The color of our hair is determined by a perfect balance of our body, which declines as we age, but which can also be compromised by stress, which is why when we are stressed our hair can first become gray and then white. A study explains how it is possible and what we can do to avoid it.
If it is not true that if one gray hair is removed, others will grow, it is true that stress can cause gray hair. This is demonstrated by a study that explains how it is possible and how we can avoid it.
Because we have colored hair
Our head is covered with microholes inside which there are hair follicles from which hair grows, whose color is regulated by melanin, a pigment that is produced by melanocytes cells.
A bit like what happens with a telephone which, over the years, works less, the various biological processes of our body also slow down over the years and so it happens that the melanocytes begin to produce less melanin and therefore the hair loses color and they turn gray before becoming white, when no more melanin is produced.
Hair color is determined by two types of melanin:
To create dark colors you need more melanin than light hair: this is why on average people with dark hair have gray hair earlier than those with light hair.
And now we can talk about stress.
Stress and gray hair: a real connection
Stress affects the functioning of our body in general, often slowing down biological processes.
The same can happen with hair: when the stress is such that it can slow down the production of melanin and therefore the hair loses its color and becomes grey.
Oxidative stress is different, that is, when an imbalance is created that produces too many free radicals, melanin production decreases and gray hair increases.
Melanin and free radicals are often in conflict with each other, for example melanin protects us from free radicals which increase with UV rays.
But when we feast on UV rays, smoke, pollution and stress, all elements that increase the risk of oxidative stress, the work becomes complex for melanin and it could be defeated by free radicals.
The conclusion? More gray hair.
Recent studies have shown that, once the period of stress has been overcome and the natural biological process has been rebalanced, the hair can return to its colour.
