• Question: Why does our hair end up going grey?

    Asked by lilyyy to Sara on 14 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Sara Imari Walker

      Sara Imari Walker answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Hi lily! Great question. I actually had to look this up. I didn’t know, except that I know I get grey hairs from stress!!

      Our hair is actually composed of two parts – a shaft (the colored part which grows out of our head) and a root (the bottom part anchoring our hair under our scalps). Turns out that in the root we have follicles which produce melanin, a chemical that gives our hair its color. (Melanin is also in our skin, protecting us from the Sun and contributing to our skin color). As we age we produce less melanin and our hair starts to grey. This is pretty neat! Thanks for asking, I learned something new too =)

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