Fleece Flower Root Herbal Tea for Hair Growth 黑棗首烏茶

**Reminder (Oct 18, 2010): This is not a medical blog so for this and similar health food recommendations, please do your own research and check with medication professionals if needed.  As mentioned below in the original post, fleece flower root is reather "heaty" according to Chinese medicine and should not be taken if your body is heaty at the time.  According to the old man at the medicine shop, if a person is heaty, usually he/she finds his/her mouth dry and bitter during the day (not just in the morning), in which case one should have some cooling food or drinks (e.g. winter melon soup, sweet herbal tea like Chrysanthemum tea, etc.) to cool down the body.  He said that drinking Fleece Flower Root tea while one's body is heaty would make the person feel unwell.**

I've heard about 首烏 (fleece flower root) and its medical benefits to hair growth and shiny hair for years but never had the time to make this tea each week.

I've cooked this tea before and it tasted quite okay.  Supposedly you can feel the benefits if you drink it every week. 

The original recipe used red dates instead of black dates.  I was at the Chinese medicine shop where the staff, an old man, told me black dates would be better than red, because not only do they have the same blood replenishing (補血) benefit, it also could 去濕.  After some googling, I also read that fleece flower root is good for the liver, bladder, sperms (!!! yes!  ha), and improves sex drive.   This tea also will also improve blood circulation and give you a nice natural blush.

This soup can be slightly heaty.  Not suitable if you are menstruating or having stomach problems.

So here's the recipe:

Fleece Flower Root 首烏 - 1 兩
Dried Black Dates 黑棗 - 5 pieces  OR Dried Red Dates without Pits 去核紅棗 15 pieces
Sweet Dried Dates 蜜棗 - 5 pieces
Water - 8 bowls

Wash the ingredients.  Bring the water into a boil in a pot.  Put all ingredients into the pot, cover with lid, and boil over medium flame for roughly 1.5 hours to 2 hours, until water is reduced by half or a little more. 

Enjoy!