What eye color can say about you and your ancestors

We’ve all heard the saying: the eyes are the mirror of the soul, but could this idea be more concrete than we thought? What is the real story behind your eye color and where did the sheer amount of seemingly endless shades come from? Whatever the answer, one thing is for sure, eye color is totally unique, like a fingerprint. That is, no one has exactly the same color. In fact, some recent studies show that this topic is much more complex than we thought.

Recent discoveries have piqued the curiosity of the awesome.club, so we decided to take a look at the secrets behind these different colors. Check out!

As strange as it may seem, at one time all people had only brown eyes. One day, there was a genetic mutation in the gene responsible for determining eye color, and this mutation reduced the production of melanin, to the point that it was not enough to color the eyes brown — and Thus, the blue eyes appeared.

Today, brown is still is the predominant color in the world. Thanks to the higher levels of melanin, brown eyes are more resistant to some types of eye diseases. Dark brown eyes are more common in the Americas, Western Asia, and Europe, while dark brown eyes are more commonly found in Africa, Southeast and East Asia.

A single mutation in the genes that produce melanin provided countless variations of blue, green, gray and hazel. In addition, this genetic mutation was associated with a common ancestor. Scientists believe this ancestor was a European from the Black Sea region who likely lived between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago.

The percentage of blue-eyed people in Europe today varies between 20% and 40%, while only 8% to 10% of individuals worldwide have blue eyes, which are more common in Europe. northern Europe. A relatively high percentage (27%) of people with eyes of this color in the US are thanks to Americans of African descent. Eastern Europe, Irish and British.

According to scientists, the evolution of eye color corresponds to the migrations of our ancestors from warmer to colder climates. Today, the greatest variety of colors can be found among Europeans, ranging from light blue to dark brown. The reason why dark eyes are more common in warmer climates such as Asia and Africais melanin, which protects the eyes from the sun and damage caused by UV rays.

Until recently, it was believed that a single gene was responsible for the color of our eyes. But, as it turned out, there are about 16 genes, which can produce some rare and unique shades, such as gray. Although they may appear “blue” at first glance, unlike these, grays tend to have brown and gold spots.

Less than 1% of the world’s population has gray eyes, thus it is one of the least common colors. Shades of gray can range from greenish to smoky blue to hazelnut brown and often depends on the environment, particularly the lighting. This feature is more common in northern and eastern Europe.

According to a study that surveyed 58 pregnant women, light-eyed women have a higher pain tolerance than those with brown or hazel eyes. The blue-eyed and green-eyed women experienced less discomfort during childbirth. Another interesting finding was related to postpartum depression. Because they had less melanin, light-eyed women were less likely to feel anxious and depressed than dark-eyed women.

As only 2% of the world population have green eyes, this color is the least common among natural eye colors. While green eyes can occur naturally in all races, about 16% of people with green eyes are of Germanic and Celtic ancestry. To be more precise, 86% of people in Ireland and Scotland surprisingly have green eyes.

Often called “golden eyes”, amber eyes belong to the brown eye family, however, they have some unique characteristics. The difference between the hazel and brown eyes group is the fact that they do not contain brown, orange or green tones. The shade of amber eyes is always light gold. People with eyes this color are usually of ancestry. Spanish, South American, South African or Asian.

Depending on the lighting, hazel eyes can appear light brown. Nonetheless,
contain more diverse tones. In hazel eyes, we can usually see a mixture of brown, green and amber, which can appear as small dots or rings within the iris. People with hazel eyes have a moderate amount of melanin to account for these shades of green and brown. This feature corresponds to approx. 5% of people.

Although naturally occurring in all races, hazel eyes are more common in descendants of people of the Middle East, from Brazilians, Spaniards or North Africans. This is a relatively rare eye color, especially among people of African and Asian descent. Most people with this trait likely have some Caucasian roots.

The color of the human eye can come in fascinating variations, including some rare cases of people with heterochromia, a rare condition that affects less than 1% of the population. It occurs as a result of uneven concentration of melanin in the eyes. This can cause them to be partially or completely different colors. There are different causes for this condition, including genetics, some rare syndromes, or physical damage to the eye.

Although some people’s eyes may appear black, this color does not actually exist in nature. People whose eyes appear black have very dark brown eyes, which almost blend in with the pupil.

The reason this feature would be naturally impossible is that black objects tend to absorb more UV light than other colors. For this reason, we would have great difficulties in dealing with sunlight, if we had completely black eyes. This would cause vision problems and deterioration of eye health.

Does your eye color fall into which of these groups? Are you happy that way or do you sometimes wish it were different?