Weighting pros and cons of nettle for grey hairs

[Jennifer]

Nettle doesn’t reverse grey hair. If it does, you’re talking about a cure to an issue that has been around since humans have cared about such things. Reversing grey hair is a multi billion dollar industry and no official cure exists (apart from colouring it yourself). I’ve tried many extracts of nettle (the more expensive kinds), and noticed no benefits at all on hair.

He shou wu, also, apparently has powerful effects against grey hair. Again, I tried many expensive extracts and no effects whatsoever.

I mean, give nettle a try. But don’t think the grey hair thing is ‘in the bag’ if you’re bringing it in. No official cure for grey hair exists. Peat would be all over nettle if its effects on grey hair was that dramatic.

It didn’t work for me, either. And my comment isn’t meant to imply you are lying, @Rinse & rePeat. I believe nettle worked for you and your husband.

I used to make a concentrated nettle infusion—I’ve posted about it many times on the forum, especially on my log—and was taking in at least 89 grams of nettle daily for years as I was using it as my main source of calcium prior to tolerating dairy again. It didn’t affect my hair negatively, however, it also didn’t prevent some gray hairs from popping up. Same with fo-ti/he shou wu. For 3 years, I took herbal formulas that contained the herb and it didn’t reverse or prevent new gray hairs from popping up, though, I have read accounts of it working for others.

I still don’t have a ton of gray hairs, and they’re mainly spread throughout the middle half of my head so they aren’t too visible except when I’m parting my hair while combing it, but as a brunette I defintely could tell when new ones popped up. Thyroid, possibly because of its effect on copper metabolism, is the only supplement that has made any difference for me when it comes to reversing and preventing gray hair, but I was also chronically hypo so maybe someone with good thyroid function might not experience the same effect from supplementing it.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

It didn’t work for me, either. And my comment isn’t meant to imply you are lying, @Rinse & rePeat. I believe nettle worked for you and your husband.

I used to make a concentrated nettle infusion—I’ve posted about it many times on the forum, especially on my log—and was taking in at least 89 grams of nettle daily for years as I was using it as my main source of calcium prior to tolerating dairy again. It didn’t affect my hair negatively, however, it also didn’t prevent some gray hairs from popping up. Same with fo-ti/he shou wu. For 3 years, I took herbal formulas that contained the herb and it didn’t reverse or prevent new gray hairs from popping up, though, I have read accounts of it working for others.

I still don’t have a ton of gray hairs, and they’re mainly spread throughout the middle half of my head so they aren’t too visible except when I’m parting my hair while combing it, but as a brunette I defintely could tell when new ones popped up. Thyroid, possibly because of its effect on copper metabolism, is the only supplement that has made any difference for me when it comes to reversing and preventing gray hair, but I was also chronically hypo so maybe someone with good thyroid function might not experience the same effect from supplementing it.

I have never colored my hair, nor my husband, or cousin, so maybe the follicles being damaged is another factor?

 

[FitnessMike]

Nettle doesn’t reverse grey hair. If it does, you’re talking about a cure to an issue that has been around since humans have cared about such things. Reversing grey hair is a multi billion dollar industry and no official cure exists (apart from colouring it yourself). I’ve tried many extracts of nettle (the more expensive kinds), and noticed no benefits at all on hair.

He shou wu, also, apparently has powerful effects against grey hair. Again, I tried many expensive extracts and no effects whatsoever.

I mean, give nettle a try. But don’t think the grey hair thing is ‘in the bag’ if you’re bringing it in. No official cure for grey hair exists. Peat would be all over nettle if its effects on grey hair was that dramatic.

the question is, how long were you taking it for, i would think that it could take as long as one year to see differences.

 

[FitnessMike]

this post has some impressive info on nettle leaf, Nettle Leaf Tea - A Mineral/Vitamin Supplement

I will do the infusion i think :)

 

[Jennifer]

I have never colored my hair, nor my husband, or cousin, so maybe the follicles being damaged is another factor?

Same here. I’ve never colored my hair. I really do think for me it was my thyroid/illness because when my thyroid function was at its worst and I was down to 69 lbs, my hair, including my eyelashes and eyebrows, had turned a light copper. My hair has always turned auburn with the sun but aside from that time I was ill, never a light copper, and never light copper eyelashes and eyebrows—they’re black.

 

[FitnessMike]

Same here. I’ve never colored my hair. I really do think for me it was my thyroid/illness because when my thyroid function was at its worst and I was down to 69 lbs, my hair, including my eyelashes and eyebrows, had turned a light copper. My hair has always turned auburn with the sun but aside from that time I was ill, never a light copper, and never light copper eyelashes and eyebrows—they’re black.

it surely is due to thyroid, when i was 26 i was already abusing my body (unconsciously) for years, and i could count grey hairs on the side of my head, like 15 hairs or so.

Now im 31 next week and i have many on each side and some randomly all over the head meh, hoping that when i sort my metabolism i could revert some of them through stress management and amazing food.

 

[Jennifer]

it surely is due to thyroid, when i was 26 i was already abusing my body (unconsciously) for years, and i could count grey hairs on the side of my head, like 15 hairs or so.

Now im 31 next week and i have many on each side and some randomly all over the head meh, hoping that when i sort my metabolism i could revert some of them through stress management and amazing food.

It’s definitely possible, Mike. I turned 40 in February and since I started taking thyroid (end of 2019), I’ve been finding strands of hair where the ends are white and the new growth brown. I do think good nutrition helps and nettle is very nutritious IMO. If I hadn’t started tolerating milk again, I’d still be consuming nettle. Horsetail, too.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

It’s definitely possible, Mike. I turned 40 in February and since I started taking thyroid (end of 2019), I’ve been finding strands of hair where the ends are white and the new growth brown. I do think good nutrition helps and nettle is very nutritious IMO. If I hadn’t started tolerating milk again, I’d still be consuming nettle. Horsetail, too.

I sure does and that liver!

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

I am cleaning out my phone and found this bit of info for you Mike!

 

[FitnessMike]

I am cleaning out my phone and found this bit of info for you Mike!

thanks i ordered more teas and also blackstrap molasses.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

thanks i ordered more teas and also blackstrap molasses.

How are you gonna use the molasses?

 

[FitnessMike]

How are you gonna use the molasses?

just as a sweetener i guess? to smoothies im thinking, so i will be taking he shou wu/ nettle tea and molasses along sorting my hypo, eventually should see progress.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

just as a sweetener i guess? to smoothies im thinking, so i will be taking he shou wu/ nettle tea and molasses along sorting my hypo, eventually should see progress.

We will be excited to hear your progress!

 

[DennisX]

@Rinse & rePeat , just curious if you're pretty grain free and light on red meat what is your diet?

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

@Rinse & rePeat , just curious if you're pretty grain free and light on red meat what is your diet?

You know DennisX unless I had two of me I couldn't say for sure. I was grain free for a few years, but meat has always stayed in my diet. I don't wish for it to be that way, but with heavy metals in seafood and pork and chicken being worse, it doesn't leave many more options. In my personal opinion the grains makes the hair go gray faster than meat. I just see it to be true in my own self. New grays pop up where my hair is parted when I do eat them more regularly, like last year. I made so many cakes, cookies and homestyle breakfasts last year and I wasn't liking where it was all going in myself. Studies have shown gray hair is highest in tryptophan. So would that mean if a person didn't consume tryptophan foods their hair wouldn't be gray?

 

[FitnessMike]

It didn’t work for me, either. And my comment isn’t meant to imply you are lying, @Rinse & rePeat. I believe nettle worked for you and your husband.

I used to make a concentrated nettle infusion—I’ve posted about it many times on the forum, especially on my log—and was taking in at least 89 grams of nettle daily for years as I was using it as my main source of calcium prior to tolerating dairy again. It didn’t affect my hair negatively, however, it also didn’t prevent some gray hairs from popping up. Same with fo-ti/he shou wu. For 3 years, I took herbal formulas that contained the herb and it didn’t reverse or prevent new gray hairs from popping up, though, I have read accounts of it working for others.

I still don’t have a ton of gray hairs, and they’re mainly spread throughout the middle half of my head so they aren’t too visible except when I’m parting my hair while combing it, but as a brunette I defintely could tell when new ones popped up. Thyroid, possibly because of its effect on copper metabolism, is the only supplement that has made any difference for me when it comes to reversing and preventing gray hair, but I was also chronically hypo so maybe someone with good thyroid function might not experience the same effect from supplementing it.

to what extent did optimizing thyroid reversed your gray hairs?

 

[Jennifer]

@FitnessMike, to the extent that I haven’t had any new gray hairs appear and the pre-existing ones are growing out brown. It took a while to get my thyroid dose right and lower my stress hormones. I was running on so much adrenaline that there was a period of 6 months where I was going into convulsions and passing out multiple times a day, and was so catabolic that I needed over 3000 calories daily to keep weight on me—I’m a small person (5’1” and under 100 pounds). It took about a year on NDT and optimizing my diet before all symptoms of excess adrenaline had ceased and my temp and pulse had stabilized. My gray hairs have only just started reversing this past year.

 

[Nicole W.]

I guess these two different anecdotes raises the question as to why in one person it manages to take care of it and in the other it does not.

To be honest i believe that the cause for the same symptoms in different people is different many times.
I'd say go for it, test it over a certain time period and check if anything changes overtime without "stressing" to much about it as it is the case when one is constantly checking his hair etc. in the mirror multiple times a day.

I have to agree. Genetics have to play a part in gray hair to some degree. FWIW, I’ve been drinking lots of nettle tea every day for 5 years and I have about 30% gray at almost 53 years old. It might have slowed down the process as I am not as gray as my mother was at the same age. I still have gray hair though!
However, my dad never went gray until advanced age so who knows who I take after. Regardless, nettle has a lot to offer nutritionally so it wouldn’t be a loss to use it.

 

[Ben.]

I have to agree. Genetics have to play a part in gray hair to some degree. FWIW, I’ve been drinking lots of nettle tea every day for 5 years and I have about 30% gray at almost 53 years old. It might have slowed down the process as I am not as gray as my mother was at the same age. I still have gray hair though!
However, my dad never went gray until advanced age so who knows who I take after. Regardless, nettle has a lot to offer nutritionally so it wouldn’t be a loss to use it.

I wonder if Genetics is realy the variable that is to blame here. I guess it could be.

Considering the complexity of life, i like to believe that there is more to it than this binary thing we humans love to think in.
Reason being is that i do not like the premise that we can't do anything about it and need to wait for some gene-altering lab-made-modification.

If it realy is genes, what makes it express itself like this, why now, and how can we revert it? Is it realy accumulated damage trough aging? Can nutrition/lifestyle/supplements fix it? or atleast push the inevateble back to a later point in time?

Time will tell.
Fascinating topic nonetheless.

 

[Nicole W.]

I wonder if Genetics is realy the variable that is to blame here. I guess it could be.

Considering the complexity of life, i like to believe that there is more to it than this binary thing we humans love to think in.
Reason being is that i do not like the premise that we can't do anything about it and need to wait for some gene-altering lab-made-modification.

If it realy is genes, what makes it express itself like this, why now, and how can we revert it? Is it realy accumulated damage trough aging? Can nutrition/lifestyle/supplements fix it? or atleast push the inevateble back to a later point in time?

Time will tell.
Fascinating topic nonetheless.

Well, people here dismiss genetic influences all the time. Which gives a person a false sense of control over what they can change about themselves.

But science and common sense show us that genetics influence our appearance to a great degree. If life style, good nutrition and amazing supplements were so influential we would all look like super models. Instead, we are a mixed bag of inherited traits. Some good, some not so good.

I can tell you that my mother had excellent nutrition but became very gray early in life. My dad’s family had okay nutrition/ lifestyle etc... and they remained dark haired until advanced age. Anything good about me, I inherited. Anything bad about me, in terms of appearance at least, I inherited.

I have the same great hair, skin, hands and nails as my dad’s family. Good nutrition did not give me these things, but good nutrition supports them. I also tend to be slightly overweight, and I have a stockier build just like members of my dad’s family. I can’t undo these things with better nutrition or more nettle tea, lol. Instead, I try to do the best with what I have been handed. In the end, I believe the propensity to become gray, barring any extreme nutritional deficit or illness, is just a genetic variation.

We could all work a little harder on self-acceptance, self-forgiveness and gratitude for what we are.