How to prevent grey hair?

Many of us have read the story of Rapunzel and vividly visualized ourselves to have such a luscious mane. Alas, what we get instead is a thinning hairline and even thinner pony. Every time we comb our hair, a bunch full of hair strands in the comb signifies the horrible health of our hair. Leave alone hoping for Rapunzel-like hair, many of us are struggling just to let our hair stay on the head. Making matters worse is premature greying, which can be seen in young adults as well as children as young as 12 years old. But can we prevent grey hair from being a spoilsport? Yes, we can!

Health Shots got in touch with hair expert Clelia Cecilia Angelon, who revealed all about premature greying of hair and ways to prevent it.

Angelon says, “Usually, premature greying is blamed on hormones. But we know for a fact that there are many more factors involved like stress, autoimmune diseases, thyroid disorder, vitamin B12 deficiency, smoking and genetics. It is imperative to have an understanding of the premature greying process. The hair becomes dry, and brittle, making it susceptible to easy breakage, leading to further thinning of hair and loss of natural hair colour.”

“When hair is in growing phase, collagen producing fibroblasts decrease as well. The soft tissue like muscle, skin or fascia referred to as trophic changes leading to damaged hair follicles. The cells that produce melanin, that give the colour to the hair, die during a process called apoptosis, which leads to premature greying,” added the CEO and Founder of Surya Brasil.

It is often believed that it is impossible to reverse greying, which is true because scientifically no process has been able to prove reverse greying after use. However, one can definitely prevent the hair from greying.

Ways to prevent grey hair:

1. Prevent chemicals

The best way to prevent grey hair is to avoid harsh chemicals, and nourish the hair strands and roots to prevent and slow down this process. Always go for gentle cleansing hair care products instead of the ones that contain harsh chemicals like sulphates, parabens and phthalates. And specifically using products with antioxidant action would help in nourishing your hair to rebalance the nutrient and prevent early greying.

2. Eat a clean diet

The role of a healthy diet goes a long way in ensuring that our hair is healthy. The hair absorbs nutrients from our body and scalp. Often, one needs to eat food rich in antioxidants and with added nutrients to ensure that they reach our hair.

3. Protect from heat

According to Angelon, “Apart from nourishment, make sure to protect your hair against extreme heat, be it direct exposure to sunlight, or heat from straighteners and curlers. While going out, always cover your hair with a scarf. And while using heating products, always use a cream to protect the hair.”

4. Go green for hair

“Go natural and use hair products with herbs, extracts of plants or fruits. Vitamin C rich ingredients like Amla, barley (jau), malva, guarana which are nature’s secrets from the Brazilian forests are known to add pigment to the hair. Add babassu oil in your hair care regime which is rich in fatty acids is the key factor for lipid replacement. It leads to stronger, softer hair, increases natural elasticity which helps prevent grey hair,” advises Angelon.