Gray hair isn't just a sign of old age. Although most people start to spot gray hairs in their early- to mid-30s, your hair can start to turn gray at any point that its pigment-producing cells stop functioning, causing your hair's color to fade. For some people, the graying process can start much earlier than normal.
Nutritional Deficiency
If you have significantly low levels of vitamin B12 in your body, it could cause your hair to turn gray, says Jennifer Shu, a pediatrician with Children's Medical Group, on CNNHealth.com. This type of deficiency is most likely to occur in people who don't eat animal products, which are the main dietary source of vitamin B12--fish, meat, eggs and milk are all good sources of vitamin B12. People who don't eat animal-derived foods can get B12 from fortified grains and cereals.
Genes
If your parents or grandparents went gray early, chances are good you will, too, according to Kids Health, an online health and parenting information resource maintained by the Nemours Foundation. Your genes play an important role in when your hair starts to lose its pigment and turn gray.
Prolonged Stress
A sudden shock won't turn your hair gray overnight, but continued stress over a period of time may make you go gray earlier than you would if you were stress-free, according to "Scientific American" magazine. Tyler Cymet, head of family medicine at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, says in "Scientific American" that two to three years of significant stress can make hair turn gray five to 10 years earlier than it normally would.
Medical Conditions
There are a few medical conditions that can make your hair turn gray early, says Shu. People who have alopecia areata, a type of hair loss, may notice their hair grows in gray when it comes back, but this gray isn't usually permanent, says Shu. Too high or too low thyroid hormone levels can also cause gray hair. Rarely, serious health conditions, including vitiligo, tuberous sclerosis, neurofibromatosis and Waardenburg syndrome, can cause premature gray hair. If you're worried that one of these conditions may be causing early gray hair, see your health care provider for diagnosis.
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