Your hair turns gray or white from a loss of melanin, a pigment-producing component that produces melanoma cells. These make up your natural hair and skin color.The less melanin you have, the lighter your hair color. Gray hair has minimal melanin, while white has none.As you age, it’s natural to lose melanin in your hair. In fact, it’s estimated that the odds of your hair turning gray increase up to 20 percent each decade after you hit your 30s. Some people see grays a bit sooner due to health and genetics.
There’s a lot of misinformation about gaining back your natural hair color once it’s started turning gray or white.While certain nutrient deficits and health conditions may spawn premature gray hairs,
it’s impossible to restore your natural hair color if your grays are genetic or due to natural aging.If you’re looking to help stop the rate of graying hair, changes in nutrition may work,
but only if deficiencies are the root cause. Here, we break down some of the most common myths about treating gray hair and explore other ways you can choose to manage your hair color instead.
Why you can’t permanently change the color of your hair if the cause is genetic
At its core, hair is naturally white. Melanin is responsible for the color of hair you’re born with, which is based on genetics. Your hair follicles contain the cells melanin uses to create the pigments, which combine with protein keratins.
Melanin loss in hair is naturally occurring, especially after your 30s. The precise rate of hair color loss is largely dictated by your genes, though. If your parents experienced premature graying, chances are that you may see the same.
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.
