental vitiligo, your immune system destroys the melanocyte skin cells that make melanin. Vitiligo is also associated with other autoimmune conditions, such as hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid gland), but not everyone with vitiligo will develop these conditions.
Phototherapy To Increase Melanin
In a controlled environment, UV light can actually help safely increase melanin levels in people with vitiligo. Known as phototherapy, this treatment uses specific types of UV light to both suppress the skin's immune system and stimulate melanocytes to produce more melanin.
That said, certain conditions may temporarily restore pigmentation. For example, if greying is caused by a vitamin deficiency, stress, or an underlying medical condition, addressing these issues may slow or even partially reverse greying. However, the complete reversal of naturally aged hair remains a challenge.
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.
The average age of onset of hair graying appears to be mid- to late forties; however, this varies with race, with the average age for Caucasians being mid-thirties, that for Asians being late thirties, and that for Africans being mid-forties.