When your hair grows fast, it might stress the cells that give hair its color, causing them to wear out faster and turn hair gray sooner.

Your hair color depends on special stem cells in your hair roots, and long-term stress from inflammation or oxidation can mess them up, making them disappear or mature too soon.

As we age, damage from oxidative stress can harm the cells that give hair its color, especially because the body’s natural antioxidants weaken over time — this leads to grey hair.

Going gray might happen because the stem cells that give rise to hair color cells get damaged over time, not because the color-making cells themselves stop working. Keeping these stem cells healthy could be key to keeping your hair colored as you age.

Your hair color comes from cells in your hair roots, and as you age, those cells slow down — that's why hair turns gray. But new research says things like stress might also play a role.

As we get older, the cells that give hair its color start to die off because of stress and lower levels of a protective protein, which is why hair turns gray and doesn’t grow back colored.