Going Gray?
Blame Dwindling Catalase
March 2, 2009 -- Attention
parents: It's not your kids that are making you
go gray. Your hair is simply building up too much
hydrogen peroxide.
Bottle-blondes may be a fan, but hydrogen peroxide,
which is produced naturally in the human body,
interferes with melanin, the pigment that colors our
hair and skin.
The body also produces the enzyme catalase, which
breaks down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen.
Or at least it does for a while. As
we age, catalase production tails off, leaving
nothing to transform the hydrogen peroxide into
chemicals the body can release.
So, as hydrogen peroxide builds up, we go gray,
concluded researchers at the University of Bradford in
the United Kingdom, who last week published the
results of a study in the Federation
of American Societies for Experimental Biology's
online journal.
