World Redhead Day 2023: 3 quick facts about redheads

Every year on May 26, World Redhead Day is celebrated, who have naturally red hair.

There are many interesting facts about people who have red hair. So, in honor of World Redhead Day, VERIFY checks out three quick facts about redheads.

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Do redheads naturally produce more vitamin D?

Yes, redheads naturally produce more vitamin D.

The same genetic trait that causes red hair also makes redheads more susceptible to it ultraviolet (UV) lightin accordance with UCI Healthcare. But this sensitivity also allows redheads’ bodies to produce more vitamin D, which is essential for bone development and good health.

The human body produces vitamin D when the sun’s ultraviolet B (UVB) rays penetrate the top layer of the skin, Health speaks. UVB rays interact with a protein in human skin (7-dehydrocholesterol or 7-DHC) and activate the process of converting the protein into vitamin D3.

In 2020, researchers from Charles University and the Institute of Endocrinology in Prague, Czech Republic, found that redheads synthesize vitamin D more efficiently.

Is there an annual redhead festival?

Yes, the Netherlands has a Redhead Festival every year.

Tens of thousands of redheads from more than 80 countries gather in the Netherlands every summer for an annual Days of redheads international festival. It is said to be the oldest and largest ginger festival in the world.

Everyone, including non-redheads, is invited to the free weekend-long festival. The only activity that is exclusively for natural redheads is this a large group photo sessionwhat happens on the last day of the event.

This year’s Redhead Days festival will be held in Spoorpark, Tilburg, Netherlands from Friday 25th August to Sunday 27th August 2023.

Are redheads with blue eyes rare?

Yes, redheads with blue eyes are rare.

When you meet a redhead with blue eyes, you are seeing the rarest color combination of all human beings, according to the University of Melbournepublic research university located in Melbourne, Australia, and Health line.

About 17% of the world’s population has blue eyes and an about 1-2% people all over the world are said to have red hair. This means there is about a 0.17% chance of having both red hair and blue eyes, Mark Elgar, PhD, Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Melbourne, said in 2018.

Healthline says that gene characteristics fall into two categories: recessive and dominant — and a person’s parents share the blueprint for many of a person’s characteristics, from hair color to personality, in their genes.

Hair color is influenced by several genes, and dominant genes usually overcome recessive ones. This is why brown hair and brown eyes, which are dominant, make up such a large percentage of hair and eye color combinations.

But the combination of red hair and blue eyes is so unusual because it’s the result of two different sets of DNA instructions, or mutations, occurring in the same person, according to Elgar.

“Mutations occurred tens of thousands of years ago and are now known as different versions or variants of the genes that help determine our skin and eye color,” Elgar said.

“Red hair and blue eyes are recessive traits, meaning that a person must inherit both genes for red hair and blue eyes from both parents. In contrast, brown hair and brown eyes are dominant traits, so they are much more common,” Elgar continued.