Can stress make your hair gray?

 When we start to turn gray depends largely on genetics.

Your first gray hairs usually appear anywhere between your twenties and fifties. In men, gray hair usually starts at the temples and sides. Women tend to start graying on the hairline, especially in the front.

The fastest graying usually occurs between the ages of 50 and 60. Is something we are doing speeding up the process? Is there anything we can do to slow it down? You've probably heard that plucking, coloring and stress can make your hair gray, but redheads aren't at risk. Here's what the science says.

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What gives hair its color?

Each strand of hair is made up of a hair follicle, a tunnel-like opening in your skin. Follicles contain two types of stem cells: keratinocytes, which produce keratin, a protein that builds and regenerates hair strands, and melanocytes, which produce melanin, the pigment that colors hair and skin.

There are two main types of melanin that determine hair color. Eumelanin is a black-brown pigment and pheomelanin is a reddish-yellow pigment. The amount of different pigments determines the hair color. Black and brown hair contains mostly eumelanin, red hair has the most pheomelanin, and blonde hair has only a small amount of both.

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What causes hair to turn gray?

As we age, it is normal for cells to become less active. In the hair follicle, this means that the stem cells produce less melanin, turning the hair gray, and less keratin, causing the hair to thin and fall out.

Because less melanin is produced, there is less pigment that gives hair its color. Gray hair has very little melanin, but white hair has none. Unpigmented hair appears gray, white, or silver because light reflects off the keratin, which is pale yellow. Gray hair is thicker, coarser and stiffer than pigmented hair.

This is because the shape of the hair follicle becomes irregular as the stem cells change with age.

Interestingly, gray hair also grows faster than pigmented hair, but it uses more energy in the process

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Can stress make our hair gray?

Yes, stress can cause your hair to turn gray. This happens when oxidative stress damages hair follicles and the stem cells stop producing melanin.

Oxidative stress is an imbalance between too many harmful free radical chemicals and not enough protective antioxidant chemicals in the body. It can be caused by psychological or emotional stress, as well as autoimmune diseases.

Environmental factors such as UV exposure and pollution, as well as smoking and some drugs, can also play a role. Melanocytes are more susceptible to damage than keratinocytes due to the complex stages of melanin production. This explains why aging and stress usually cause hair to turn gray before hair loss.

Scientists have been able to link the less pigmented parts of the hair strand with stressful events in a person's life. In younger people whose stem cells were still producing melanin, hair color returned after the stressful event ended.

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Does pulling out gray hairs make them grow back more?

No. When you pull out the hair, you may notice a small onion tip that was attached to the scalp. This is the root. It grows from the hair follicle. Plucking the hair pulls the root out of the follicle. But the follicle itself is an opening in your skin and cannot be pulled out. Each hair follicle can grow only one hair.

It's possible that frequent plucking can cause hair to turn gray earlier if the cells that produce melanin are damaged or exhausted from excessive regrowth.

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Can hair turn gray overnight?

Legend has it that Marie Antoinette's hair turned completely white the night the French queen faced the guillotine, but this is a myth.

Melanin in hair strands is chemically stable, which means it cannot transform immediately.

Acute psychological stress rapidly depletes melanocyte stem cells in mice. But the effect does not appear immediately. Instead, as the strand grows, gray hair becomes visible - about 1 cm per month. Not all hairs are in the same growth phase, which means they cannot all turn gray at the same time.

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Will coloring make my hair turn gray faster?

It depends on the dye. Temporary and semi-permanent dyes should not cause early graying, as they only cover the hair strand without changing its structure. However, permanent products cause a chemical reaction with the hair using an oxidizer such as hydrogen peroxide.

The accumulation of hydrogen peroxide and other hair coloring chemicals in the hair follicle can damage the melanocytes and keratinocytes, which can lead to graying and hair loss.

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Is it true that redheads don't go gray?

People with red hair also lose melanin as they age, but differently than those with black or brown hair.

This is because the red-yellow and black-brown pigments are chemically different. The production of the brown-black pigment eumelanin is more complex and requires more energy, making it more susceptible to damage.

The production of red-yellow pigment (pheomelanin) causes less oxidative stress and is easier. This means that it is easier for the stem cells to continue producing pheomelanin, even if they decrease their activity as they age.

As we age, red hair tends to fade to blonde and silvery white. gray color is associated with less eumelanin activity, so it is more common in those with black and brown hair.

Your genetics determine when you will begin to gray, but you may be able to avoid premature graying by staying healthy, reducing stress, and avoiding smoking, too much alcohol, and exposure to UV rays.

A healthy diet can also help, as vitamin B12, copper, iron, calcium and zinc affect melanin production and hair pigmentation.