THE ROOT OF GRAY HAIR

Jennifer

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I haven’t eaten mushrooms much to know about that one Jennifer, and I really haven’t experimented with shellfish where gray hair in concerned, though the past year with the high stress of my husband’s situation I didn’t eat any shellfish for almost a year, and coincidentally I was getting a lot of gray. Admittedly I was heavy on the grains before summer came, out of convenience, so the gray could have been from that and having nothing to do with lack of shellfish at all, or liver for that matter. I got mindful of upping my liver in the summer, but didn’t add shellfish back in until the last couple of months.

Thank you for sharing. :) Do you think the stress of this past year might have also contributed to the extra grey hairs? I noticed some sprout right after my mum passed, but I haven’t seen any new ones in months and I’ve been consuming the same foods right along.
 
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Thank you for sharing. :) Do you think the stress of this past year might have also contributed to the extra grey hairs? I noticed some sprout right after my mum passed, but I haven’t seen any new ones in months and I’ve been consuming the same foods right along.
Oh yeah definitely the stress affected my hair a lot. I plucked out half my hair to start over, it seems like it anyway!
 

golder

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“In the retina, melatonin increases the sensitivity of the cells to dim light. It, along with prolactin, another nocturnal hormone, helps to produce dark adaptation of the eyes.

Melatonin increases the concentration of free fatty acids during the night (John, et al., 1983; John and George, 1976)), so it’s interesting that one of the long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acids, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), also increases the light sensitivity of the retina.

Melatonin lowers body temperature, causes vasoconstriction in the brain, heart, and other organs, and slows reactions. An antagonist to melatonin acts as an antidepressant, reducing “behavioral despair” resulting from stress. (Dubocovich, et al., 1990.) So, in the behavioral sense, melatonin reduces sensitivity, yet it increases the eyes’ sensitivity to light, causing them to be injured by light that would otherwise be harmless.” -Ray Peat​
Loving these quotes, thank you!
 

Jigend

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My hair gets dark and heavy when I haven’t washed it, but here is me this morning before washing it and putting on make-up. You can see the gray I have better. I am starting back up on nettle, maybe a half dose of the leaf, and see if I can get more of it gone. I have been relying on the liver to get the gray gone and reduction of meat and grains.,
If anything, that little gray makes it look like you have dyed highlights in the hair lol. Also, very much agreed about that other post in which you mentioned how setting our minds on solving a given problem can and will definitely bring about positive results about it

I think there's something very specific about the "sociology of grey hair". It's one of those things you're not supposed to think about, under the social penalty of being deemed annoying or a hypochondriac. The mainstream social dynamic about this specific issue is that of: If it bothers you too much, either dye it or accept it. And up until a few years ago, "going bald" was seen from more or less the same POV: Something you're supposed to not think much of, and just accept.

The above are supraimposed morality codes btw; there's nothing too objective or ontologically fundamental about those. For example, notice how in the Western World, you're "supposed" to have lots of care put into your teeth and skin, and how they appear, at least on a surface level. Let us not even get into bodily odor and how "you're supposed" to be spraying yourself with all manners of aluminum laden perfumes and deodorants. But caring about you **natural** hair color? You must be insane. /sarcasm
 
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If anything, that little gray makes it look like you have dyed highlights in the hair lol. Also, very much agreed about that other post in which you mentioned how setting our minds on solving a given problem can and will definitely bring about positive results about it

I think there's something very specific about the "sociology of grey hair". It's one of those things you're not supposed to think about, under the social penalty of being deemed annoying or a hypochondriac. The mainstream social dynamic about this specific issue is that of: If it bothers you too much, either dye it or accept it. And up until a few years ago, "going bald" was seen from more or less the same POV: Something you're supposed to not think much of, and just accept.

The above are supraimposed morality codes btw; there's nothing too objective or ontologically fundamental about those. For example, notice how in the Western World, you're "supposed" to have lots of care put into your teeth and skin, and how they appear, at least on a surface level. Let us not even get into bodily odor and how "you're supposed" to be spraying yourself with all manners of aluminum laden perfumes and deodorants. But caring about you **natural** hair color? You must be insane. /sarcasm
Masking everything to make one seem young is the usual approach, while I feel getting to the root of why is more important. I don’t look young because I am covering something up, I just get to the root of the problem as to what is aging my skin and hair, and what can I do to nourish it or stop what is making it unhappy. If I hadn’t overheard a conversation about nettle, I wouldn’t have ever thought gray hair was reversible just by diet. Our outside is a window to what is going on inside, I think it is exciting to be able to preserve our youth and have the power to slow down what is inevitable for others that just accept their fate. I am a good subject for hair experiments because I haven’t colored my hair during my lifetime, so I am clean slate. I don’t mind the grays i have now, but I was surely not liking this stiff wiry ones, like in the last pic I posted. I am REALLY glad I only need to work on gray hair and a few wrinkles and not body odor!
 
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“In white hair, the amount of tryptophan is higher than in hair of any other color. Although serotonin and tryptophan are very important during rapid growth, their presence in senile tissues is probably closely associated with the processes of decline.” -Ray Peat
 

SonOfEurope

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Some humble advice;

Less starch from wheat, more from sweet potatoes or rice.

Less iron.

More chocolate.
 
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Some humble advice;

Less starch from wheat, more from sweet potatoes or rice.

Less iron.

More chocolate.
Chocolate is high in iron, so I say less starch and meat and more shellfish and liver. I love the white fleshed sweet potatoes and use to eat them ALL the time! I know they have less beta carotene, but they still have anti-thyroid compounds so I gave them up per RP 6+ years ago. I miss them though.
 

SonOfEurope

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But also has compounds that reduce absorbition no? And with milk's calcium chocolate shouldn't be a problem.

Shouldn't those compounds be destroyed with good boiling? Goddam I like sweet potatoes.
 
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But also has compounds that reduce absorbition no? And with milk's calcium chocolate shouldn't be a problem.

Shouldn't those compounds be destroyed with good boiling? Goddam I like sweet potatoes.
Yes the milk is perfect for blocking absorption of the iron in that chocolate. As for the white sweet potatoes, maybe boiling them rather than frying or steaming them like I was doing might be a way that I could get to eating them again. If RP says well cooking broccoli mitigates their anti-thyroid compounds why not boiling those white sweet potatoes?
 
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Here is a clump of the underside of my hair where I usually get my grays. Hopefully it is a better pic for seeing the new blonde growth without the the thick wiry grays.
 

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“Biotin deficiencies are rare. But because people with a deficiency often show symptoms of hair loss or a scaly red rash,”

“Because food-processing techniques like cooking can render biotin ineffective, raw or less-processed versions of these foods contain more active biotin.

It’s always best to get nutrients from natural sources. If you’re unable to get enough biotin naturally, a supplement may be suggested by your doctor. Remember that supplements aren’t monitored by the FDA for safety, purity, dose, or quality, so research your brands before you buy.”


 
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“Too much iron and too much stress makes us lose copper.” -Ray Peat

 

Jigend

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Annedoctally, I feel like adding this tidbit of information and personal anecdote I have not seen talked about anywhere else online.

Airpods' (and other wireless audio devices) EMF may be a serious contributing factor for white hairs to pop up

This summer, I used to take long walks into the mountains while listening to music on Apple Airpods. I did so shirtless, taking in a lot of sun directly into my skin. After a few days, I notice I'd develop a headache if those walks lasted more than a couple hours. I knew airpods weren't all that good, but since I took plenty of magnesium, I assumed I was relatively safe, and thus, it would be a minor health hazard for me. I gave it the benefit of the doubt, and thought it could be low electrolytes, mild dehidration, or something along those lines.

After a few more days, I noticed in the mirror (when buying clothes in a mall) 5 thick white hairs on one of the sides of my head, and like 4 or 5 on the other side of the head. Those hairs were in the region directly above the ear. For some reason, I directly made the association with the airpods. I mean, my habits haven't changed in any other way, I wasn't going through any other major stressor, and my food hadn't changed in any way. Other than 5 or beard hairs I have (since I was 23, which I suspect operates through a slightly different mechanism from head hair) I've never had any white hairs anywhere.


Coincidentally enough, around that time, I came across this thread about folate and its implications in white hair. And how both EMF, UV radiation and coffee lower it. Just the "recipe" I had been going through in summer. Not to mention I had supplemented with B1 (antagonizes folate) sometime before as a nootropic, and even drank plenty of RedBull (which has B1 too) as a refresher during summer.

During that same august, I dropped the airpods, and upped my folate with fruit juices and dark green veggies. I plucked those thick white hairs, and for [counts months] 3 months, I saw no more white hairs at all, and those white hairs I plucked re-grew in full color.


Now here's the kicker: At the beginning of this month I decided to pick those damned airpods again for when I'd do some minor errands in the city. And lo and behold: It didn't even take 4 days of using those airpods like 1 or 2 hours per day for 3 thick white hairs to pop up in the exact same place as in August.

These are all the certainties I needed in terms of knowing those EMF waves are way out of wack. And how so many people who are 25+ (i.e. no longer gifted with the indestructible metabolic qualities of a child or teen) may notice white hairs popping up, and just think it is "normal aging" when there's a much simpler explanation for those things.


Also, it's interesting how these white hairs don't go through a "graying process". There's no "gray" here. They're just in full color one day, and the next you go to the mirror, and they're individually pure white. Like some switch was turned off overnight. I ***think*** that one day, we may eventually learn how the way in which different hair in different regions turns white may reveal different things about what nutritional imbalance or hormonal problem is leading up to it.
 

Mossy

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Annedoctally, I feel like adding this tidbit of information and personal anecdote I have not seen talked about anywhere else online.

Airpods' (and other wireless audio devices) EMF may be a serious contributing factor for white hairs to pop up

This summer, I used to take long walks into the mountains while listening to music on Apple Airpods. I did so shirtless, taking in a lot of sun directly into my skin. After a few days, I notice I'd develop a headache if those walks lasted more than a couple hours. I knew airpods weren't all that good, but since I took plenty of magnesium, I assumed I was relatively safe, and thus, it would be a minor health hazard for me. I gave it the benefit of the doubt, and thought it could be low electrolytes, mild dehidration, or something along those lines.

After a few more days, I noticed in the mirror (when buying clothes in a mall) 5 thick white hairs on one of the sides of my head, and like 4 or 5 on the other side of the head. Those hairs were in the region directly above the ear. For some reason, I directly made the association with the airpods. I mean, my habits haven't changed in any other way, I wasn't going through any other major stressor, and my food hadn't changed in any way. Other than 5 or beard hairs I have (since I was 23, which I suspect operates through a slightly different mechanism from head hair) I've never had any white hairs anywhere.


Coincidentally enough, around that time, I came across this thread about folate and its implications in white hair. And how both EMF, UV radiation and coffee lower it. Just the "recipe" I had been going through in summer. Not to mention I had supplemented with B1 (antagonizes folate) sometime before as a nootropic, and even drank plenty of RedBull (which has B1 too) as a refresher during summer.

During that same august, I dropped the airpods, and upped my folate with fruit juices and dark green veggies. I plucked those thick white hairs, and for [counts months] 3 months, I saw no more white hairs at all, and those white hairs I plucked re-grew in full color.


Now here's the kicker: At the beginning of this month I decided to pick those damned airpods again for when I'd do some minor errands in the city. And lo and behold: It didn't even take 4 days of using those airpods like 1 or 2 hours per day for 3 thick white hairs to pop up in the exact same place as in August.

These are all the certainties I needed in terms of knowing those EMF waves are way out of wack. And how so many people who are 25+ (i.e. no longer gifted with the indestructible metabolic qualities of a child or teen) may notice white hairs popping up, and just think it is "normal aging" when there's a much simpler explanation for those things.


Also, it's interesting how these white hairs don't go through a "graying process". There's no "gray" here. They're just in full color one day, and the next you go to the mirror, and they're individually pure white. Like some switch was turned off overnight. I ***think*** that one day, we may eventually learn how the way in which different hair in different regions turns white may reveal different things about what nutritional imbalance or hormonal problem is leading up to it.
Interesting. I'm sure you're already going to do this, but it would be good to stop using the airpods to see if that once again reverses this most recent appearance of white hair. If you can repeat this experiment to the point of conclusive cause and effect, each time, that would be quite big.

P.S. If true, that would be quite bad if B1 causes gray hair.
 
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“Some causes of premature hair graying are reversible, such as nutritional deficiencies. Vitamin B12, iron, and copper deficiency, as well as severe protein malnutrition, have been linked to hair hypopigmentation [4, 8, 9]. Other risk factors significantly associated with premature gray hair include a vegetarian diet and atopy [10].”

 

Mathgirl

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Anyone try a coffee hair rinse? I'm growing out high lights on my hair and hoping it stains some of the lighter strands to blend. As well has providing caffeine topically. Any thoughts?
 

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