Guest Post | What Can You Tell From the Colour of Your Eyes?

Daniel Peterson is a life coach. He loves to write about unique ways to view life on healthy living and therapy blogs.

(image: Pinterest)

Many people truly believe that eyes are the windows to the soul, although they also say a lot about your genes as well. While many people are curious about where their own eye colours come from, knowing how it works can also potentially help determine the eye colours for future children as well.

Why Do Irises Have Colour?

The pigment of your iris helps to regulate how much light enters your eyes and protect your internal organs from dangerous UV radiation. The original colour of your irises is determined by the amount of melanin found in the stroma.

What Genes Determine Eye Colour?

OCA2 and HERC2 are two genes mainly responsible for eye colour. However, any combination of the genes and its versions can result in a variety of colours and shades. For example, a brown version of the HERC2 gene while result in brown eyes no matter what the gey gene is.

It should be noted that scientists uncover new information about eye colour every year. Yet, with each piece of new information, it is possible to learn even more about who you are and where your family comes from.

Eye Colours Around the World

People of European descent experience the widest range of eye colours, although it is common to see blue and grey eyes in Northern Europe due to lower UV radiation. Although people of African and Asian descent tend to have brown eyes due to large amounts of melanin, some people are still born with blue eyes.

In North America, it has been noted that blue eyes are becoming more and more rare within the last few generations. Yet, within Estonia, 99% of people have blue eyes.

What Are the Most Common and Rarest Colours?

The most common eye colour for humans is brown with blue and grey being the most second common. The rarest eye colour is green, although there are two colour anomalies that are even rarer still:

Albinism
 When an albino person (or animal) has red or pink eyes, it is because the irises are clear (due to the lack of melanin) and it is much easier to see the blood vessels. Albinism is caused by a genetic defect that makes the body unable to produce or distribute melanin.

Heterochoromia
 Heterochromia refers to the appearance of two different coloured eyes in the same person (or animal). However, it can also refer to one eye having two very distinct colours within the iris as well. In most cases, heterochromia is hereditary or caused by a disease, syndrome, or injury.

Why Do Some People Change Their Eye Colours?

Some people want to alter their eye colours to help build confidence or build a costume. Fortunately, cosmetic lenses exist that can subtly or dramatically alter your irises or entire eyes to give you a unique appearance. You can easily find cosmetic lenses through providers such as Lenstore.co.uk.

As you can see, you can learn plenty about yourself and your family history by studying your eye colour. However, whether you choose to change or embrace your natural eye colour is entirely up to you.

Interested in being a guest blogger? Please let me know!