Can Black Sesame Seeds Reverse Gray Hair?

Most people treat gray hair as a coloring problem. Chinese medicine treats it as a message from deeper in the body, and it answers that message from the kitchen. This black sesame dessert, cooked with He Shou Wu, Rehmannia, goji berries and dates, is one of the most popular ways to do it. Here is the theory behind it, what the research shows about each ingredient, and the full recipe.

What does traditional Chinese medicine say about gray hair?

In Chinese medicine, premature graying is connected to the Kidneys. The Kidneys are closely associated with longevity and aging, and the hair on your head is where their condition shows.

The Kidney system in Chinese medicine is larger than the two organs that filter your blood. It stores jing, or essence: the reserve you were born with, which you draw on through your whole life. When that reserve is full, the hair is thick and dark. When it runs low, the hair thins and grays, and it can happen well before old age. The treatment is aimed at the reserve, not the strand.

Modern researchers have started to look for a bridge between that idea and Western physiology. A 2024 perspective in Andrology called the theory of the Kidney storing essence a cornerstone of Chinese medicine, and pointed to Klotho, a protein encoded by an anti-aging gene and made mainly in the kidney. The authors noted that the signs of declining Kidney essence closely resemble the signs of Klotho deficiency.^[1]

So instead of dyeing their hair, traditional Chinese medicine found a natural way to support the hair's original color. Instead of covering the gray, we use foods that nourish the Kidneys and support hair health from within. Black foods are the classic Kidney foods, and I explain the whole color system in my post on black foods in Chinese medicine. Feeding the terrain this way, meal after meal, is what we work on together inside Gut Brain Synchrony.

How does black sesame reverse gray hair?

It works on the terrain that decides whether a follicle keeps making pigment, and that terrain can change in both directions.

Gray hair can regain its color

A 2021 study from Columbia University showed that graying can reverse. The researchers built a method to map pigment along single human hairs, and they found white and gray hairs that had naturally regained their color. The reversal turned up across both sexes, different ethnicities, a range of ages and several body regions. Gray hairs carried more proteins tied to energy metabolism, mitochondria and antioxidant defense, and graying and its reversal tracked with psychological stress in the same person. Their model points to a threshold: push a follicle past it and the hair grays, bring it back under and color can return.^[2]

What turns hair gray

Two forces push a follicle toward that threshold. The first is oxidative load. Gray and white human scalp hairs accumulate hydrogen peroxide in millimolar concentrations, and the follicles that grow them have almost no catalase, the enzyme that breaks hydrogen peroxide down. The peroxide damages tyrosinase, the key enzyme that makes melanin, and the hair gradually loses its color.^[3] In mice, a mitochondrial defect that raised reactive oxygen species exhausted the melanocyte stem cells and grayed the coat early, and the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine reduced the graying and brought the stem cell population back.^[4]

The second is stress. Harvard researchers showed in mice that acute stress fires the sympathetic nerves that reach the pigment stem cells in each follicle. The burst of noradrenaline drives those stem cells to divide, migrate away and run out, and the hair comes in white.^[5] In Chinese medicine terms, that is a reserve being spent faster than it is replaced.

What black sesame brings

Black sesame, hei zhi ma, carries lignans such as sesamin, which act as antioxidants inside the body. In a placebo-controlled, double-blind trial, adults with daily fatigue took 10 milligrams of sesame lignans with 55 milligrams of vitamin E for eight weeks. Their anti-oxidative capacity, measured as how long their LDL cholesterol resisted oxidation, rose significantly compared with placebo. In the participants aged 40 and over, sleep and physical appearance also improved compared with placebo.^[6]

Sesame is also one of the richer food sources of copper, and the enzyme that builds melanin depends on copper. When dermatologists in Iran compared 66 people under 20 who were graying early with 66 matched controls, the early-gray group had lower blood copper, 90.7 against 105.3 micrograms per deciliter.^[7] A 2026 case-control study in India found that people with premature graying had significantly lower ferritin, vitamin B12 and vitamin D3 than controls.^[8]

Does he shou wu work for grey hair?

He Shou Wu is the herb most tied to dark hair in all of Chinese medicine. Its botanical name is Polygonum multiflorum, and its Chinese name means black-haired Mr. He. The root carries the name of the man in the old story whose gray hair turned black again after he ate it.

Its signature compound is a stilbene known as TSG, short for 2,3,5,4'-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-β-D-glucoside. TSG is water-soluble, which matters for this recipe, because the herbs are simmered in water. In pigment cells, TSG raised melanin content and the activity of tyrosinase, the melanin-making enzyme, in a dose-dependent way, by switching on MITF, the master regulator of pigment production.^[9] A whole ethanol extract of the root did the same: it increased melanin production and tyrosinase activity and raised the genes for tyrosinase and its partner proteins, without harming the cells.^[10]

The herb also works on the hair follicle itself. Researchers describe it as a hair-promoting herb used in China for over 1,000 years. In mouse skin, TSG moved resting follicles into the growth phase more effectively than other compounds from the root, and it sped up hair growth and raised the number of follicles.^[11] A TSG-enriched extract blocked 92.7 percent of the activity of 5-alpha-reductase, the enzyme that turns testosterone into DHT, at a concentration of 1 microgram per milliliter, comparable to finasteride. In mice with testosterone-driven hair loss, it markedly sped regrowth and increased both the number and size of follicles.^[12]

Which Chinese herbs are used for grey hair?

He Shou Wu rarely works alone. This dessert is also a really good way to sneak in other healthy herbs, all associated with health and long life.

Rehmannia, Shu Di Huang

Shu Di Huang is Rehmannia root that has been steamed and dried until it turns black and sweet. A 2024 review of Rehmannia processing notes that once it is prepared as Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata, it is valued for its ability to invigorate the kidney, and that the processing itself changes its chemistry, shifting its iridoid glycosides, phenylethanol glycosides and sugars.^[13] Laboratory and clinical research on Rehmannia describes antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating effects, carried by compounds such as catalpol and acteoside.^[14]

Goji berries

Goji, gou qi zi, is one of the best-known longevity foods in China. In a randomized trial, 27 adults aged 45 to 65 ate either 28 grams of goji berries or a lutein and zeaxanthin supplement five times a week for 90 days. Only the goji group raised the protective pigment density of the macula, the part of the eye most vulnerable to aging, and only the goji group raised the carotenoid levels in their skin.^[15]

Red dates and walnuts

Dried red dates, the fruit of Ziziphus jujuba, nourish the blood and soften the richness of the other ingredients. Their phenolic compounds show antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activity in a 2026 review of the research.^[16] Walnuts, hu tao ren, are a classic Kidney food in Chinese dietary therapy, warming and nourishing.

How to use black sesame seeds for grey hair: the recipe

This is the black sesame dessert from the video. You will need 10 grams of He Shou Wu, 10 grams of Shu Di Huang, 700 milliliters of water, about four dried dates, 10 grams of goji berries plus a few extra, 60 grams of black sesame seeds, 30 grams of walnut halves and some honey.

The result is a rich sesame pudding used to nourish your Kidney health and support dark-colored hair. Each step has a reason. Simmering draws the water-soluble compounds out of the roots, including the TSG in He Shou Wu.^[9] And eating it warm spares your digestion the work of heating a cold meal before it can use it. For more foods that belong in the same cupboard, see the Chinese home remedies I keep in my kitchen.

Black sesame and gray hair: your questions

Do black sesame seeds prevent gray hair?

In Chinese medicine, yes: the time to nourish the Kidneys is before the reserve runs low, and black sesame is the everyday food for it. The modern picture points the same way. Graying follows oxidative load, stress and gaps in nutrients such as copper, and sesame brings antioxidant lignans and copper to the table.^[3][6][7]

Is he shou wu good for hair growth?

It has been used that way for more than a thousand years. In mice, its main compound, TSG, moved resting hair follicles into the growth phase and increased their number, and a TSG-enriched extract sped regrowth in testosterone-driven hair loss.^[11][12]

Can you eat black sesame soup for breakfast?

Yes. In Chinese homes, black sesame soup is eaten as a dessert, a snack or a warm breakfast. A warm bowl in the morning is an easy way to make it a habit.

Gray hair is a message from your reserves. Answer it from the kitchen.

— Brehan Crawford, L.Ac.

References

1. Wang F, Colonnello E, Zhang H, et al. Comparing Western and traditional Chinese medicine for male sexual dysfunction: can Klotho represent a silk road? Andrology. 2024;12(6):1215-1223. doi:10.1111/andr.13580
2. Rosenberg AM, Rausser S, Ren J, et al. Quantitative mapping of human hair greying and reversal in relation to life stress. eLife. 2021;10:e67437. doi:10.7554/eLife.67437
3. Wood JM, Decker H, Hartmann H, et al. Senile hair graying: H2O2-mediated oxidative stress affects human hair color by blunting methionine sulfoxide repair. FASEB J. 2009;23(7):2065-2075. doi:10.1096/fj.08-125435
4. Zhou K, Wu G, Dong R, et al. Mitochondrial deoxyguanosine kinase depletion induced ROS causes melanocyte stem cell exhaustion and hair greying. Cell Regen. 2025;14(1):25. doi:10.1186/s13619-025-00242-0
5. Zhang B, Ma S, Rachmin I, et al. Hyperactivation of sympathetic nerves drives depletion of melanocyte stem cells. Nature. 2020;577(7792):676-681. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-1935-3
6. Takemoto D, Yasutake Y, Tomimori N, et al. Sesame lignans and vitamin E supplementation improve subjective statuses and anti-oxidative capacity in healthy humans with feelings of daily fatigue. Glob J Health Sci. 2015;7(6):1-10. doi:10.5539/gjhs.v7n6p1
7. Fatemi Naieni F, Ebrahimi B, Vakilian HR, Shahmoradi Z. Serum iron, zinc, and copper concentration in premature graying of hair. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2012;146(1):30-34. doi:10.1007/s12011-011-9223-6
8. Kumar L, Gupta LK, Balai M, et al. A demographic and biochemical profile of patients with premature graying of hair (canities) at a tertiary care centre: a case-control study. Indian Dermatol Online J. 2026;17(3):374-379. doi:10.4103/idoj.idoj_1049_24
9. Jiang Z, Xu J, Long M, et al. 2, 3, 5, 4'-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-beta-D-glucoside (THSG) induces melanogenesis in B16 cells by MAP kinase activation and tyrosinase upregulation. Life Sci. 2009;85(9-10):345-350. doi:10.1016/j.lfs.2009.05.022
10. Kim D, Kim HJ, Jun HS. Polygonum multiflorum Thunb. extract stimulates melanogenesis by induction of COX2 expression through the activation of p38 MAPK in B16F10 mouse melanoma cells. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2020;2020:7642019. doi:10.1155/2020/7642019
11. Zhang L, Tao N, Chen Y, et al. Tetrahydroxy stilbene glucoside promotes hair regeneration by inducing Th22 cell differentiation. J Ethnopharmacol. 2025;355(Pt A):120627. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2025.120627
12. Huang TY, Chang MC, Su WT, et al. Optimization and characterization of TSG-enriched Polygonum multiflorum extract and its dual mechanism against androgenetic alopecia via 5α-reductase inhibition and Wnt/β-catenin activation. Int J Mol Sci. 2026;27(15):6648. doi:10.3390/ijms27156648
13. Zhong HZ, Mo J, Li YX, et al. Changes in Rehmanniae Radix processing and their impact on ovarian hypofunction: potential mechanisms of action. Front Pharmacol. 2024;15:1426972. doi:10.3389/fphar.2024.1426972
14. Jia J, Chen J, Wang G, et al. Progress of research into the pharmacological effect and clinical application of the traditional Chinese medicine Rehmanniae Radix. Biomed Pharmacother. 2023;168:115809. doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2023.115809
15. Li X, Holt RR, Keen CL, et al. Goji berry intake increases macular pigment optical density in healthy adults: a randomized pilot trial. Nutrients. 2021;13(12):4409. doi:10.3390/nu13124409
16. Hu Y, Du J, Fan Y, et al. Phenolic compounds in Ziziphus jujuba Mill.: advances in distribution, biosynthesis, and pharmacological activities. Plants (Basel). 2026;15(8):1160. doi:10.3390/plants15081160