It is quite a natural process that your hair gradually turns gray as your age increases. Graying of hair takes place due to reduction of melanin production in the hair roots. This condition results in growing out of gray hair. Melanin is the pigment that is responsible for the color of your hair. However, it can be worrying when your hair begins to gray at a younger age. This problem occurs due to faster reduction of melanin secretion. Millions of people face this problem around the world. Premature graying of hair can be embarrassing to some as no one wants to look older. You might be keen to that what causes gray hair and how to prevent graying hair. The causes for premature gray hair are as under:
- The primary cause for premature gray hair in children and premature gray hair in teenagers is a family history of premature graying of hair. If any of your parents or grand parents faced this problem, you are also more prone to it.
- Another major cause responsible for premature graying of hair is excessive mental stress and prolonged anxiety.
- Excessive intake of caffeine drinks, such as coffee or tea, and alcohol also causes gray hair.
- Deficiency of certain nutrients such as copper and zinc in your daily diet can also result in the reduction of melanin production.
- Prolonged illness such as typhoid can also cause premature graying.
- Bad eating habits such as eating oily and fried foods in excess and too many spices can also result in premature graying of hair.
- Recent researches have found that premature gray hair and thyroid problems are also interrelated. If your thyroid gland is affected, you may experience premature graying of your hair.
Before knowing about gray hair management, you need to know how to prevent gray hair, and to be more specific, how to prevent gray hair at a young age. In order to prevent premature graying, you should take the following steps:
- Eat foods that are rich in proteins. Sprouted grains such as pulses and cereals, soy and meat are very good sources of proteins. Include these in your daily dietary plan.
- For preventing grey hair, vitamins such as vitamin A and vitamin B are very essential. Some rich sources of vitamin A are dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach and yellow fruits such as ripe papaya. Good sources of vitamin B are cauliflower, tomatoes, bananas, cereals, green vegetables, and liver. These vitamins are also referred to as reversing gray hair vitamins as their regular intake can benefit in reversing gray hair naturally.
- Regular intake of certain minerals such as copper, iron and zinc in your daily diet is very beneficial for the prevention of premature graying of hair. For this, you must include dry fruits such as almonds, cashew nuts, and walnut in your daily diet. Other good sources are red meat, eggs, whole grains and crabs.
- Massage your scalp regularly two to three times a week with cow milk butter. This is not only a natural way to get rid of gray hair, but it will also help in reversing gray hair. This is also one of the most effective premature gray hair remedies.
- Mix two teaspoons of coconut oil and one teaspoon of lemon juice. Massage your scalp gently with this mixture everyday in the morning and rinse your hair after an hour. This is a great way to get rid of gray hair naturally.
- Mix half teaspoon of fresh crushed ginger with one tablespoon of honey and eat in the morning. Daily intake of this mixture will greatly prevent the graying of hair.
Now that you know how to prevent gray hair, you might want to know about treatment options. Most people across the world are now using hair dyes for coloring their hair. If your hair has turned gray, instead of using hair dyes that contain some very harsh chemicals, you could always opt for gray hair treatment using natural methods. Some of the chemicals present in hair dyes are so harmful that they may damage your hair roots permanently and can lead to further graying of the hair.
The treatment of gray hair is also done using medical treatments such as consuming anti-ageing pills that contain certain antioxidants such as omega-3 oil, copper, and zinc. Gray hair treatment for women is usually done by this technique, as in general, the deficiencies of these nutrients are experienced more in women as compared to men.
There are no specific ways to get rid of gray hair for men. Most treatment options are applicable to both men and women. However, there are a number of hair treatment products available in the market that labeled as being specific to a certain gender or age. It is advisable that you consult your health care provider before buying any such products.
answered by G R