WHITE HAIR: CAUSES AND PREVENTIONS

 Overview

When a person grows old, his hair starts to change color and turn white.

It's not uncommon and almost every old person faces it. Problems arise when young people's hair starts turning white. This is known as Premature hair whitening. It can be caused due to a variety of reasons.

Causes

We all know that hair grows from a small pore on the skin called follicle. These follicles are found almost everywhere on our skin from where hair grows. The follicle has a hair strand alone with some cells that produce pigments. These cells are called pigment cells. The black color of hair is due to a pigment called melanin, these pigment cells only produce melanin. When these cells either die or become non functional because of some reason, the hair starts turning white. 

This can happen because of various reasons. Here are some most common reasons for hair whitening.

1.Genetics

If your father, his father, his father's father all had premature white hair, then you will have it too.

The genes always pass from one generation to others. You can't change your genes but if you don't like white hair then you can colour them.

2.Vitamin Deficiency

Deficiency of vitamins like B-6, D-3, B-12, Vitamin E and biotin cause premature white hair. Nutritional deficiency is the main cause of hair whitening among young adults. 

Vitamin B-12 plays an important role in your body where your hair is concerned. It gives energy to your body as well as helps in growth and proper pigmentation of your hair.

3.Stress

When you take stress you actually invite quite a number of diseases for yourself, white hair included, though it's not a disease.

Taking a lot of cells actually damages your pigment cells which results in hair whitening. Taking stress is actually bad for your health as it gives rise to high blood pressure, anxiety, low appetite and many more problems

4.Smoking

It's well known that smoking causes lung cancer and heart diseases. What you don't know is, it affects your hair too. Too much smoking causes blood vessels of your scalp to constrict which causes hair loss. It also causes premature death of pigment cells causing white hair.

5.Hair Dyes

Hair dye might make your hair look good for a while but they are really bad for your hair. It contains hydrogen peroxide that is really bad for your hair and causes premature hair whitening. That's the reason behind the belief that if you use hair dye once, you'll have to use it again and again.

Prevention

White hair caused due to genetics can't be prevented, neither can they be reversed. Genes can't be changed so does your white or gray hair. 

Prevention of white hair actually depends on the cause. If you are able to eradicate the cause, white hair will be automatically prevented. Here are some prevention tips for preventing white hair.

1.Take proper nutrition in your diet including major vitamins. Eat food rich in vitamin B-12 like salmon, eggs, meats, milk etc. to prevent premature hair whitening.

2.Manage Stress with yoga and meditation. Try to exercise on a daily basis to keep your stress levels managed.

3.Quit Smoking.I think this goes without saying. I think now you know about hundreds of reasons why smoking is harmful. Quitting smoking helps in prevention of premature white hair as well as premature death.

4. I can't ask you to stop coloring your hair, but I'll ask you to use dyes which don't have hydrogen peroxide. Check the contents before buying the color. 

Conclusion

White hair has become a common problem for people nowadays.

People of every age are facing premature hair whitening. But if you know the cause you can prevent your hair from turning white. There are various "homemade remedies" available that claim "reversal" of white hair to black, but in most cases it doesn't work. So take the necessary precautions to prevent white hair.

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