Learn why and when gray happens, but more importantly how to welcome this new silvery shade in your life!

As worrisome as it may seem to see a strand, or a section or more of gray gracing your locks, know this: It doesn’t have to be a bad sign.

Gray gets a bad rep in a world that’s looking to biohack our way to forever, but a reputation is all it is — and that can be changed. You can rock your grays like a rock star, dye them to wait until more arrive, or even take a closer look at your diet for potential nutritional gaps — because the truth is grays aren’t an overnight occurrence.

Before you rush off to embrace your grays, here are some things you should know.

Going gray is commonly explained as a loss of pigment (aka melanin) in the hair shaft. Typically, this hair has a different feel and texture than its pigmented counterparts. It’s been noted that gray hair is coarser, thinner, and “less manageable” — but there are products to help with this! Consider gray a new stage of life, one that you can learn to embrace in your own way.

There are many reasons people experience graying, but a lot of times it simply comes down to natural aging and genetics. This means that it just happens because it’s a commonality within your family genes. Check when your relatives or parents went gray and see if it matches with your timeline.

Environmental and nutritional factors may also be credited for graying, especially premature graying. “Stress, smoking, and an unbalanced diet are a number of the reasons why we may start experiencing premature graying,” explains nutritional expert for Maple Holistics, Caleb Backe.

But while stress is the most-cited reason, is it true?

When our body responds to stress, it often damages healthy cells. In one study, researchers found that, in mice, the response to stress damages DNA which accumulates over time. Although another mouse study has shown a link, there isn’t any scientific evidence on humans that illustrates a direct correlation between stress and gray hair.

Even if you don’t smoke, there’s secondhand smoke to consider:While secondhand smoke exposure has decreased, many people still experience secondhand smoke. In 2012, the CDC reported that 25 out of 100 nonsmokers had cotinine in their blood. When the body breaks down nicotine, it creates cotinine.