The human body needs a proper diet, complete with all the essential nutrients like proteins, vitamins, fats, carbohydrates, and even fibers. Lack of any of these components or even excessive consumption can lead to many health-related problems. One such concerning issue is graying of hair.
Graying of hairs generally happens when a certain pigment from the follicles of the hair is no more produced. This is an inevitable occurrence with age, but a deficiency in certain proteins and vitamins causes premature gray hairs. Luckily, there are certain vitamins that help in preventing gray hairs. In this article, we would discuss a few of such vitamins.
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Para Amino benzoic Acid or PABA
This happens to be a part of the great Vitamin B family. PABA is mostly known for being an anti-gray hair vitamin. Studies on certain animals had shown that deficiency of PABA had led to the growth of gray hairs, while the natural color returned when PABA was restored back to their diet. With humans, there has been a similar result. People with gray hair, on consume just 200 mg of PABA on their diet regularly can retain around 70 percent of their hair’s original color within months. However, PABA alone is not as effective as when it is combined with folic acid, a Vitamin B3. Needless to say, that deficiency of PABA will lead to graying of hairs, and the case is similar with most vitamins of the B family. However, one must therefore consume PABA-rich foods, which include animal liver, kidneys,s and are also found in yeasts and grains.
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Biotin
This is also known as Vitamin H, but surprisingly a part of the B family. It is basically a hair growth enhancer and also prevents hair loss by metabolizing the fatty acids. Some studies have also found biotin to prevent hair from graying too. One can find biotins in the yolk portion of the egg. However, the animal liver also happens to contain biotin, and so do milk and yeast.
Inositol
Inositol is also part of the vitamin B group. You would find inositol in many parts of the human body like the muscles, liver, kidney, and eyes. Studies based on certain animals in laboratory conditions have found that inositol deficiency can cause gradual baldness, but on replenishing the diet with the vitamin, animals seem to grow back the hair. However, the rate of hair growth for males was double the female rate, which goes to show that males have a greater intake power for inositol. Inositol deficiency also causes skin irritation. However, humans, have similar consequences of balding and aging of hair. On changing the diet with adequate inositol along with other vitamin B, humans under study have registered complete growth of hair and the coloring has also come back to the original. The reason behind inositol being so important is also due to the fact that it reduces cholesterol in the blood.
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Zinc
The zinc content in an average human body needs to be maintained for healthy hair growth. The deficiency of zinc is known to have adverse effects on animals as well as humans. Loss of hair, baldness, gray hair, and scalp problems are all the issues that arise when the diet lacks zinc. However, when zinc is returned to the diet, the effects caused by its deficiency are reversed completely to give back the original hair structure. It has been seen that zinc is responsible for maintaining the protein structure of the hair. Zinc has a special name for its ability to prevent hair from graying. In a recent study, human dieting with adequate zinc in it has experienced a complete change in the hair color in a year’s time. It must be observed that zinc depletion is caused by high stress, so graying of hairs can be avoided in the first place by maintaining zinc content in the body. However, you will find zinc in food items like wheat, yeast, oysters, the yolk of the egg, and even pumpkin seeds!