Premature Grey Hair?
- Avee Naidoo
- Mar 8
- 2 min read
by Dr. Avee Naidoo (2025).
Noticing grey strands in your 20s or 30s?
Don’t panic — your body might be trying to tell you something!
✨ Nutrient check: Low in B12, folate, or iron? Your hair needs these to stay vibrant!
✨ Trace Elements: Low levels of trace elements such as Zinc and Copper may contribute to premature greying.
✨ Thyroid alert: An under or overactive thyroid can mess with your melanin, which contributes to the colour in your hair strands.
✨ Stress much? Chronic stress can age your strands faster than you think. There are some studies that show that reduction in stress can slow down or reverse greying.
✨ Autoimmunity or Inflammation: Patients with autoimmune conditions, such as vitiligo or alopecia areata (loss of hair in coin-shaped patches), can have localized areas of hair greying. This is due to inflammation which negatively the ability of melanocytes (the cells that make hair pigment)
✨ Smoking woes: Cigarettes = oxidative stress = grey hair! 🚭
What can we do about it?
Good news! These causes can often be reversed!
💪 Fuel up on nutrient-rich foods (doctor-advised supplementation may be needed for nutrient deficiencies), manage your stress, quit smoking, and get a health check-up.
Your hair (and your body) will thank you!
💇♀️💇♂️If premature greying runs in your family, unfortunately, greying in this circumstance cannot be simply reversed.
However, emerging therapies, such as anti-oxidative agents (to reduce stress) and peptide-based treatments (to stimulate pigmentation), are under investigation.
Currently, there are some products (e.g. arey To The Root, GRO AGELESS Anti-Gray Hair Serum, Living Proof Scalp Care Density Serum for Thinning & Greying Hair) targeted to help reduce premature greying. However, evidence is limited and there appears to benefit if less than 1/3 of your hair is grey.
Follow for more skin & hair care tips @doctor.avee (https://www.instagram.com/doctor.avee/)