Gray Hair Myths (2)
Vitamins can stop or reverse the graying of hair
There is much reason to believe that vitamin B12 can keep your pigment cells healthy and in production mode. A healthy diet, good exercise to stabilize the oxygen levels in your blood, and generally a healthy lifestyle may prevent premature graying, which is often induced by toxins or health-related issues. There is no vitamin or diet that can prevent the graying of hair, as it is programmed in your genes when it will occur. There is no way to reverse the change in color, unless you use a dye.
Permanent dyes penetrate the hair shaft and, while they may lose some of their luster, they cover all the gray. The roots grow out in gray and have to be touched up every month to every six weeks. A non permanent hair color sits on the outside of the hair, it washes out gradually and has to be reapplied in shorter periods. The quality of semi-permanent and non-permanent hair color has improved tremendously, and all of them will cover the gray or give it a new hue.
Why does hair turn gray?
To understand why certain myths about gray hair do not make sense at all, it is important to have an idea of why hair turns gray. The pigment in our hair is melanin, and there are two types of it - eumelanin, which regulates the lightness or darkness of the hair, and pheomelanin, which is in charge of the amount of red and yellow in it.
Scientists are still discovering new aspects of why hair turns gray, and a recent study confirms that the same cells that produce melanin also produce a form of hydrogen peroxide. Yes, the same peroxide that we use to bleach hair. As we age, the amount of produced melanin decreases and more hydrogen peroxide accumulates.
Is gray the new blonde?
Aging celebrities who embrace their gray hair and look fabulous doing so, paved the way for gray to become a new fashion color, which even younger people are choosing voluntarily and with enthusiasm. It has a new avant-garde status and comes in beautiful shades from pewter to platinum. There is no real reason to hide it, but if you feel inclined to dye it, go ahead. We live in a wonderful time of self-expression and the pressures or conventions of society are loosening up.
©Hairfinder.com
See also:
Going Gray
Gray Hair Questions and Answers
Hair and the Older Woman
