To Grey or Not to Grey

In chinese medicine, the Kidney's store essence or "jing". Your essence is inherited from your parents, so you are born with a specific amount and as you age your essence naturally declines. Things you do in life can deplete your essence more rapidly, such as eating poorly, excessive alcohol consumption and because the kidneys also govern reproductive health and fertility with each pregnancy women deplete their kidney "jing" and for men it is with excessive ejaculation. How does kidney essence express itself in health? With healthy teeth, strong bones, good hearing, and a full head of your natural hair colour.

My hair has been greying since my twenties. So my kidney essence is depleting, a little too early for my liking. I inherited a specifc amount from my parents, depleted some on my own and then further depleted some with my pregnancies. But recently I have been noticing a large number of my hairs returning to their original dark brown. So much so that when I told one of my receptionist how my grey hair's are turning back brown she said she thought I started dying my hair and did not want to say anything!!

So I will share my secret.....I am a huge tea drinker and I have been religiously drinking a herbal tea blend made of nettles, red clover, alfalfa and lemon balm (this one is a relaxant), nightly. I buy organic herbs in bulk and mix them myself. I usually mix 2 parts nettle and 1 part of each, red clover, alfalfa and lemon balm and store them in a big glass jar. Every night I fill a large teaball with this blend and leave it to steep in a large mug. This combination is rich in minerals such as calcium, magnesium and iron, is alkalinizing to the blood, and most importantly for me it restores my kidneys from further depleting their essence and now it is only my greys that are depleting.