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Why does our hair turn white when we get old?
The colour cells in our hair roots get tired as we age and stop making colour, so the hair grows in white.
The colour of our hair comes from tiny colour factories inside our hair roots. These factories are called melanocytes, and they make a colouring called melanin, which gives hair its brown, black, or yellow colour. As we grow older, these factories grow older too.
As melanocytes get older, they slowly get tired and make less colouring. After a while, they stop making colouring altogether. Without colouring, the hair strand actually grows in clear, but it looks white or grey to our eyes.
This usually starts when people are in their 30s or 40s, but for some people it happens earlier, and for others later. This is because of the genes we get from our family. If your mum, dad, or grandma's hair turned white at a certain age, your hair might turn white around the same age too.
Quick facts
- The colouring that gives hair its colour is called melanin.
- Melanin is made by melanocyte cells in the hair root.
- As we get older, melanocytes make less melanin.
- When melanin runs out, the hair strand looks white.
- When your hair turns white mostly depends on the genes you get from your family.
Check what you remember
3 questions — all of them come from the quick facts above. There is no score and no wrong turn.
1. What is the name of the colouring that gives hair its colour?
2. Which cells make melanin?
3. What mostly decides when your hair will turn white?
Where this comes from
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1 tr.wikipedia.org 80/100Melanin - Wikipedia
Explains simply what melanin is, the substance that gives hair its colour.
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3 britannica.com 70/100Hair (anatomy) - Britannica
A trustworthy encyclopedia page showing the structure of a hair strand and its root.
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