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.

When the stem cells that give your hair its color get worn out or change too early because of stress in the cells, they stop making pigment, and your hair turns gray permanently.

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.

When mice experience sudden stress, it causes the cells that give hair its color to panic and leave their home in the hair follicle, burning out too soon and making the fur turn gray forever.