6 Things You Need to Know about Grey Hair
Most people dread the day that their hair turns grey, thinking of each grey strand as another nail in their coffin. Unfortunately, grey hair is a fact of life that all of us have to deal with at some point or the other, so here are six things you need to know about it.
1. Hair is actually grey to begin with.
Hair grows in follicles, the bulb-like structures on your scalp that you've probably seen in a million shampoo commercials. The hair is actually grey to begin with, and then the pigment melanin gives it its colour as it grows. As you get older these pigment-producing cells start to die, so your hair comes out in its un-pigmented form, looking white, silver or grey.
2. The main cause of greying is ageing.
Okay, you probably knew this. But what you may not know is that dermatologists have a 50-50-50 rule, where 50 percent of the population probably has 50 percent of grey hair at the age of 50. Genes also play an important role; if your hair turns grey before you're 30 it probably runs in your family.
3. Ethnicity affects greying.
Generally speaking, Caucasians gray first, followed by Asians and then African-Americans.
4. Lifestyle plays a role.
Smoking, stress, illnesses, and poor diet can all turn your hair grey faster, so it's important to live a healthy lifestyle if you want to keep your looks. One of the main causes of premature greying is a Vitamin B12 deficiency, so be sure to include this nutrient in your diet.
5. Plucking one grey hair doesn't cause three more to grow in its place.
This old wives' tale is just a myth. Each follicle can only produce one hair, and plucking that hair does not create more follicles or cause the surrounding follicles to produce grey hair. That said, plucking out grey hairs isn't a good idea in any case, because it could damage the follicle and prevent it from producing any more hairs.
6. Body hair also turns grey.
Remember the melanin we were talking about in the beginning? As you get older, the melanin cells all over your body are affected, causing your body hair to turn grey as well. However, this may or may not happen at the same time as the hair on your head going grey.
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