Food Therapy For Blood Deficiency

BLOOD DEFICIENCY FOOD THERAPY GUIDELINES

Focus on warm, nourishing foods that are easy to digest and build the blood back up:

• Soups

• Stews

• Porridge

• Meat and/or beans for iron

Eating foods rich in flavonoids (color) like dark leafy greens and berries is a good rule:

• Dark leafy greens for iron, seaweeds

• red and orange vegetables and citrus fruits / red berries provide the vitamin C that helps the body absorb iron.

FREQUENCY OF EATING

• Eating 5x a day is helpful! Think, 2 -3 bigger meals, then 2 smaller meals.

• Don’t go for long periods without eating anything.

• Eat the last meal by 6pm or earlier allowing digestion a chance to rest at night, which frees up the liver for cleaning and generating blood. If this is not possible use the rule: don’t eat after the sun goes down. (Of course, this will be different at different times of the year, which is ok.)

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR BUILDING BLOOD

• Blood tonic herbal formulas

• Focus on digestion and absorption

• protein/iron/B vitamins/vitamin C/Magnesium/

Nutritive, strengthening foods that will build back up your blood supply. Think porridges, soups, and stews. Focus on warming foods that increase circulation during this Stage 3 “Movement Stage”. *Blood deficiency: I also recommend drinking nutritive tonic teas such as nettle, alfalfa, oats, burdock root…

Recommended food blood tonics:

Bone broth

Kidney beans, Aduki bean 

parsley, kale, spinach, nettle, leafy greens

Seaweeds: kelp, dulse

Microalgae - Spirulina

Oyster

Sardine, Chicken

Eggs

Beef

Grass-fed Liver

Burdock (Gobo) Root

Dandelion Root

Beets

Mushrooms

Goji berries

Juju berries

Grape

Fig

Date

Cherries

Apricot

Why are acupuncture and Chinese herbal formulas so effective at treating blood deficiency? They date back thousands of years and are so effective at tonifying the blood that they are still used.

Other strengthening herbs for blood deficiency - Blood Tonics

• Nettles

• Alfalfa

• Burdock Root (easily added to soup)

• Astragalus Root (easily added to soup)

These can be mixed with other more flavorful components such as chamomile, mint, etc. The base tonic herbs must make up most of the herbal blend to get that extra nutritive value. You can drink these throughout the day (making sure you have marshmallow root mixed in so you don’t get dried out by any of the herbs.)

During the cold seasons, I also recommend warm milk or plant-based milk added to the tea..or brew in half boiling water, half milk. Add a shake of cinnamon and/or a pinch of dried ginger for added circulation and warming.