When Hair Turns Gray Prematurely, Here Are 3 Things to Do Besides Dyeing It

If you want to avoid premature hair graying, you should avoid three daily behaviors that cause damage to your hair. Yaroslav Astakhov/Shutterstock

It’s unpleasant to see hair turn gray, but it’s especially annoying to see gray at a young age. Many choose to dye their hair, but the chemicals of the dye are likely to cause damage to the hair and sometimes do little to improve the color. Here are some ways to restore youthful and healthy hair color without dye.

Why Does Hair Turn Gray or White?

The main reason hair color changes is that the melanocytes at the root of the hair follicles are aging and cannot produce melanin anymore.

What causes the melanocytes at the root of the hair follicle to age? Heredity is always a culprit. Some people simply have a family history of early graying and get gray hair at an early age.

This is because our genes are affected by the environment and individual daily living habits. The good thing about this is that by paying attention to daily habits, there is a good chance of controlling the onset of early hair graying despite a family history of premature graying.

3 Ways to Avoid Hair Damage

What should we do to keep hair healthy? To start, avoid the following three things that damage your hair:

1. Avoid Frequent Hair Dyeing

Though dyeing the hair can offer an instant change, the chemicals involved can take a toll on your hair.

Hair dyes may contain some carcinogens, and excessive use may increase the risk of cancer. A study that followed over 117,000 U.S. female nurses for about 36 years found that more hair dye use was associated with a slightly higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

2. Avoid Long-Term Exposure to the Sun

Prolonged exposure of hair to the sun should be avoided because, like the skin of the face and body, the scalp is also susceptible to sun damage.

Sunlight is our main source of vitamin D, which is very important for hair growth, but when the hair is exposed to the sun for more than 30 minutes at noon, it may cause damage to the melanocytes of the scalp. Long-term ultraviolet radiation will accelerate the loss of protein and water in the hair, too. The amino acids in the hair will absorb part of the ultraviolet rays, especially ultraviolet A, and produce toxic free radicals that directly cause the scalp and hair to age, making the hair look dull, fragile, dry, lose elasticity, and even break.

Therefore, it is recommended that you wear a hat, use a parasol, or use sunscreen spray on your scalp and hair, and avoid prolonged exposure to the sun around noon to protect your scalp from sun damage.

3. Avoid Washing Hair Too Frequently

The scalp is thicker than facial skin, has more sebaceous glands, and contains hundreds of thousands of hair follicles. The sebaceous glands in each hair follicle produce sebum, which helps condition the strands and surrounding skin.

People with dry scalps produce less sebum, while those with oily scalps produce more. The health of the scalp directly affects the health of the hair, as each hair follicle travels deep into the scalp. The scalp and hair follicles have their own microbiomes. An unbalanced scalp microbiome can lead to dermatitis, eczema, dandruff, and more. You may need to wash your hair every day if you have an oily scalp, and once every two or three days if you have a dry scalp. You should also choose a mildly acidic shampoo. The water temperature and the temperature of the hair dryer should be adjusted properly to avoid overheating. Use low-temperature and airflow to dry your hair until the scalp is about 70 percent dry.

3 Things to Fight Premature Graying

1. Overcome Anxiety and Fear

Emotion itself is a kind of powerful energy, and negative emotion can be extremely damaging to the body’s energy system. Studies have found that melanocyte stem cells are depleted under stress.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a medical system built around an energy microstructure, which tells us that the source of various internal health issues is sometimes linked to problematic emotions and thoughts. Stories abound about someone’s hair turning gray overnight due to extreme worry. In TCM theory, the life energy in the human body is called qi, and essence is a kind of vital resource stored inside the internal organs, with most of which stored in the kidneys.

The quality of our hair depends on whether the circulation of qi and blood, as well as kidney essence, are sufficient or not. Only when qi and blood run smoothly together with sufficient essence can the body be strong and healthy. There is a TCM saying: “Fear hurts the kidneys; too much pondering hurts the spleen.” If these issues are the case, problems will manifest in the hair.

2. Get Quality Sleep

Second, to ensure a good quality of sleep. If the body cannot produce enough melanin, the hair tends to turn gray. If you have difficulty sleeping, you can add some melatonin, which can protect the stem cells of the melanocyte nucleus, thereby producing more melanin and reducing gray hair.

3. Maintain Good Nutrition

Try to maintain a healthy diet and get appropriate nutrition. Studies have found that anemia and malnutrition can lead to hair graying. Lack of protein, vitamins and copper, iron, calcium, zinc, and the like will affect the formation of melanin.

An important cause of melanocyte aging is the body’s peroxidation and overproduction of free radicals. Moderate consumption of fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins A, B, C, and E has an antioxidant effect. In addition, it is recommended to eat nuts and seafood containing omega-3 fatty acids in moderation. Trace elements of zinc, iron, and magnesium in seafood and meat are also very important. If you can’t get enough nutrients from food, or if you suffer from nutrient deficiency due to other factors, you can choose to take nutritional supplements.

Chinese medicine has a tonic called Qibao Meiran Dan (Cuscuta and Lycium formula), and another one called Guipi (spleen-invigorating bolus) pills, which invigorate the spleen and replenish the kidneys. Both are very effective for beautifying hair. Studies have found that the components in Qibao Meiran Dan can reduce oxidative stress damage to cells, regulate collagen metabolism, and slow down skin aging.

If you can stick to the above suggestions, your scalp and hair will become healthier with time.

*Some herbs mentioned in this article may be unfamiliar, but they are generally available in Asian supermarkets.

Note: Because different people have different physiques, it is recommended to consult your doctor or TCM experts.