Premature Grey Hair: Causes And Prevention

What does grey hair mean to you?

Seeing your grey hair for the first time may make you feel old. To some the appearances of silver hairs probably are the biggest nightmare of all. Other people would take it in stride and even consider it as a sign of wisdom or experience.

But it would be safe to assume that majority of people want grey hair to appear at a later time of their lives.

What causes early grey hair?

Whatever you call it-salt and pepper, pewter, charcoal, grey or white – it will happen to all of us at a certain age.  Grey hair occurs when there is a decrease production of the hair pigment called melanin which is common during late 40’s to 50’s. But for some people that go grey early, genes play a major role or worst, due to medical problem.

Some factors other than aging have been found to contribute to early growth of grey hair:

1. Medical problem like vitamin B12 deficiency, osteoporosis, pituitary and thyroid problems can cause premature greying.
2. Tobacco; smokers are four times likely to develop premature greying of hair than non-smokers.
3. Sugars in soft drinks, artificial color and sweeteners lower the amount of Vitamin E which is very important for healthy hair growth. It also interferes with protein absorption which is essential for bones and hairs.
4. Salt consumption of more than 2300 mg/day is very unhealthy thus causing your hair to turn grey.
5. Monosodium glutamate in many processed foods known to cause several health problems including early appearance of grey hair.

So how do you prevent or manage early greying of hair?

There are a lot of suggested remedies and natural products, to prevent early or concealing the growth of grey hair.

• Cut the grey hair with care

Most of us pluck them one by one. But according to some hair experts, plucking will traumatize the follicles and are not very good for the hair; instead cut the grey hair with care.

• Hair Shading or Dyeing

Henna is 100% natural and safe from any harmful chemicals that can cause skin allergies. With other permanent hair coloring, always check with the expert and do the skin test prior to use.

• Proper care and nutrition

This includes:

1. regular conditioning of hair to maintain the smoothness of your hair,
2. vitamins B and B12 supplements
3. protein-rich breakfast to keep your hair hydrate
4. include some healthiest dietary choices like dairy products, yogurt, soya base protein, fruits, and green vegetables
5. adequate intake of calcium with vitamin D

• Natural Herbs to solve the problem of greying

1. take curry leaves and sunflowers seeds for hair to regain vitality
2. coconut oil stimulates growth of hair and brings pigmentation of hair back to make it look healthy and shiny
3. massage a few drops of lime juice on your scalp
4. mixed gourd-coconut oil enriches the hair root along with the restoration of the natural pigmentation
5. rosemary and sage for grey hair to turn to its natural color after repeating the process weekly

• Aromatherapy and Essential Oils

Rub few drops of lavender oil or chamomile on your scalp every night before going to bed help conditioning and darkens your hair. This also works best for thin hair.

The tips provided may help but sooner or later, you won’t be able to keep up as you age. Grey hair is inevitable but should not be a cause of too much worry because it is a natural part of aging. Other people embrace the proposition with gusto.