In Chinese medicine’s wisdom, there is a pattern called Blood Deficiency that many people, mostly women, experience and it looks like this:
- You’re tired but can’t sleep well.
- You look pale and don’t feel vibrant like you used to.
- You can’t remember a damn thing anymore.
- You’re either outright anxious or you get those ruminating circular thoughts that won’t go away.
- You bruise easily and can’t even remember how you got them.
- Your muscles feel weak and they spasm.
- Your heart races, even when you’re not doing anything strenuous.
- You get dizzy and lightheaded easily.
- Your period is messed up (in any number of ways: weak flow, heavy flow, or it disappears altogether)
- Everything’s drying up: you’ve got dry skin, dry hair, cracking nails, and chapped lips.
There are a bunch of other possible symptoms but these are pretty common and often seen together as a pattern. This pattern is usually caused by either:
- long-term vegetarianism
- history of heavy blood loss
- long-term poor diet
- or a parasite infection
So, how do you nourish your blood so you don’t experiences these symptoms anymore? Here’s my list:
- Chinese herbal therapy is a must! There are several formulas that fit this pattern, but you should get the one that fits you individually, so find a nationally board certified Chinese herbalist.
- If you’ve been a vegetarian or vegan, please do some deep soul searching around this and reconsider for the sake of your health. It will be difficult to nearly impossible to dig yourself out of this hole as a vegetarian or vegan.
- Drink bone broths a few times a week.
- Eat small but frequent amounts of animal protein. Most ideal is lamb and beef. Fish and chicken are okay. Eggs are the perfect protein, so daily eggs would be great for you! Make sure they are organic.
- Healthy fats are important for nourishing the blood: avocados, olive oil, coconut oil/milk/shredded, nuts & seeds, eggs (especially yolks). Increasing healthy fats helps dryness.
- Exercise should NOT be vigorous. Gentle and easy only!
- Give your body a rest as often as possible. It needs to heal.
- Hot bath before bed is a good habit to get into for restful sleep.
