When we think of getting older, many of us picture wrinkles, less energy, and retirement. A changing hair color typically isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Look around, even at your older family members, and you may see a lot of people with greying or white hair. Unfortunately, hair color isn’t something that stays the same throughout our lives. Why is that?

In short, and to paraphrase a 2014 article in Science Magazine, we can thank a pigment called melanin for our hair changing colors. Melanin is produced by hair follicles and our bodies make less of it as we get older. This is what causes white hair and can eventually lead to grey hair.

While less production of melanin is the main cause of hair changing colors, there are a couple other factors that may contribute to grey or white hair.

Why Does Hair Color Change With Age?

Stress

You know your friends joke that your grey hair are from stress? Yeah, well, they’re not kidding! Many doctors and health professionals will be the first to tell you that stress can lead to grey hair. 

A Harvard Health article says this is because, “Your hair follicles produce less color as they age, so when hair goes through its natural cycle of dying and being regenerated, it’s more likely to grow in as gray beginning after age 35.”

You’ve Colored Your Hair A Lot

If you spend a lot of your years coloring your hair, all those chemicals are going to affect your hair color. While normally your hair would change to grey or white as you age, the amount of chemicals in your hair, like hydrogen peroxide, are going to alter that. Bleach and chlorine are two other chemicals that alter hair color.

Geneticist Trisha Chong says melanocytes (the cells that make melanin) wear out as we get older. This makes them less effective at passing pigment into the hair, and this is what ends up making the hair white or gray.