In both Chinese medicine and Western medicine blood plays a vital role in our health. Blood is both nourishing and moisturizing and requires the vital function of qi to help it circulate throughout the body. Acupuncture can help nourish blood, encourage the circulation of qi and blood and help the body build the quantity and quality of our blood. In Chinese medicine qi and blood share a strong relationship: “Qi is the commander of the blood, and blood is the mother of qi.” Therefore when one is impacted the other will follow.
Did you know the foods we eat play a major role in turning nutrients into blood! A healthy diet includes foods that work directly to nourish and build our blood, and for women this cannot be more important! Due to inadequate diet, emotional stress and overwork our resources are constantly being depleted each day, especially during our monthly cycles. Blood deficiency is one of the most commonly seen pathologies in women from a Chinese medicine point of view. (It’s important to note that according the classics in Chinese medicine, menstrual ‘blood’ is not the same as blood flowing through your entire body.) Symptoms from blood deficiency include scanty periods, late periods, or no periods at all. Other symptoms include dry skin, hair or nails, poor memory, blurry vision, fatigue, headache, loose stools, insomnia, vivid or excessive dreams, anxiety and depression.
In Chinese medicine it is said that to build blood we must nourish both the spleen and the kidneys. The spleen and stomach represent the earth element and work together to transform the food we eat into blood. The kidneys house our essence or jing, which strengthens the bone and marrow to make blood. (Red blood cells are created in the bone marrow.) Interestingly enough, this connection of the kidneys and bone marrow’s ability to make blood was formulated in the Qing dynasty many years before Western medicine was ever introduced in China!
Below is a list of foods that nourish the blood, many of which may already be in your pantry. You will find that eating intentionally to replenish your resources need not involve trips to specialty grocery stores. I am always interested in what else you are learning about your health and well-being. Don’t hesitate to share!
Grains: Barley, corn, oats, rice, sweet rice, wheat, bran
Vegetables: Alfalfa sprouts, artichokes, beetroot, button mushrooms, cabbage, celery, Dandelion leaves, dark leafy greens, kelp, shiitake mushrooms, spinach, watercress, wheatgrass
Fruit: Apples, apricots, avocados, dates, figs, grapes, longans, mulberries
Beans: Aduki, black soy beans, kidney beans
Nuts/Seeds: Almonds, black sesame
Fish: Mussels, octopus, oysters, sardines, tuna
Meat: All red meat- especially bone marrow and liver (beef, pork, sheep)
Dairy: Chicken eggs
Herbs/Spices: Nettle, parsley
Condiments: Amasake, molasses
Beverages: Soy milk