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The Quran speaks about the link between white hair and weakened bones through something flammable (hydrogen peroxide). Some in the past considered this a sign of error in the Quran, but today science has proven that there is a meaningful relationship between hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a substance that causes hair to turn white, and bone weakness.
Scientific research has shown a connection between hydrogen peroxide and bone weakness. Specifically, studies on estrogen deficiency (such as occurs during menopause) have revealed that hydrogen peroxide, as a reactive oxygen species (ROS), plays a role in the process of bone resorption. In this condition, the decrease in natural antioxidants such as glutathione, which are responsible for neutralizing hydrogen peroxide, can cause damage to bone cells (osteoclasts) and accelerate bone degradation.
Antioxidant enzymes like glutathione peroxidase are responsible for breaking down hydrogen peroxide. The reduction in the activity of these enzymes in the body can lead to increased levels of hydrogen peroxide and, consequently, bone damage.
The Increase in Hydrogen Peroxide Causes Hair to Turn White
Hydrogen peroxide is naturally produced in the body and accumulates in hair follicles. In younger people, an enzyme called catalase breaks down this hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen, preventing it from damaging the hair. However, with age, the level of catalase decreases, causing hydrogen peroxide to build up in hair follicles. This accumulation leads to oxidative stress and the destruction of hair pigments (melanin), which results in the hair turning gray or white. This mechanism shows that hydrogen peroxide is directly linked to the process of hair turning white.
According to NBC News in 2013, scientists discovered the primary cause of hair turning white.
In concentrations below 8%, hydrogen peroxide is not dangerous and can be safely used for household purposes. However, at concentrations above 91%, hydrogen peroxide is highly dangerous and explosive. It can cause spontaneous combustion (without an ignition source) and explosive reactions, and it is used as rocket fuel.
A Summary of This Research Published by Oxford University Press
Estrogen deficiency in women, one of the main factors behind osteoporosis, leads to increased hydrogen peroxide production in bones. This increase, in turn, causes the destruction of bone cells and results in osteoporosis.
“Recently, we found that estrogen deficiency leads to a reduction in thiol antioxidant defense in the bones of rodents. Moreover, administering drugs that increase the concentration of glutathione, the primary intracellular antioxidant, in bones prevented the loss of bone caused by estrogen deficiency, while depletion of glutathione by buthionine sulfoximine significantly reduced bone mass. To further analyze the mechanism by which antioxidant defense modulates bone loss, we compared the expression of known antioxidant enzymes in osteoclasts. We found that glutathione peroxidase 1 (Gpx), the enzyme primarily responsible for intracellular breakdown of hydrogen peroxide, is the dominant antioxidant enzyme expressed by osteoclasts, and its expression in bone marrow macrophages is increased by RANKL (Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor Kappa-B Ligand) and in osteoclasts by 17β-estradiol. Therefore, we tested the effect of overexpression of Gpx in osteoclasts by stably transfecting RAW 264.7 cells (RAW), which are capable of osteoclastic differentiation in response to RANKL, with a Gpx expression construct. Osteoclast formation was abolished. The Gpx expression construct also suppressed RANKL-induced NF-κB activation and increased resistance to oxidation of dihydrodichlorofluorescein by exogenous hydrogen peroxide. We thus tested the role of hydrogen peroxide in estrogen-deficiency-induced bone loss by administering pegylated catalase to mice. We found that catalase prevented the loss of bone caused by ovary removal. These results suggest that hydrogen peroxide is the reactive oxygen species responsible for signaling estrogen-deficiency-induced bone loss.” (1)
These results indicate that hydrogen peroxide is a reactive oxygen species responsible for signaling the loss of bone due to estrogen deficiency. Although this has been recently discovered, it was mentioned 1,400 years ago in the Quran, where Prophet Zakariya says:
“He said: ‘My Lord, my bones have become weak, and my head has turned white with age, and I have never been unblessed in my supplication to You, my Lord.'” (Surah Maryam, Verse 4)
In this verse, weak bones and white hair are associated with something flammable, and today we know that this substance is hydrogen peroxide.
Footnote:
- Oxford Academic, “Hydrogen Peroxide Is Essential for Estrogen-Deficiency-Induced Bone Loss and Osteoclast Formation,” 2005.