# Grey Hair **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2000, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674 "2000-05-27T08:58:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![QirQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/848f3c/32.png) [@QirQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QirQ)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2000, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/1 "2000-05-27T08:58:31Z")
Cyber Carrot asked me, why does hair turn grey? Once it starts turning grey, new ones grow in grey…what’s up with that??? * * * Are we there yet? ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2000, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/2 "2000-05-27T09:55:03Z")
From [Aging effects on Hair](http://thirdage.adam.com/ency/article/004005.htm) "Hair color change is probably one of the most obvious signs of aging. Hair color is caused by a pigment (melanin) that is produced by the hair follicle. With aging, the follicle produces less melanin. Graying often begins in the 30’s although this age varies. Graying usually begins at the temples and extends to the top of the scalp. Hair becomes progressively lighter, eventually turning white. By the time they are in their 40’s, about 40% of all people have some gray scalp hair. Body and facial hair also turn gray, but usually later than scalp hair. The hair in the armpit, chest, and pubic area may gray less or not at all. Graying is genetically determined. Gray hair tends to occur earlier in Caucasians and later in Asian races. Nutritional supplements, vitamins, and other products will not stop or decrease the rate of graying." ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2000, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/3 "2000-05-27T16:21:59Z")
Gray hair is dryer too, I think. At least it feels that way. I really envy the older folks with silver or white hair. But even gray looks good if it isn’t permed to death. Lord save us from blue, purple, and black dye jobs. Smack me if I do this, okay? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2000, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/4 "2000-05-27T17:30:59Z")
There is no such thing as gray hairs. There are white hairs, that when present among dark hairs, makes the hair look gray. [http://ja.mlive.com/yucky/wendell/synd/archive/970915grayhair.html](http://ja.mlive.com/yucky/wendell/synd/archive/970915grayhair.html) [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_315b.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_315b.html) [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_267.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_267.html) ---
**Author:** ![mipsman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mipsman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mipsman)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2000, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/5 "2000-05-27T22:23:44Z")
I agree with biblio. Hair is your natural color or white. I remember reading somewhere that the hair actually cracks and some form of oxidation removes the color. The lack of follicle intergrity is probably why, as noted above, gray hair is drier. Also I have noticed in my (alas) increasing number of gray hairs, that they preferentially frizzilly stick up and out, another result of their cracking and drying as compared to the remaining golden locks. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2000, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/6 "2000-05-27T23:20:07Z")
How does an individual hair go gray? I ask this because I always assumed that if it started out black and then the graying process started, that the end would remain black while the follicle began putting it out gray. The other day this idea was turned on its head when I pulled out one of my beard hairs and examined it. Half gray and half black. But the end was gray and it was growing black out of the follicle. Does this mean the graying process was reversed in this hair? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2000, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/7 "2000-05-28T01:57:59Z")
ish said > [@](#): > > The other day this idea was turned on its head when I pulled out one of my beard hairs and examined it. Half gray and half black. But the end was gray and it was growing black out of the follicle. Does this mean the graying process was reversed in this hair? Wow! Assuming he didn’t reverse the hair before inspecting it, how does that square with threads about white hair being dead tissue, etc. Is ish’s hair alive when it emerges from his face, and dies sometime after this? (Could his breath be involved?)😃 ---
**Author:** ![mipsman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mipsman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mipsman)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2000, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/8 "2000-05-28T18:57:58Z")
The other alternative is that ish has discovered the secret to naturally restoring hair color. I vote that his scalp be impounded and subjected to intensive testing. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2000, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/9 "2000-05-29T17:23:02Z")
I’ve been going grey since I was 24 (thanks for the genes, Grandma). I do actually have _grey_ hair, as well as white, blonde, brown, black, and the very rare red hair. The grey hairs I have are the blonde and brown hairs that are slowly loosing their pigment. It isn’t an abrupt change over. The pigment slowly fades out, and for about two or three inches, it’s a greyish-brownish nondescript bleh, and then all the color’s gone and it’s white. Haven’t seen a black or red hair go white yet. That should be interesting. In some instances, a hair that’s gone white will occasionally have a tiny bit that goes blonde or brown before returning to white. Yeah, I have a really interesting head of hair. My question is: is there anyway to speed up the greying process? I mean, I’m going white. Nothing to be done there. So why not get it over quicker so that I can have a head of lush, white hair before I turn 30. ---
**Author:** ![h\_thur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@h\_thur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h_thur)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2000, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/10 "2000-05-29T17:40:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Half gray and half black. But the end was gray and it was growing black out of the follicle. Does this mean the graying process was reversed in this hair? > \*\* Same thing has happened with hair on my head. Brown or red where it is growing out of the follicle and white on the bottom half. (I’ve noticed this since I started graying at 20.) Someone please explain or **ishmintingas** and I may have to join the circus! ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/11 "2000-05-30T22:56:21Z")
In a particularly stressful time a few years ago, I noticed quite a few temporarily white hair on my head. They were brown at the ends (my natural color.) In the middle was a stretch of white. At the root was another stretch of brown. I guessed the white growth coincided with the high-stress time, and when things got straightened out, the hair reverted to its natural dark brown. Aside from the emotional strain, nothing was physically different during that time. The hairs that were white before the difficult time remained white throughout (I began getting a few white ones in my mid-twenties.) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2000, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/12 "2000-06-03T23:24:38Z")
Wow! Assuming he didn’t reverse the hair before inspecting it Honest, the follicle end was black and the outer end was gray. I know because I spotted it as a gray hair in a black beard and pulled it out. The black end was obviously from the follicle because it had that pale little blob still on it. The other alternative is that ish has discovered the secret to naturally restoring hair color. I vote that his scalp be impounded and subjected to intensive testing. What did it was apparently my taking a Chinese herb called He Shou Wu (\*Polygonum multiflorum\). This root has long been reputed in China to keep your hair black. There was this legendary herbalist called He, who lived to be an old man and his hair was still black. He revealed that his secret was the daily use of this root to keep youthful vitality. The name of the herb in Chinese means “He’s hair is black.” The herb is also known as Fo Ti Tieng. ---
**Author:** ![mipsman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mipsman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mipsman)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2000, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/13 "2000-06-04T01:31:06Z")
My hair is more or less blonde with those pesky stray grays. If I take the herb, will my hair come in black? ---
**Author:** ![TheNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@TheNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheNerd)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2000, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/14 "2000-06-05T00:03:11Z")
Hell, I’ve been getting grey hairs since I was 18. I think the number is _very_ gradually increasing. It’s still not to the point where you’d normally notice unless you’ve been looking at the back of my head for a while. What I’m curious about is spots of grey. My younger brother has a grey patch on the back of his head, just left of center. It’s about the size of a silver dollar, and all the rest of his hair is light brown/dark blond. I’ve also known plenty of people with grey streaks in otherwise dark hair. So, what’s up with the greying in a particular area? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2000, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/15 "2000-06-05T00:25:41Z")
Nerd said > [@](#): > > My younger brother has a grey patch on the back of his head, just left of center. It’s about the size of a silver dollar, and all the rest of his hair is light brown/dark blond Just _please_ don’t say he went into the hospital for an operation!! ---
**Author:** ![TheNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@TheNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheNerd)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2000, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/16 "2000-06-05T01:29:25Z")
whoosh. Um, I missed that reference, whatever it was. But no, he hasn’t been to the hospital since I broke his arm several years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Silo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Silo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2000, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-hair/20674/17 "2000-06-05T01:54:43Z")
Adding copper to your diet will help delay the onset of grey hair (you don’t trust me?). The onset of “hair turning grey” itself is mostly determined by your genetics.