There’s an old adage that too much stress will lead to gray hair. Let’s be real, stress doesn’t exactly have good effects on our bodies, so why shouldn’t this be true? But when it comes to science, can stress turn hair gray faster or is this just a popular myth?
Why Does Hair Turn Gray?
Each hair on your head is made up of two parts: the shaft and the root. The shaft is the long, colored part that grows outside your head, while the root is what keeps the hair attached under the scalp.
The root of the hair is enveloped in a tube of tissue called a hair follicle. Each follicle contains pigment cells that produce melanin, a substance that gives each strand of hair its unique color and is also responsible for our skin tone. These pigment cells gradually die off as we age. So as the pigment cells in a hair follicle deplete, they start to produce less melanin, which causes the hair’s color to lighten. The hair eventually goes completely gray or white.
