• Question: My grandad's beard went grey, and now it is turning dark again. Why?

    Asked by wizzyg12 to Claire, Matt, Sam on 28 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Claire Lee

      Claire Lee answered on 28 Jun 2013:

      That’s pretty cool 🙂

      I don’t know for sure, but I think it could depend on why it went grey in the first place.

      Hair is initially white, and gets its colour from cells which produce pigment that goes into the hair. As you get older, those cells naturally stop producing lots of pigment, sometimes completely, and the hair goes grey or white.

      But your lifestyle can also affect the amount of pigmentation produced – if you are not eating a healthy diet, or under a lot of stress, this can also cause the cells to not produce a lot of pigment.

      Probably for the first case there isn’t much you can do once the cells start producing less. But I guess that if the problem stems from diet/lifestyle/stress then if you fix that the cells could go back to normal again!

    • Photo: Sam Geen

      Sam Geen answered on 28 Jun 2013:

      Assuming he doesn’t dye it, sometimes like Claire says a better diet can help regain some colour. Is he eating better or living more healthily?

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