How to keep hair from growing gray. Kind of

It comes for everyone, whether you like it or not.

Gray hair is seen as an inevitable part of aging, an unavoidable feature determined by genetics.

But this often-unwanted milestone has many people asking if more can be done to prevent it. Here’s what you need to know.

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What causes gray hair?

Hair goes gray when the specialized cells that produce melanin – the natural pigment that gives hair its color – stops regrowing. Melanin is created at the beginning of the years-long cycle your hair is constantly undergoing, but after roughly seven to 15 cycles, melanin production stops, leading hair to appear gray, silver and eventually white. 

The age and extent graying happens is largely due to "powerful genetic inheritance," according to Desmond Tobin, a professor of dermatological science at University College Dublin and the director of the Charles Institute of Dermatology. He added environmental factors, including exposure to pollution and tobacco smoke, and lifestyle choices, like nutrition, sleep and psychological stress, can also have an impact on hair aging.

These lifestyle choices could have a particular impact on whether the hair goes completely white, or retains some mixed shades of the original pigment, he said. The age hair goes gray is highly variable, Tobin said, but can range from mid-30s to 40s. It isn’t abnormal to see gray strands at a younger age.

Can I slow or reverse gray hair?

Experts say there is no widely-recognized method or strategy to stop scalp hair from going gray once the process has started. Still, there is a silver lining.

Changing your diet to incorporate more antioxidants, including highly colored fruits and berries, which contain crucial stress-fighting compounds, can help manage the oxidative stress behind aging.

Some research has also indicated that hair follicles currently gray or going gray may retain the capacity to restart pigmentation after clinical changes, including medication and treatment switches, Tobin said.

When does the body really start aging? The answer may surprise you.

Is Gen Z graying earlier than other generations?

If you spend enough time on social media, you may have encountered videos purporting to explain why younger generations, like millennials and Gen Z, are aging quicker than their predecessors. 

While Tobin characterized Gen Z as an "image-preoccupied generation" searching out initial gray hairs with forensic intent, he said there might be some substance to these claims.

"There is indeed some emerging medical research from Europe and the U.S. suggesting that both millennials and Gen Z may be exhibiting higher biological ages than previous generations at the same chronological age," Tobin said. He added aspects of modern life, like longer working hours and fast food, could be factors. 

But as a whole, humans might be going gray earlier because of our increasing unlinking with our inherited circadian rhythms, the body's internal clock that regulates functions like the sleep-wake cycle, hormone release and digestion, he said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How to keep hair from growing gray. Kind of