BBC Doctor Unveils the Surprising Reason Behind Your Grey Hair

If you've often pondered whether stress might have prematurely turned some of your hair grey, look no further. On his show, he spoke about this topic, Dr Xand's Hoax or Healing The expert was joined by co-host and journalist Ashley John-Baptiste, where they unveiled the truth.

The physician, most renowned for his presence on BBC Morning Live commented: "Stress plays a role – but do you know why your hair turns grey?"

The cells known as melanocytes – which produce pigments like melanin within the hair follicles – cease functioning. As a result, hairs lacking this pigment appear white or grey. Essentially, these colours represent the natural fallback option.

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"And stress can definitely contribute to those pigment producing cells working less well in several different ways. The stress hormones do it, the general inflammation of stress in the body contributes to it.

"And so although most of your tendencies to go grey is genetic, it definitely is sped up by stress. It’s not a myth."

Backing up his claims, one study which was funded in part by the National Institute of Health's National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) and other NIH components, was later published in Nature.

Here’s what it says: "Led by Dr. Ya-Chieh Hsu from Harvard University, the research group utilized mice to investigate stress-induced hair greying. These mice encountered various stresses including minor transient discomforts, mental strain, and limited mobility. Each type of stress resulted in significant depletion of melanocyte stem cells leading to grey hairs."

After establishing a connection between stress and hair greying, the researchers proceeded to investigate various possible causes. Their initial experiment focused on determining if an immune system assault could be leading to the depletion of melanocyte stem cells.

However, subjecting mice with weakened immune systems to stress still resulted in grey hair. The researchers subsequently examined the impact of the stress hormone corticosterone; nonetheless, changing its levels did not influence stress-induced greying.

The researchers ultimately focused on the neurotransmitter noradrenaline—also referred to as norepinephrine—which, together with corticosterone, showed increased levels in the stressed mice. Their findings indicated that noradrenaline played a crucial role in causing hair greying due to stress.

Through administering noradrenaline beneath the skin of unstressed mice, the scientists managed to induce a loss of melanocyte stem cells and consequently caused their fur to turn gray.