Gray Hair Turning Back to Natural Color?

(This is a sample entry from the SAFM Q&A Treasure Chest, a tool with hundreds of entries to support students with their client needs. Students get unlimited access as part of SAFM’s functional medicine training program.)

Student Question:

Over the last few years I’ve noticed a few gray hairs, but interestingly, I’ve also noticed that several (but unfortunately not all) of my gray hairs have actually turned back to brown (tips are gray, roots are brown). Do you know what might cause this and is it possible to reverse gray hairs through diet or supplements?  (That would definitely excited some of my patients – this question comes up often!)  Is this dynamic related to any other diseases?

SAFM’s Answer: 

Certainly, it’s possible.  Hair is colored with pigment, melanin, in a similar way to our skin, produced by cells called melanocytes which do indeed “wear out” with age due to a variety of factors (e.g., oxidative stress, hypochlorhydria, poor protein/mineral intake, malabsorption of nutrients, chronic or acute stress, hypothyroid state).  Those cells need nourishment for natural functioning just like all other cells in our body, and our nourishment affects how quickly we lose our natural hair color (and of course genetics play a role here too).  Hair is naturally white, and our genetics and nutrition give it a certain color.  We typically produce an enzyme called catalase that prevents intracellularly-generated hydrogen peroxide (a potent pro-oxidant) from keeping our hair white.  As we age, we can produce less and less catalase and less and less melanin – for a variety of reasons.  This and this are public write-ups that may be interesting to clients who are working on this as a wellness focus area and using their hair as a key “cue” of wellness.

Often, either zinc and/or copper deficiency  is involved in premature graying, and thus their repletion could certainly reverse the trend.  Catalase is a zinc-dependent enzyme.  These types of mineral deficiencies may be the result of nutrient-poor food choices or poor digestion and/or malabsorption in the gut.  It’s important that our intake be balanced appropriately.  This can be a challenge for vegans in particular whose diets may be high in copper (especially from soybeans and nuts) but lower in zinc (pumpkin seeds are the plant food with the best zinc: copper ratio).

Melanin is a protein that requires tyrosine (and iron as a cofactor) from our diet (phenylalanine is the essential amino acid from which we make tyrosine).   Another key nutrient for hair cell health is Vitamin B12, which is a common insufficiency as we age (due to an epidemic of issues with suboptimal digestion, including low stomach acid from widespread use of PPI and H2 antacid drugs).  Again, repletion could return color to the strands.

We know that stress is a common driver of redox imbalance that can promote gray hair.  A hypothyroid state and any dynamics that promote hypochlorhydria and/or malabsorption of nutrients may also be at play, so addressing these drivers could also support a reversal.  An ongoing stressful state can also deplete tyrosine by requiring higher synthesis of stimulatory neurotransmitters (dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine) which are made of tyrosine.  These published research articles might be of interest: here and here.

Chronic stress and other autoimmune risk factors (e.g. enhanced intestinal permeability) may also play a role in early graying by promoting vitiligo, which is an auto-immune-driven depigmentation of external cells in general (though typically observed on the skin vs. the hair).  In vitiligo, there is autoimmune damage to melanocytes and keratinocytes, and potentially catalase as well.

Most likely, you have overtly addressed an excessive oxidative stress load in your body that arose from one or more of these dynamics.  Perhaps also via a better balance of omega-3/omega-6 fatty acids?  Or supporting your body to better produce glutathione (e.g. optimizing methylation, adequate selenium)?  Or perhaps you stopped a daily lifestyle habit that was promoting oxidative damage (e.g. smoking, toxic exposure)?  Or finally resolved a gut dysbiosis/pathogen that was impairing nutrient absorption and perhaps exacerbating intestinal permeability (and making you immune system more hypervigilant)?

Speaking of vitiligo, an autoimmune reaction and also oxidative damage to melanocytes play key roles.  That is, not enough antioxidant capability to manage the oxidative stress encountered. Genetics can be involved too in terms of lowered antioxidant capability, esp. production of the enzyme catalase. In particular, those with vitiligo have lower catalase in the skin which means their ability to prevent free radical damage and manage high levels of peroxide is impaired.  Glutathione levels are also often low.  The results redox imbalance and build-up of oxidant agents prevents normal melanin production. Hence loss of skin pigment (fascinating, right!?).  So yes, those with vitiligo have a special vulnerability.  For this reason, among others (e.g. catalase inhibition), excessive intake of curcumin (see section 6.3.1 in this article) and perhaps other “antioxidant plant extracts” can boften e counterproductive, with net pro-oxidant effects coming from higher doses (which is likely part of what gives them their anti-cancer capability).