The Beauty Diet (25 page)

it out. This approach is working for the time being, but the time will come when Rachel—and the rest of us!—will have to decide whether or not to go gray. She may choose to embrace her gray hair as a sign of her wisdom and experience, or she may say "To heck with that idea!"

The best way to avoid gray hair is to pick parents who have genes for long-lasting hair color. Every person is programmed to develop gray (nonpigmented) hair by a certain age, and no amount of nutritional intervention can change that. However, there are some conditions that can cause hair to turn gray earlier, or more rapidly, than normal. Correcting those processes can help you keep your natural color longer.

When we are young, cells called
melanocytes
produce the pigment that gives our hair its color. Gray hair is caused by a decrease in the functioning of the melanocytes. This is often associated with age but can occur for other reasons. Thyroid disorders may make hair turn gray early, and smoking and stress have been linked to prematurely gray hair.

A link between nutrition and gray hair is vitamin B
12
. A deficiency of B
12
can cause gray hair. It's unlikely for most Americans to have a B vitamin deficiency due to a poor diet (though vegans need to supplement their diet with B
12
), but it can happen if you have problems absorbing nutrients, such as older adults with decreased stomach acid or those with gastrointestinal disorders.

Today women can be beautiful with or without hair on their heads. When Robin Roberts of the TV show "Good Morning America" lost her hair due to chemotherapy, she walked the runway at an Isaac Mizrahi fashion show completely bald—and she looked sensational doing it!