Greying of hair

Greying of hair is sign of maturity and old age. When a person gets grey hair before the age of thirty five, it is the case of premature greying of hair. Improper protein synthesis is the cause of greying of hair. The hair pigment is called melanin. When production of melanin stops and air spaces fill the hair follicle, hair becomes grey.

There may be many causes of greying of hair. It may be due to hereditary condition, excessive intake of coffee, tea, stress, exposure to sunlight. Eating more spicy, acidic and oily foods is also a cause of greying of hairs. Pigment cells are located at the base of hair follicles. When a person grows older, these pigment cells start dying and colour from individual hair is lost.

Actually hairs are made up of cuticles which are outer layer of overlapping flat cells. Below this layer, lies thick cortex which has horn-like keratin as its building material. Innermost cells of hair are very soft and rectangular. Pigment cells, melanocytes, are placed in the cortex. Concentration and depth of pigment melanin in these cells determines the colour of hairs. There is whole range of hair colour from blonde to black. Production of melanin stops when melanocytes die.

Remedies to Prevent Grey Hair:

Once hair start greying, there is no cure to turn them back into natural colour but yes, there are some remedies and cosmetic treatments to prevent or at least delay greying of hair.

You can take help of much natural and artificial dye available in the market to colour your grey hair. There are permanent and temporary dyes to colour hair. Besides colouring of hair, you have to take proper care of your hair.

First care you should take is by taking proper balanced diet for your hair. Hairs need good nourishment to have shining natural colour.

Balanced Diet for hair:

Include orange and yellow fruits like mango, papaya, in your diet. Also eat fresh green vegetables in your daily food. These food products contain vitamin A which is essential for promoting glow of hairs and healthy scalp.

Vitamin B is another essential vitamin you need for the regulating secretion of oil and keeping hair moisturised and healthy. You can get vitamin B from tomato, banana, cereals, cauliflower, green leafy vegetables, yogurt and kidney beans. Also have foods containing minerals like zinc, copper and iron for health of hairs. Zinc can be obtained from chicken, red meat and green vegetables.

For iron, you can eat foods like dried apricot, red meat, parsley, wheat, eggs and sunflower seeds. For obtaining copper, best food sources are whole grain, sea foods and egg yolk.

Protein is very essential nutrient for shine and strength of hair. Protein helps repair any damage hair and gives good and smooth texture. Protein can be obtained from many sources like cereals, meat, whole grain, dairy products and soy.

Some Popular Home remedies to Prevent and to treat greying of Hair:

Indian gooseberry, amla is one of the best remedies available to curb falling of hair and greying of hair. Make paste of fresh amla and apply it on the scalp daily and then wash it with lukewarm water. Keep doing it patiently till you get positive results. This procedure has shown good results in many cases.

Another easy and effective remedy is to massaging your hair with coconut oil and lemon juice for at least 15 minutes daily. This remedy can keep your hair youthful even up to 60-70 years of age.

This is an herbal remedy. Take at least 10 rithas, 3-4 pods of shikakai and soak them in water overnight. In the morning, boil them for 10 minutes and strain after some time. In the same way, soak 10 dries amlas overnight and strain in the morning. Use this liquid as conditioner after hair wash with ritha and shikakai liquid. This is complete treatment for hair to stop premature greying of hair.

For preparing natural dye, take a cup of strong black tea and add to this 1 tbsp of salt. Boil this for 10 minutes and strain it after it gets cold. Massage this liquid in the roots of hair and leave it for one hour. After that, rinse it with cold water but without shampoo. If you continue this procedure once a week, it will give your hair a nice colour.