Melanin In Hair - Types And How To Increase Its Levels

Man styling his hair with his hands | how to increase melanin in hair

Delaying the beginning of greying hair is a general objective nowadays. Although hair greying is a regular occurrence, premature greying is sweeping the globe. The key to controlling hair greying is to manage melanin, the natural pigment found in your hair. The next question is how to enhance melanin in the hair.

The majority of us are worried about the appearance of our hair. Hair contributes to our whole personality. It enhances our appearance. Your hair begins to grey as you age. Greying melanin hair affects your look. Even young individuals moan about their hair being grey. This is most likely related to pollution and the items we use.

Thus, increasing melanin in the hair may aid with premature greying as well as greying in general. In this section, we will explain how to boost melanin for hair via activities and diet that promote a healthy melanin balance in the hair.

What is melanin in hair?

Melanin is the pigment generated by melanocytes responsible for the colour of your natural hair. Melanocytes become less active and cease generating melanin with time, resulting in grey hair. Several additional variables may, however, impact the melanin concentration of your hair and hence its natural colour. Melanin is classified into three types:

Eumelanin (divided into black and brown forms)
Pheomelanin
Neuromelanin

Eumelanin and pheomelanin are found in the epidermis and are responsible for your natural skin and hair colour. The functions of these two forms of melanin are discussed in the next section.

Is melanin responsible for hair growth?

No, Melanin is responsible for determining the color of the hair in an individual. The loss of melanin, a component that generates colour and is responsible for the production of melanocyte cells, causes your hair to become grey or white. These are the pigments present in your hair and skin at birth. The lower the amount of melanin in your hair, the lighter it will be.

Does lack of melanin cause hair loss?

No, Melanin is not related to hair loss or hair growth. Melanin is responsible for the determination of hair color. The loss of melanin, a component that generates colour and is responsible for the production of melanocyte cells, causes your hair to become grey or white. These are the pigments present in your hair and skin at birth. The lower the amount of melanin in your hair, the lighter it will be. The amount of melanin in grey hair is rather low, whereas there is none in white hair.

Food to increase melanin in the hair

It is important to understand that every person will have white hair at some point in their lives, and this cannot be prevented since it is normal and occurs with age. However, eating well-balanced meals like melanin-rich foods that support the excellent body and skin health is a safe and reliable strategy to help preserve the vigorous life of your hair and prevent premature ageing.

Anti-oxidant-rich foods like dark chocolate, berries, and leafy vegetables are highly beneficial to include in your daily food diet to protect your cells from free radical damage and enhance melanin synthesis in your hair.
Copper-rich foods, such as almonds, mushrooms, and beef liver, also stimulate follicular melanin production.
Carrots, papaya, eggs, citrus fruits, sunflower seeds, almonds, peanuts, and pistachios are high in vitamins A, C, and E and may help enhance the health of your hair.
Vitamins B6 and B12 have been proven to boost the development of enzymes in hair follicles, which increases the metabolism of hair proteins (keratin and melanin). Vitamin B12, commonly known as cobalamin, supports healthy hair growth by promoting the formation of red blood cells. So, eating beetroot, broccoli, sprouts, eggs, salmon, cheese, soy products, and starchy vegetables helps to increase melanin in the hair.

Melanin supplement for hair

Melanin production for hair may be increased by consuming certain vitamins and minerals.

Iron

Some of the melanin-rich foods for hair include meals high in iron, which may aid in the creation of melanin, which is beneficial to your hair. Dark green vegetables (spinach, broccoli), tomato, banana, dark chocolate, lentils, nuts (cashew, peanuts), seeds (flax seeds, pumpkin seeds), dark chocolate, and fish are high in this nutrient.

Anti-oxidants

Anti-oxidants combat free radicals, which attack healthy cells like melanin-producing cells. Anti-oxidants are abundant in foods high in melanin, such as blueberries, beans, leafy green vegetables, dark chocolate, and artichokes.

Vitamins

A lack of vitamins such as A, C, and B12 has also been related to hair greying. If you want to know how to enhance melanin in hair, you must include melanin-rich meals and vitamin-rich foods in your diet.

Copper

Copper consumption is critical in order to aid in the development of melanin, which is beneficial to hair. Consume enough cereals, chickpeas, nuts (almonds, cashew), seeds (sunflower and poppy seeds), sweet potato, avocado, dark chocolate, liver, and shellfish like oysters.

Take Away

Maintaining a balanced diet is the best way to organically boost Melanin in your hair. This involves consuming copper-rich, iron-rich, and catalase-rich foods such as onions, broccoli, apples, and chickpeas.

FAQs

1. What raises melanin?

Sunlight's UV-A rays enter the lowest layers of the epidermis and stimulate melanocytes to create more melanin. The primary source of increased melanin formation is sunlight.

2. Why is my hair losing melanin?

If you eat a diet deficient in specific nutrients, it may impair melanin formation in your hair follicles. The most prevalent cause is a lack of vitamin B-12, although deficits in folate, copper, and iron all increase your risk.

3. How can I fix low melanin in my hair?

Including vitamin B6 and B12 supplements in your diet can fix low melanin in your hair.

References:

1. Daniel I. Schlessinger; McDamian Anoruo; Joel Schlessinger., May 2022, Biochemistry, Melanin