Turning white hair to black

An anonymous reader asked for the "Traditional Chinese Medicinal recipe for turning white hair to black" on my blog entry "My new slow cooker".

But first, the declaration and disclaimer.

DECLARATION AND DISCLAIMER: The following are personal opinions from me and my cousin's wife. Neither of us is a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner, nor are we in any way trained in TCM. Thus any content from us shall be construed as a sharing of personal opinions, not health nor medical advice. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information provided by us. Under no circumstances will we or anyone related to this content be responsible for any loss or damage resulting from any reliance on the information or other content posted or linked herewith.

Just to share my cousin's wife's story. She had ovarian cancer and underwent the relevant (western) medical treatment and surgery. She suspected that some of her hair turned white related to the cancer and/or its treatment. Thus she went to get some TCM treatment at the Singapore Chung Hwa Medical Institution at its Toa Payoh HQ. What she shared is based on what worked for her.

Here's the recipe that my cousin's wife shared (with some editing for clarity).

1. Wash 10pcs of red dates [红枣]; 6 pcs black dates [南枣]; 2pcs honey dates [蜜枣]. 

2. Put the dates into your cooking pot. [*Note: Personally I prefer to de-seed the dates and chop them into fine pieces, but it is up to your personal preferences.] 

3a. Add 375ml of water (estimate with 1 1/2 usual drinking mugs) if using slow cooker where the water level remains about the same. [Note: This varies depending on your slow cooker. Mine pumps out lots of steam so I actually add about 1 litre of water.] 

3b. Add 750ml of water (estimate with 3 usual drinking mugs) if using cooking on the stove.  

4. Cook until only 250 ml of water is left, i.e. about 1 usual drinking mug of fluids. [For me, I usually slow cook it for 1 to 2 hours and I get about 500ml at the end.]

5. Drink the fluid and eat up all the dates as well.

6. Repeat steps 1-5 over 3 months, 2 times each week. 

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1. This recipe works only for those with about 5% white hair or 5% hair loss. For those with more than 20% hair loss or sudden increase in % white hair or a circle of white hair concentrated at the crown of one's head, please visit your doctor -- it may be a symptom of something serious.
2. My cousin's wife strongly recommends consulting a Traditional Chinese Medical practitioner before embarking on the above recipe or if you suspect any health issues or would like a health review. In addition, she suggests visiting an acupuncturist if you don't mind it. The Singapore Chung Hwa Medical Institution at its Toa Payoh HQ (located at Toa Payoh Central, near the Toa Payoh library) has acupuncturist sessions available, Monday to Friday 1pm-5pm. It used to cost only around SGD15 per session.

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Photos at the start of the experiment. Grey hair not dyed yet. My grey hair is not evenly distributed. The left side seems to have more than the right side.

16-Sep-2012

23-Sep-2012

23-Sep-2012

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[Update 10-Jan-2014] I fell ill in Oct-2012 and stopped the experiment. Thereafter, I did not continue, so I cannot vouch if this formula works or otherwise.