You might be familiar with the waist-ratio identifier for heart disease, where risk for heart disease is associated with a wider stomach. There’s another visual clue you can add to it: having more gray hair.
For men, the whiter their hair, the increased risk of having lots of plaque built up, regardless of age and other risk factors. There’s no official cause and effect, just a preliminary study that found a strong correlation. Women were not included in the study because they dye their hair, so can’t be included in a scale of solid to white color.
What’s going on? The theory is that it’s a sign of poor or increased cellular aging, something not just impacted by maintaining (or not) the cornerstones of good health (diet, exercise, and rest) but things like stress, and hormones (which can be messed with by environmental factors).
One thing that comes to mind for me is copper: for some people, it’s the missing ingredient that helps turn back the tide on graying hair, restoring black strands. Copper also plays several important roles in the body, including cardiovascular support (it helps the body form strong artery walls, the same way it helps skin be firm and smooth). Maybe it’s a factor, too.
The general recommendation is to move up heart screenings if you have more gray hair than average for your age, and to continue heart healthy habits, like a good diet (consider one with lots of antioxidants, or a heart healthy multivitamin like Mito Cardia), with exercise, and with plenty of sleep as well as time to de-stress.
Share your heart healthy tips in the comments:
