corza000

SJ and DrmDoc thanks for the replies you have made great points. I've raised these with my friend and they left him with little rebuttal!

He's referred me to a couple of studies (he believes there are more). Fatemi 2012 and Bhat 2013 conclude that those with greying hair are much more likely to have ferritin, D3, copper and B12 deficiencies. His claim is that caffeine has huge effect on the bioavailability of these nutrients thus the link to grey hair...

Thanks DrmDr! So I've received a response from my buddy. He states that caffeine is a fair contributor to grey hair (not the complete and only cause) as a result of its abilities to effect absorption of key nutrients such as zinc and copper needed for hair health/colour. He did refer me to a study regarding malabsorption of nutrients (no link to hair though). He refuted my claim that the grey is a sign of age due to it being on the sides of the head, as he said that there is no genetic or pre programmed order that your hair will go grey. Thoughts?

Thanks for these great replies. I'm certainly building up a good resource for this debate. Another thing I thought of the other day- given the greying is predominantly in the areas you would expect greying caused by age (sides), the argument that my buddy has would have to improve the greying caused by the effects of aging alone. That would make it harder to substantiate wouldn't it?

Thanks for the replies. The debate still lives on with my buddy. Good points regarding the effects on melanin. His argument is more related to the effect caffeine has on key nutrients which aid the development of hair/melanin e.g. B12, zinc, copper etc. I've tried researching the link in general and it is pretty common on the internet however the sources seem a bit sketchy.

Ok that seems like a fair proposition but obviously too difficult for us to complete. There are many sources claiming the link on the internet but I can't seem to trace any back to a study. Surely there is some research already out there on this?

Thanks for your reply Daecon. His view is more of an indirect link eg the effect on nutrients and bioavailability and the flow on effect from there. He said that grey hair overall has increased in many societies but there have been no concrete reasons as to say why and he thinks caffeine is one major cause.

My buddy and I have had a debate for a long time over the link between grey hair and caffeine. He believes my grey hair coming through has been an effect by my intake of caffeine. I'm on the contrary as I am yet to see any evidence substantiating it. Can anyone chime in on our debate?