Blood Deficiency
The concept of blood in traditional Chinese medicine shares a close relationship with the western concept in that it has both a nourishing and moistening function. However, with the concept of blood deficiency there is also emphasis placed on your body’s qi. Blood is seen as a condensed form of qi with qi playing a vital role in helping the blood to circulate to where it is needed. Attention is also focused on the strength of your digestive system’s ability to successfully obtain the nutrients from your food necessary for the production of blood. Food to build blood includes;
| Grains | Barley, corn, oats, rice, sweet rice, wheat, bran |
| Vegetables | Alfalfa sprout, artichoke, beetroot, button mushroom, cabbage, celery, dandelion leaf, dark leafy greens, kelp, shiitake mushroom, spinach, watercress, wheatgrass |
| Fruit | Apple, apricot, avocado, date, fig, grape, longan, mulberry |
| Beans | Aduki, black soya, kidney |
| Nuts and seeds | Almonds, black sesame |
| Fish | Mussel, octopus, oyster, sardine, tuna |
| Meat | All red meat especially bone marrow and liver (beef, pork, sheep) |
| Dairy | Chicken egg, |
| Herbs, spices | Nettle, parsley |
| Oils, condiments | Amasake, molasses |
| Beverages | Soya milk |
| Common supplements | Algae, dongui, pollen |
Foods especially useful to tonify Liver Blood Deficiency.
| Vegetables | artichoke, beetroot, dandelion leaf, kelp |
| Fruit | avocado, date, mulberry, grape |
| Nuts /seeds | black sesame |
| Fish | oyster |
| Meats | beef, liver (both pork and sheep) |
| Herbs/ spices | nettle |
| Oils/ condiments | molasses |
Examples of every day western foods that can be used to build Blood include
- Rice porridges with Soya milk, apricots and almonds
- Dark leafy green salads with avocado and grated beetroot<
- Warm chicken salad with artichoke and grapes
- Scrambled Eggs with parsley
- Mussel Chowder with calamari
- Snacks of dried apricots and almonds
- Kidney bean and mushroom lasagne with a spinach salad
- Any red meat dish. (Note that in traditional Chinese medicine meat is viewed as a strong tonifing food to be eaten in small amounts so that serving sizes are based around two to four ounces per serving, taken several times a week depending on individual energetic patterns).