stress seems to make hair go grey though. dunno if there is a cortisol connection there or not
would certainly assume so
stress causes many chain reactions in the body, the "fight or flight" reaction which is a switching on of our sympathetic nervous system, which in turn causes our heart and nervous system to speed up..
all of this physiological activity demands a lot of quick energy, so the adrenal glands are called upon to release adrenaline, aldosterone, and cortisol in large amounts.
aldosterone specifically, can cause a couple of things to happen:
first - aldosterone causes the kidneys to retain sodium, which is needed in large amounts for the conduction of sympathetic neural pathways and cell permeability
also - copper is also retained by the kidneys for its stimulating effect on the nervous system as well as its effect of raising sodium levels
reactions also include: magnesium and zinc are excreted in large amounts through the kidneys..this is because zinc and magnesium are relaxing to the musculature and nervous system (is why magnesium is used for muscle cramps and to calm the mind)
end result: water retention follows the sodium retention, so blood volume increases, which raises blood pressure..
back to copper & zinc: these two minerals affect one another closely..when one of them rises, the other one falls, and vice versa
so - in two ways, zinc is being suppressed during a stress reaction; when zinc and magnesium become depleted, this can lead to severe health problems due to the utmost importance that these to minerals serve in the body..this in turn causes alteration to copper values/functions in the body
all of this to say: the importance of keeping a correct mineral balance is essential imo, and lack of balance/deficiency in such leads to many of these phenomena (gray hair etc) that we "guess" as to the cause of
again of course genetics plays a huge role, but so does proper mineral balance
