Gray hair is an optical illusion.
Hair is never gray. It is either white or colored (black, brown, blond, red ...), and it is when the two are mixed that the hair gives an impression of gray.
How hair turns white
Hair is made mainly of keratin, the hard, fibrous substance that makes up our nails, the surface of our skin, and the hooves of animals.
Hair keratin is made in the hair follicle, a small bulb planted on the surface of the scalp (the skin of the skull). These are special cells that make keratin, called keratinocytes, which simply means "keratin cells" (cytos = cell in Greek).
Next to the keratinocytes are cells that produce color, called melanin, of "melanos" (black, in Greek) because it is true that the hair is black in most people.
When the melanin cells (melanocytes) deplete or die, the melanin grains in the hair are replaced by air bubbles and the hair grows white. A colored hair, therefore, does not become white, it grows white.
The first white hair appears on average around 34 years old. Sometimes the melanocytes (cells that produce color) continue to function, but the melanin produced is no longer transmitted to the cells responsible for assembling the hair, without anyone knowing why.
Fear white hair
Queen Marie-Antoinette, when she learned in her cell that she was going to be guillotined, saw her hair turn white. This phenomenon occurs following a violent emotional shock. It has also been observed in fighters of the Second World War [1].
The explanation is (probably not) that their colored hair has bleached, but rather that they suddenly lost their colored hair, keeping only the white hair. The sudden appearance of white locks would also come not from a sudden and ultra-rapid growth of white hair, but from the simultaneous fall of colored hair in the same area.
Strong emotions are capable of causing such brutal hair loss.
A loyal reader of Health Nature Innovation pointed out to me, however, that Chinese medicine offers another explanation:
Chinese Medicine that we know that the Kidneys are manage fears: when we tell you that we are going to cut your head off (Marie Antoinette), there is a collapse of the Kidney Energy and the hair does not fall out but can whiten VERY quickly: one hour, one night !!!! As you get older, your kidneys weaken and that's why older people are often afraid of everything. For the hair, there is a Chinese plant known to give the initial color: it is the HE SHU WU (Bimont laboratories among others) But it is necessary to make a cure long enough to have results. »[1]
Remedy for white hair
Phenomenon long considered intractable, people testify to have regained the color of their hair thanks to a simple cure of magnesium, and more precisely "magnesium pidolate". [2]
Olive oil in massage could also help to find the natural color: after a natural shampoo, spread a small teaspoon of olive oil on the hair, massage well, then wipe with one or two paper towels. leaving hair slightly oily.
In addition, a remedy may soon be available to color the hair naturally.
Dutch, German and British researchers announced in May 2013 in the scientific journal The Faseb Journal, having discovered an enzyme that works by reversing the oxidative stress responsible for bleaching hair.
This enzyme is also effective against white patches on the skin, called vitiligo.
The research was carried out on 2411 patients with vitiligo.
By restoring their antioxidant enzyme levels, scientists have successfully pigmented the patients' skin and eyelashes.
Top Health magazine did not hesitate to headline "A miracle cure for gray hair [2]", but in reality, nothing has been done yet, and no date has been put on the market for the product announced.
Color is sometimes a problem
Having white hair can be seen by some as a problem, but it's even more embarrassing to see your white hair… recoloring spontaneously.
The phenomenon occurs in cases of chronic adrenal insufficiency, or after exposure to various toxic molecules such as lead, copper, mercury, silver, arsenic or cobalt. The hair then takes on red, green, blue or black shades. This is also the case when taking certain drugs that give yellow, red or green reflections.
More on hair
You should know that we have on average 100,000 to 150,000 hairs on the head. Every day 100 to 150 of them fall, which makes 30,000 to 50,000 per year!
Fortunately, most of the time another hair grows back. The average lifespan of a hair is 3 years for a man and 10 years for a woman. When it stops growing, the hair stays in place for about 3 months, planted in the hair follicle; then it is ejected when another regrows. If all the hair was set to this same rhythm, we would be periodically bald!
Hair grows at a speed of 9 to 24 cm per year, depending on the type.
Thus the hair of Asians has a round and broad stem, deeply implanted at 7 mm in the scalp. They are strong and grow the fastest. They are also the world's leading suppliers of natural hair wigs. But you will tell me that that does not mean anything, Asians will soon be the first suppliers in all product categories.
In Europeans, the growth rarely exceeds 18 cm per year.
Next to the base of the hair, there is a small gland, the sebaceous gland, which produces a slightly oily liquid, sebum, to protect it from external aggressions. This is why it is recommended not to wash your hair too often: the hair looks clean and more flexible, but the reality is that it is then weakened, and more vulnerable to attack.
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