Why Hair Goes Gray?

Years ago, when studying nutrition and physiology, I recalled listening to an audio from a presumed expert, that the more copper one absorbs through food and nutrients, that would slow the hair turning gray. But my question was: "Where does one get copper?" Unfortunately the tape player and car could not give me an answer. What foods contain copper? Does theory hold any weight now? Below is an article from WebMD about a chain reaction causing the hair to bleach and thus turn gray. Hmm, I though bleaching caused the hair to turn blonde? What do I know...What have you heard on this subject? SCROLL DOWN TO BOTTOM and leave a comment by clicking on COMMENT.

Why Hair Goes Gray
Study Blames a Chain Reaction That Makes Hair Bleach Itself From the Inside Out
By Miranda Hitti

WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Feb. 25, 2009 -- Scientists may have figured out why hair turns gray, and their finding may open the door to new anti-graying strategies.

New research shows that hair turns gray as a result of a chemical chain reaction that causes hair to bleach itself from the inside out.

The process starts when there is a dip in levels of an enzyme called catalase. That catalase shortfall means that the hydrogen peroxide that naturally occurs in hair can't be broken down. So hydrogen peroxide builds up in the hair, and because other enzymes that would repair hydrogen peroxide's damage are also in short supply, the hair goes gray.

Putting the brakes on that chemical chain reaction "could have great implications in the hair graying scenario in humans," write the researchers, who included Karin Schallreuter, a professor clinical and experimental dermatology at England's University of Bradford.

The study appears online in The FASEB Journal; the FASEB is the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology