Is grey hair reversible?

The short answer is yes, it’s possible. The long answer is - it depends on several factors.

Martin Picard and his team conducted a study that made a key discovery about aging. Aging is more than a number. It’s a biological process influenced by stress, metabolism, and lifestyle.

Grey hair, typically associated with getting older has always appeared to be an irreversible phenomenon. Any stories suggesting otherwise were considered purely anecdotal.

But this research team looked at strong evidence that gives us hope.

The study included 14 participants. Although it was a small group, the analysis is groundbreaking.

Look at these two case studies:
Case 1: A 30 year old Asian female
Case 2: A 35 year old Caucasian male

In both cases, there was a clear reversal of greying i.e. repigmentation of hair.

Assuming the rate of hair growth to be approximately 1cm/month, the section of greying was compared against life events.

In case 1, 30 year old Asian female, the greying coincided with marital conflict and separation and re-pigmentation with relocation i.e. resolution of a major stressor.

In case 2, 35 year old Caucasian male, the return to hair color, corresponded with a period of lowest stress in the year for the participant - a two week vacation period.

Key findings:

The research team found that grey hairs upregulate proteins related to energy metabolism, antioxidant proteins and DNA repair mechanisms. In layman’s terms, the grey hair is working extra hard against external stress.

But the cellular machinery for pigmentation is still active in grey follicles — just dysregulated. When the stressor is removed, the system can recalibrate.

Building a model for the future:

To build a model that can predict hair greying dynamics, the researchers had to come up with an aging factor based on the biological age of a person as well as the state of the individual follicle. Meaning stressors will not affect a teenager the same way as it would a 40 year old person.
And that’s why the long answer is - it depends on how far along you are past the threshold.

Conclusion:

Why this study matters is because it shows us that aging is not simply a number that we cannot control. It’s an energetic and metabolic mechanism that we could have some say over through our lifestyle, stress management and other factors.

Your hair is keeping score.

Link to study: https://elifesciences.org/articles/67437