Taking He Shou Wu (Fo Ti) for Fertility... and gray hair reversal

Just wanted to share this with any women it may help.

10 years ago, when I was bitching about my hair starting to turn gray in my 20's (it's genetic- I get it from both my parents' sides) - a friend of mine, who was born and raised in China, told me about something called He Shou Wu (otherwise known as Foti). I believe this is a root. And supposedly, it can help to restore your hair to its natural color (or at the very least, help delay the "graying" process).

Well, I went to a Chinese herb store and bought some - it looked like wood chips, just like this picture on the left. I had to make a tea out of it. But honestly, I just wasn't that motivated to keep up with it. I was never sure if I was preparing it right, and it didn't taste very good. Another time, I bought some in a bottle, but again... wasn't sure of the proper dosage, and just kinda gave up on it.

Well, fast forward 10 years, and now I'm in my 40's and the TTC supplements are making my new roots come in soo fast, I'm dyeing my hair more than ever. Which I realize, can't be good for my health (or a baby's health) but I am just too damn freaked out by the idea of showing the world just HOW MUCH gray hair I have, to stop dyeing it. I hate seeing gray hair in the mirror (and I have a LOT). Hate it. I feel like a completely different person when I dye it. So I'm just going to keep doing it and hoping for the best.

But anyway... all this to say, I recently have been wanting to start back up on the Foti (He Shou Wu  ) supplements again, because I am so sick of having to dye my hair (it's up to once a week now...at least, that's about how often I do touchups). But the reason I've been holding off, is because I didn't want the Foti to mess up my chances of trying to conceive.

So, I started googling Foti and He Shou Wu  , along with "TTC" and "Fertility" and "pregnancy" to see if other people had taken it during pregnancy, and had experienced any negative side effects.

Well, lo and  behold this stuff is actually considered to be a fertility ENHANCER. Which I guess makes sense, given the fact that it's able to turn back the clock on your hair, right? So maybe it can do the same thing for your reproductive system.  Lucky for me, I live in an area where we have lots of Asian markets, and I can get the liquid version at a decent price.

I did find a "testimonial" from a gal who seems to feel it helped her get pregnant. Her review is copied and pasted below, and you can find it on this page: http://www.herbwisdom.com/review-fo-ti-root.html   And please note, it does seem that it may be best to STOP taking it once you find out you're pregnant (I'd seen that in 2 places online). Yeah I know... I need to look this up some more. But better safe than sorry.

Ruby •  

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"I have been taking Fo Ti Root for just over 2 month for stress. It has been working fantastically. My husband and I have been trying to have a baby for the past two years, I was told by doctors that I didn't even have a 1% chance of falling pregnant. I have just conceived and am 4 weeks pregnant. The chemist has told me to stop taking the Fo Ti Root because it's not good for the baby.. Is that true? Anyway I highly recommend it for both stress and fertility."

Again... more research needs to be done on this one, but just wanted to put it out there. Who knows, maybe it could help someone. At the very least... maybe it can help you skip a trip or two to the salon : )

EB

Aunty Flo just came to visit today...

... But I had a feeling it was going to happen, and like last month, I am not too disappointed. Note: It's funny how my period has come on the same exact day of the month (the 27th), for the last 3 months. Usually it's at least a day or two off, and more often than not, it will arrive on a Sunday. Or, as I've told my husband, if there's some important event on a Friday or Saturday - like if my husband's office party is that day and we've rented a nice hotel room - my period will somehow choose that day to randomly show up and say "Surprise!!!"  Call it the Murphy's Law of Menstruation.

Anyway... I was somewhat relieved to get my period today. And it's definitely not that I don't want to get pregnant at all, but I think it would be most ideal to wait just one more month to get pregnant, if possible. I had been slacking a little on taking my supplements regularly, for stupid reasons (like misplacing my pill minder).  Although I did keep taking my Visalus vitamins pretty regularly, so hopefully that has me covered at least somewhat.

I want my eggs to be as healthy as they possibly can be, and it would be ideal if I could know that I've spent at least THREE months, taking excellent care of my health and improving the quality of my eggs (one month to go!). For the last 2 months I have been taking better care of my health than ever...  eating more whole foods than ever, and exercising. I've been taking Fertil Plus again (I think I started up again in September), and taking good amounts of CoQ10 to help improve the quality of my eggs, plus extra Vitamin D, Folic acid, maca powder, pumpkin seed and flaxseed.

As for the hubby, he's been taking Visalus vitamins, drinking 3 Visalus shakes per day, and also, for the first time in his life, he's been eating vegetables. AND he's also getting extra CoQ10 and Maca. He's looking better and healthier than ever, so I do have hope.

Yes, I do realize, this isn't the time to be slacking. I realize, beggars can't be too choosey. I realize I must sound completely crazy, being 44 years old and saying, "this just isn't the ideal time... I think I'll wait." But I'm just talking about one more month. I've heard you and your partner should ideally spend at least 3 months, being healthy, before conception. So I'm just doing what I can. I'd rather feel really good about the eggs I'm producing, and the sperm my husband is producing, than get pregnant and worry for 9 months about the fact that maybe we're dealing with damaged sperm and eggs. True, you never know what's going to happen. I know, there is no way you can predict or control the outcome. But you can always do your best, and have hope!

And if for some reason it doesn't happen in the next few months... articles like this one give me even more hope ; ).

EB