Why Hair Goes Gray—and What You Can Do To Support Hair Health

Let’s talk about what gives hair its natural color. Hair pigment comes from melanin, which is made in special pigment-producing cells called melanocytes. Melanin gives color to our hair, eyes, and skin, but how it is produced in our hair is unique. 

Hair follicles contain only two types of melanin—black-brown eumelanin and red-brown pheomelanin¹—that are deposited into our hair during the anagen (growth) phase of the hair growth cycle.¹ The amount and ratio of these melanin types are responsible for the diversity of human hair color, ranging from black to brown to blonde to red and everything in between.¹ Hair graying is, therefore, not due to melanocytes producing gray-colored pigment—rather, it’s hair that lacks pigment altogether.

While hair graying is most commonly associated with chronological age, it can also happen “prematurely,” which is typically defined as hair graying before our 20s or 30s.¹ Why and when someone may experience graying is still being studied, and premature hair graying, in particular, is still not completely understood. However, modern research indicates graying is likely influenced by multiple factors including genetics, nutrition, certain long-term health conditions, as well as a process called oxidative stress.^1,2  

Oxidative stress may contribute to both age-related and premature hair graying.^1-3

But what exactly is oxidative stress? Oxidative stress refers to free radicals and the wear-and-tear they can have on the body. Free radicals are produced by our cells as byproducts or “waste” of normal function and can be generated from external factors, such as UV damage or pollution.¹ While, ideally, our cells have enough antioxidants to neutralize these free radicals, sometimes we don’t have enough antioxidant reserves, and the buildup of free radicals can cause damage to our cells, called oxidative stress.¹

This is true for every cell in our body, including the cells in our hair follicles. The natural process of creating melanin causes an accumulation of free radicals in our melanocytes, which, if not neutralized effectively, can affect them, leading to decreased pigmentation.¹ The impact of oxidative stress may be especially relevant for premature graying. Oxidative stress coming from external factors, in particular, like the aforementioned UV damage and pollution, along with alcohol consumption, smoking, emotional factors (like stress), and chronic illness, have all been linked to premature hair graying.¹ 

So, is there anything we can do to fight oxidative stress and hair graying? Research indicates we should target repair and support of melanocytes early—ideally, within the same anagen (growth) phase, when hair graying is first noted, before irreversible damage has set in.⁴ (For context, a normal anagen (growth) phase is about 2-6 years in length.⁴)

When considering how to protect against oxidative stress, we can consider support from two angles. First, we can try to decrease external factors that may increase free radicals. Second, we can build up our antioxidant reserves to better offset the impact of free radicals within our cells. 

Some key lifestyle considerations that may reduce free radicals include:

As for increasing antioxidant reserves, consider these options: