Grey hair: what does it mean, what are the causes and remedies and is it age related
Perhaps it's not the most enlightening or uplifting subject but I thought it an interesting subject to talk about.
I don't have grey hair but hope to share what I know about why it occurs, if it can be prevented and reversed and what it means.
Since some stereotypes are that grey hair only sprouts after forty.
Yet we see people in their thirties or even younger with grey hair at times. At other times some people don't go grey until their sixties or not at all.
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him did not go grey until he was over sixty and this is probably how it should be if we looked after ourselves.
It will be interesting to discuss why he may not have had many grey hairs at his passing at 63 years old.
Grey hair is said to be one of the first signs of aging, and is often said to coincide with muscle weakening, general weakening of eye sight, hearing and physical strength.
It can sometimes be caused by genetics, medical conditions and dietary factors particularly when it occurs when younger than expected.
In fact, I had a friend who went completely grey at 18. Her family took her to the doctor who said it was a genetic problem.
There are some girls who see grey hairs at the age of twenty. Some of them have significant amounts by age 25.
It is then an important indication about what is going on within the body.
It is a better and more important indication than asking someone's age because people differ so much at the same age.
People don't have the same lifespans and so age differently.
The most common age to begin seeing grey hair is said to be around the age of 35 in the Western world.
However, there are many people of 30 and under who are getting grey hair in our time.
On the other hand there are people who don't go grey until they are sixty or more.
There is some relationship to diet, and it is said that certain foods, vitamins or minerals can cause or reverse grey hair.
For example, sugar, white bread and flour are said to contribute to early hair greying.
These foods increase aging in general and decrease levels of b vitamins, calcium and iron from the body.
They dont contain many nutrients.
Too much fried food as also been linked to greying hair, as well as deficiencies in iron, zinc, biotin and b vitamins.
Some foods are said to prevent and delay grey hair, such as sesame seeds, chickpeas, lentils, wheatgrass, barley grass, chlorophyll, spinach and foods that contain calcium, b vitamins and biotin and iron.
I once read about a man who had not gone grey and was near the age of sixty, and claimed the reason was due to eating spinach frequently.
In Islam, the relationship of grey hair to health is supposed to be an indication of a person's lifespan and how much time they may have left.
There are apparently three signs a person will see before he or she dies.
Of course not all people will see these signs most most people who live complete and full lives may do so.
The first is the appearance of grey hair. Seeing grey hair is the first indication that your time in earth may be coming to an end.
It is a reminder to turn one's attention to the afterlife and increase in good deeds for the next life.
If as it says on the internet is correct and most people start to go grey at around 35, then if the average life expectancy is 75 they have completed approximately half their life at this time.
Islam does not call people middle aged. This is a meaning that people made up but in reality no one knows the exact time a person is middle aged.
We all have our own lifespan.
Have people always gone grey?
I began to wonder about this question when I see older adults with grey hair.
Yet at the same time, I looked at the cat who has been living in my parents house for more than ten years.
She must have been more than 90 years old at the time.
Even yet her face is looking older and she does seem slightly less lively and agile than before.
Yet her hair has remained her tabby colour. It seems that cats do not go grey. In fact, I don't think most animals do.
What makes humans go grey then? Is it something that people are doing wrong?
So we know that nutrition, as well as stress (which depletes important nutrients, especially b vitamins and others) are important to control.
However, there are some reasons not related to such things.
A narration from Imam Ali peace be upon him says that the first person to go grey was Prophet Ibrahim peace be upon him. This was because he saw that people would grow old and not go grey and there should be something to distinguish a father from his son. As if it was an answer to his prayer he then was the first to have white hair. He seemed to admire it as well.
وعن علي رضي الله عنه قال : كان الرجل يبلغ الهرم ولم يشب ، وكان في القوم والد وولد فلا يعرف الابن من الأب ، فقال إبراهيم عليه السلام : يا رب اجعل لي شيئا أعرف به ، فأصبح رأسه ولحيته أبيضين أزهرين أنورين .
وروى الحافظ ابن عساكر بسنده عن القاسم بن أمامةقال : بينما إبراهيم عليه السلام ذات يوم يصلي صلاة الضحى إذ نظر إلى كف خارجة من السماء بين أصبعين من أصابعها شعرة بيضاء فلم تزل تدنو حتى دنت من رأس إبراهيم عليه الصلاة والسلام . فألقت الشعرة البيضاء في رأسه ثم قالت أشعل وقارا . وفي رواية أشعل خده فأشعل رأسه منها شيبا فأوحى الله إلىإبراهيم عليه السلام أن يتطهر فتوضأ ثم أوحى إليه أن يتطهر فاغتسل ثم أوحى إليه أن يتطهر فاختتن فكان إبراهيم عليه السلام أول من شاب واختتن .
So Ibrahim was the first to go white and saw this as a reason to purify himself.
This is also an indication that before him people were not getting grey hair.
It seems his wife Sara did not go grey and according to Israelite narration did not like the appearance of grey hair on her husband.
وقال القرطبي في تذكرته ما نصه : وفي الإسرائيليات أن إبراهيم عليه الصلاة والسلام لما رجع من تقريب ولده إلى ربه عز وجل رأت سارة في لحيته شعرة بيضاء ، وكان عليه الصلاة والسلام أول من شاب ، فأنكرتها وأرته إياها فجعل يتأملها فأعجبته ، وكرهتها سارةوطالبته بإزالتها فأبى
So was the reason for getting grey that Ibrahim peace be upon him wanted something to distinguish one generation from another?
Or were there other reasons such as dietary changes, lifestyle or other issues?
What it does indicate in essence is that since the beginning of humanity until now, people seem to be getting weaker.
People in the earlier time periods were said to live longer and not go grey.
People's lifespan then decreased during certain times, such as during the stone age, when life expectancy was only 25.
In the past century life expectancy was until 40. There were times when life expectancy was 30.
No wonder forty was considered over the hill then, although it does not make sense now.
Now we have increased our life expectancy to more than 75 years. There are many people who live longer than that and it is still increasing.
At the same we don't know what people's lifespan is going to be until they have actually passed away.
Therefore, it may seem that ordinarily grey hair is an indication that a person is getting weaker and perhaps has a limited time left on earth.
It is a reminder of the afterlife, although some people may recieve this reminder earlier than others.
Maybe some people go grey only years before their passing, and for others decades.
It is also an indication that humanity is weaker than previously, especially since we see people getting grey hair at younger ages than before.
It may indicate a person's lifespan at times, sometimes not.
Other times it may be an indication of certain nutritional deficiencies or conditions one should address.
Can we die hair or reverse grey hair?
In shariah it is allowed to dye grey hair with henna or saffron to make a light colour but not to dye it black.
This was addressed to Arabs with black hair so I guess it applies to any nationality or hair colour that it should not be totally disguised.
This is because it is not allowed to trick people into thinking you are still a young person with natural hair colour yet to go grey.
Especially in issues such as marriage, a person should be able to know if they are marrying a young person or an older person.
Such factors are an indication.
Although it is permissible for grey haired people to marry people who have not yet gone grey there are some indications that usually two people who begun to grey are suitable for each other as are people who have not.
There is a hadith in which a grey haired man was riding passed a woman and began to propose to her. She answered but replied that she had some grey hair. He turned away to leave. She then called him back to inform him that she did not really but wanted to show him that as he would not accept a grey haired person, neither would she.
Therefore, for people of any age not yet married preventing or reversing grey hairs may be something to consider.
What else does grey hair actually mean?
It is said grey hair may be an indication of reaching the point where we have completed half of our life.
In Arab this time is called 'kahl' and means to be tired.
People who have approached this phase in life are said to feel more tired than before.
Of course, this is actually related to decreased stamina, a weakened immune system and perhaps a need for more b vitamins and protein.
What we can actually understand is that we should not try and deceive people by dyeing hair back to it's normal colour to hide the grey.
People should be able to identify the real state of a person, since it may have implications in choosing a marriage partner, or getting an idea about ones physical state.
Previously, younger people would be distinguished from other generations by using terms such as aunt and uncle when addressing people with grey hair.
Nowadays due to ignorance people address anyone older as an aunt or uncle.
This causes some offence and makes people feel old when they are actually young.
A generation is not a ten year age difference that some people mistakenly think.
Ten years is actually a decade.
A generation refers to the age difference between parents and their offspring, which is usually at least twenty years and can at times be fifty or even sixty years.
Ten years can be the difference of one sibling and another.
Therefore, there are some hadith that demonstrate that the purpose of grey hair was originally to help recognize one generation from another.
However, nowadays it seems that it effects the younger generations as well as older and people are going grey sooner than before.
If we take the example Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him as the ideal and example for his things should be, he did not begin seeing white hairs until he was more than sixty years old.
Therefore, it seems that there may be some reason for people going grey that is perhaps related to diet and lifestyle.
When I lived with a group of girls in their early and mid-twenties who all were seeing grey hairs, the only reason I could see was that they liked to eat sugary biscuits with white flour, as well as white bread and packaged, processed foods. I did not eat the same foods as them and so that did not happen to me.
This is what I believe.
Some foods are said to cause grey hair earlier than usual.
These are fried foods, processed foods, too much white sugar and white bread (which speed up the aging process).
Some foods are said to delay the appearance of grey hair such as black sesame seeds, chickpeas, chlorophyll, spinach, wheatgrass and barley grass.
Certain vitamins and minerals if they are lacking can lead to the onset of grey hair, such as iron, vitamin c, calcium and vitamin d, zinc, selenium but in particular b vitamins and especially biotin.
In fact, taking high does of biotin has been said to reverse grey hair.
In one book I read about a man who did a heavy metal cleanse, he took high doses of biotin. He mentions how he saw his white hair gradually return to black.
Biotin is naturally produced in the gut by the bodies immune system. Keeping the immune system strong may help the body to produce b vitamins and biotin needed for our health and hair colour.
Hair oil is said to help delay the appearance of grey. People with naturally oily hair may go grey later than others.
Too much washing the hair can damage it and lead to premature greying or dry and brittle hair.
For people who want to reverse grey hair, it is said that using the yellow part of an egg and leaving it on the hair for ten minutes before washing it off can make hair thicker and healthier and return the hairs natural colour.
Therefore, correcting underlying nutritional deficiencies, improving diet and lifestyle can all help in preventing and treating grey hair.
Therefore, I hope to have shown in this post that grey hair is not something that happens over forty. In fact, it is something that we should only be seeing in the over sixties, but we are now seeing in people of all ages.
Treatment of people with grey hair? Is it bad?
Although the media, people, society and some of the younger generations don't value older, grey and white haired individuals and call them all sorts of insulting names, grey haired people are supposed to be respected.
There are hadiths that say not to pluck grey hairs and that they are a sign of wisdom. This of course, is when they occur in advanced years, which is their more appropriate time.
A grey-haired person also receive reward from God apparently.
People of advanced age are to supposed to be recognised and respected anf looked up by the younger generations.
They are the ones we younger generations go to for advice.
It is said that having an old person in the house is a source of blessings and not a hindrance.
Since grey hair is said to be evidence of wisdom, it is these people we can go to and ask advice when we need it.
Grey hair helps to distinguish between those who are young and those more advanced in year's and experience.
It may be a sign of settling down, reaching a middle age as well.
Since there is no exact age for such things in that Quran or hadith, we can understand them through seeing these physical state and appearance on as person.
Places were people live longer may see grey hair at a later age to countries and places where people live shorter lives.
However, it is not the length of a persons life that is important but what they do or have done with their lives, which is important.
Some people may live a long time harming others.
Others may live a century for themselves.
Others may live a few decades for the benefit of others.
In a hadith when asked which people are the best, the reply was that those who's lives are long and their actions good. Who are the worst? Those whose lives are long and their actions bad.
Therefore, it is not how long our lives are but what we do with them that is important.
A longer life can provide more opportunity for doing good in the world, however, some people may live less timed and do less harm
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