Old age catches up to all of us eventually. Once you spot that first gray hair, it’s over. From there, you keep picking at every hair that appears. If so, you might realize that aging signs start from your beard before your hair. But, why do beards go gray first?
Beards go gray first because as humans age, the secretion of melanin becomes less. Melanin is a natural pigment responsible for coloring the skin, hair, and eyes. Since a beard grows out faster than hair, gray hairs start to appear there before they do on the head.
That said, a beard that’s graying isn’t always bad. This is why we’ll further explain how and why beards go gray. As an added plus for you, we’ll also show you how to reverse these graying effects.
Why Do Beards Go Gray First?
Sadly, science hasn’t reached a definitive answer to this question just yet. The most logical explanation scientists could reach goes back to melanin deficiency. This color pigment secretes melanocytes that help darken your skin and hair.
Once the secretion lessens over time, gray hairs start to appear.
Interestingly enough, graying hair isn’t that uncommon. A study showed that more than 70% of middle-aged and old men have already gone at least 30% gray. In addition, men lose melanin faster than women.
A more curious fact is that Asian and African descendants maintain their melanin levels longer than those of Caucasian or European origins.
There’s another reason as to why beards go gray before your hair, and that’d be genetics. We already know that melanin secretion reduces with age, but how soon that happens depends on your forefathers. This is why you might often see young men, no older than 25, with a few gray hairs in their beards.
Gravity also plays a part in graying your beard first. Unbelievable, right?
Well, your natural hair grows against gravity but your facial hair doesn’t. This results in beards growing faster and for the flow of melanocytes to decrease with age, leading gray hairs to appear in your beard first.
In other cases, your pituitary or thyroid gland might have problems in it. After all, these are the glands responsible for secreting melanin into your blood. Much like genetics, a gland’s effects are irreversible and there’s not much you can do about it.
How to Prevent Early Graying Signs
Whether or not you’re genetically inherited to show early signs of a gray beard, there are some steps you can take to hold back these aging cues. Take a look at your daily habits and figure out which are the harmful ones, then get rid of them.
Some of these bad habits might include smoking, unhealthy diets, and poor stress management skills. This is why it would be good for you to implement a better lifestyle that’ll prevent early graying signs.
Here’s a list of where you can start:
- Cut down on smoking time
- Eat foods that’ll help your hair grow
- Manage your time well to avoid pressing deadlines or last-minute trouble
- Go for foods rich in Omega 3, vitamin B12, vitamin D, and antioxidants to boost hair growth and melanin secretion
- You can opt for supplements too
3 Ways to Reverse Gray Hair
To be sure, there’s no certain way to stop your gray hair from completely disappearing. It’s also impossible to prevent the graying from happening altogether. After all, it’s inevitable.
However, there are some methods you can try that might help slow down the process.
1. An Essential Oil Massage
Beard oils have many rewarding functions. One of their benefits is boosting melanin levels in your hair. By regularly producing melanin, these essential oils can help darken your hair and have it maintain its color for as long as possible.
There are many essential oils you can choose from to achieve this, including:
- Peppermint
- Rosemary
- Lavender
- Tea tree
- Sandalwood
- Cedarwood
- Chamomile
To help set back your graying process, you should massage the oil into your beard.
First, mix your chosen essential oil with a carrier oil, such as argan. Then, apply the mixed solution to your facial hair. Do this at least three times a week, and make sure that the mixture also reaches the hair roots.
2. A Supplementary Diet
As mentioned before, the right diet helps not only with your melanin levels but also with your hair growth. Knowing which food achieves that will reverse the graying signs once they’ve shown. Plus, a healthy diet slows down aging signs and keeps you fit for longer.
Consider vitamin-rich food or that which contains a lot of antioxidants. You can add any of the following to your present diet, and observe the change:
- Green vegetables such as spinach, cabbage, and kale
- Berries, especially blueberries
- Dark chocolate, pecans, and anchovies
- Green or herbal tea
If it’s easier, you can just purchase supplements that contain the vitamins you need. Look for pills that contain enough vitamins D, C, and B12.
3. Homemade Recipes
If you’re feeling crafty, you can use everyday kitchen ingredients to create a homemade mixture that’ll help stop more gray hairs from appearing. Take the time to mix any of the following recipes then add the result to your hair routine.
- Heat a mixture of curry leaves and buttermilk. Apply the recipe to your beard and let it sit for ten minutes. Rinse off and repeat twice a week
- Massage aloe vera gel with ghee to your facial hair. You can opt to drink aloe vera instead too
- On low heat, bring coconut oil and curry leaves to a boil. Once the mixture cools down, apply to your beard and wait for 15 minutes. Rinse off afterward
- Add one teaspoon of coconut oil and amla each to a boiling bowl of water. Stir for two to three minutes then let it cool. Massage it into your facial hair for 15 minutes, then wash it off
- To 100ml of boiling water, add a few curry leaves. Let it boil until the leaves are half down in size. Drink the mixture once every day
How to Dye Your Graying Hair
If all else fails, you can dye your beard. Beard dyes are safe to use, just make sure that you use a color that suits your hair. Remember not to wash your facial hair before dying it since that’ll rid your beard of its natural oils.
That being said, our homemade dye is a safer and more natural option.
- Prepare one cup of henna, one tablespoon of both lemon juice and vinegar, half a tablespoon of coconut oil, and two tablespoons of curd
- Mix the ingredients to create a paste
- Leave the mixture to sit in an iron pot overnight
- Apply the paste to your beard and let it stay from 40 to 45 minutes
- Wash it off with lukewarm water
Final Thoughts
Why do beards go gray first?
Because facial hair loses melanin faster than head hair for numerous reasons. Luckily, however, there are many ways to slow down your graying beard. Additionally, you can also hide the gray hairs from sight by dying them.
Otherwise, you can spare yourself all the trouble and just rock that gray beard. Many people find them really attractive, and you can read more on that here.