I never knew this was possible. So when I found out that some people have had success doing this by eating certain FOODS, I almost peed myself. I was that excited.
Since February 3, 2020, I've been experimenting with ways to get rid of my grays without covering them with henna or hair dye. Instead I'm trying to give my hair cells the nutrients they're lacking so that they can produce their own color again.
I had never stopped to think why I was getting white hairs in the first place--I just thought it was hereditary and there was nothing I could do about it. My mom started coloring her hair in her 30's, so I was fine with doing the same.
I wish someone had told me that coloring my hair would only produce more white hairs on my head and the need to keep on coloring it, and more and more often. THAT is why I'm writing this blog post--because I want to tell you what I wish someone had told me sooner!!!
First of all, why do we get gray/white hairs?
Everyone is different but aside from stress and environmental factors, it's usually the result of:
1. Decreased production of melanin pigment in the hair bulb. Now, for me it could be that my genes are in complete control of the pigment potential of each of my hair follicles. Once they've have reached their potential, they're done. They go white and there's no talking them out of it. In that case, what I'm trying may not work. We shall see. That's why it's called an experiment/challenge. It could very well fail. So, fingers crossed it doesn't.
2. Build up of hydrogen peroxide affecting the melanin's ability to enter the hair cell and pigment the hair. Our bodies are full of hydrogen peroxide needed to perform many bodily functions. But in the hair follicle, it could be a bad thing if there's no enzyme to break it down. We all naturally produce catalase, an enzyme that breaks down hydrogen peroxide in our bodies to water (H2O) and oxygen (O2). But as we age, we produce less and less catalase so we could get a build up of hydrogen peroxide in the hair follicle itself, which would affect the color of our hair. Sadly, chemical colorants CONTAIN peroxide, which is why you get more grays the more you color.
In 2009, scientists in Europe described how hair follicles produce small amounts of hydrogen peroxide. This chemical builds on the hair shafts, which can lead to a gradual loss of hair color.
One solution for this is to eat foods that are high in catalase. Foods high in catalase (the enzyme that breaks down hydrogen peroxide in our hair follicles): Liver, wheatgrass, potatoes (baked or boiled, not fried), onions & garlic, carrots, cucumber & zucchini, brussel sprouts, celery, pineapple, cherries, apricots, peaches, radish, avocado, alfalfa, spinach, broccoli, kale.
Sidenote: My husband is 3-1/2 years older than me and he has almost no white hair. You tell me if this is just a coincidence–his daily smoothie that he's been drinking for probably the last 15 years has many of these high catalase foods! I put carrots, kale, spinach, broccoli and celery in his smoothies. I don't put these in mine because I've always preferred to eat my veggies whole. Maybe I should reconsider? Ooooo--liver smoothie! j/k
3. Deficiency of nutrients, vitamins and minerals, like copper, magnesium, Vitamin B-12, B-9 (folic acid), B-5, zinc, calcium, iron. THIS is the problem that I want to focus my efforts on correcting.
The first video I saw that got it into my head that I was gonna reverse my grays from the inside out was this super ghetto video on youtube that was obviously not out to get views or make $, not sponsored by any haircare company. The video looks horrible and you can't even see their faces because of the backlight. But the thing has almost 800,000 views. I was like WHAT?! They seem like totally honest people...I'm gonna try this!
I found another video that actually confirmed results (it's a boring video, but here's the link: https://youtu.be/uAu4HZdZnPY). Now mind you, it took 6 months according to the first guy and 1 year according to this lady, to get visible results. But if my other option is to henna my hair every 2 weeks for THE REST OF MY LIFE, I'll take the molasses thank you! I love henna, but it is extremely time-consuming and tedious. I don't want to do it forever.
So what exactly is Blackstrap Molasses?
It's a dark thick liquid by-product of making sugar cane into sugar. You know they strip out a lot of stuff from sugar, right? So some of the stuff stripped out is nutrient-dense--and in the 3rd boil of sugar cane to sugar, you have Blackstrap MOLASSES! Consequently, it has a unique blend of minerals and vitamins that are not found in regular cane sugar.
It is high in iron, copper, manganese, calcium, potassium, and magnesium which are all great for healthy hair growth.
Blackstrap molasses is a sweetener but unlike sugar it's actually good for you. White sugar is stripped of virtually all nutrients. Whereas 2 tsp of blackstrap molasses contains about 14% of your daily recommended intake of copper (which aids the production of melanin). It's also full of antioxidants--it thickens hair and stimulates strong hair growth.
It takes 3-6 months to see your hair turning back to its original color. Anybody want to try this with me? You can still henna your hair during the 6 months, but I'd suggest NOT coloring with chemicals because the peroxide and ammonia would be self-defeating--it would work against the healing process.
Here's what I've been doing: 2 T blackstrap molasses diluted with 2 cups of boiling water
Let it cool and sip on it throughout the day. I usually drink about half of it with lunch so that the cruciferous vegetables + protein curbs any potential spike in blood sugar, since it is like pure sugar. I'll drink the second half around dinner.
I got the blackstrap molasses recommended in the first video. I got it from Whole Foods, but you can get it on Amazon too. It's $10 for a bottle that will last you exactly one month.
Before photos
Taken on 1/10/20 and 1/22/20, before I started any of this--tons of white showing all over my hairline, my part line, everywhere:
Taken on 2/20/20, 17 days after starting the blackstrap molasses and the supplements:
I'm doing a video so that I can show many parts and sections of my roots to document the grays. I seriously cannot tell if there is any change whatsoever. But, it's supposed to take up to 6 months so I'll do more updates as time goes on.
Who is up for this 6 month challenge with me? Only those of you lucky enough to have noticeable white hair, of course.
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*UPDATE 2/3/21:
It's been ONE YEAR since I started trying to restore my hair color from the inside out. I'm still very hopeful, but I haven't had much improvement in the area of color yet. I'm currently going to these extremes:
blackstrap molasses - 1T
black sesame seeds - 1T
L-Tyrosine supplement - 1/4 tsp
It's super discouraging at times. My goal was to go 4 weeks without having to henna. Right now I'm at 3 weeks and seeing a lot of gray. I'm gonna keep going tho.... fingers crossed that it will eventually make a difference. Or even if it slows down my graying I'd be happy with that.