Vitamin E to combat white hair?

Hair whitening, also known as canities, is a completely natural phenomenon that affects every individual. It typically occurs around the age of 35, although some people who are genetically more fortunate still have coloured hair at 50. Apart from heredity, several factors can accelerate hair depigmentation, including oxidative stress. Indeed, several studies conducted with smokers and/or people frequently exposed to the sun have shown that free radicals damage the melanocytes, the cells that synthesise melanin. One of the main pathways through which oxidative stress causes permanent damage to melanocytes appears to involve the mitochondria, whose DNA is particularly fragile. As a reminder, mitochondria are intracellular organelles found notably in melanocytes and are essential for cell function. The accumulation of mutations in melanocytes due to attacks from free radicals hinders the synthesis of melanin and leads to premature whitening of hair fibres.

One of the ways to prevent greying is therefore through the protection of melanocytes and their organelles from free radicals. This is the role of the body's antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione, and ubiquinone, but their activity and number are sometimes insufficient. An external supply of antioxidants may then prove useful. Vitamin E is a good candidate for this. Indeed, its aromatic chemical structure allows it to neutralise free radicals by donating an electron, thus preventing them from altering melanocytes. Vitamin E could therefore protect melanocytes from oxidative stress and prevent the loss of melanin in the hair. However, while it seems relevant to think that this molecule, taken orally or applied topically, could slow down hair whitening, no scientific study has to date demonstrated this effect. Several studies conducted on vitamin E have illustrated its photoprotective action on hair fibres but have not allowed to conclude as to its ability to slow down greying.

Despite its antioxidant properties, it is currently impossible to assert that vitamin E can prevent the onset of grey hair.