Healing Chronic Illness with Congee Supporting Our Blood Through Food

By Toni Eatros, MS, Dipl Ac, AP

Every day in my clinic, I see people with a wide variety of chronic illness.  Regardless, of the type of illness, all of these people have one thing in common, they are deficient in Qi and sometimes blood.  What does deficient mean?  Deficient means that there is not enough raw material to make the body systems work properly.  When this is occurring for a length of time, chronic illness sets in.

Last month, I wrote about Qi deficiency, see that article for more information.  For the purpose of this article, we are going to focus on blood deficiency and how we can nourish our blood.  The concept of blood in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is not the same as our medical system’s definition of the blood that flows through the vessels.  The TCM concept of blood deficiency includes our actual blood, but it is also a dense form of energetic qi that nourishes and moistens the body and anchors our emotions and mental function.

The quality of our blood is a measure of the available nourishment circulating in our body.  Blood nourishes our muscles, organs, brain, every part of us. Its quality depends on the quality of the food we eat and our ability to absorb nourishment. In other words, it depends on the strength of our digestive system.

As well as being the source of nourishment for physical activity, the blood is also said to house the mind, to provide the physical root of our consciousness. Body and Mind are integrated in the blood. The blood enables our thoughts and emotions to be grounded in the body. Its quality helps keep body and mind together.

When our blood is strong, we tend to feel vigorous, well-nourished and alive. When our blood is weak, we may feel under-nourished and not fully in touch with who we are. We may experience separation, as if our mind floats, loosening its anchor. At night the mind may float so much that we cannot sleep.

Symptoms of General Blood Deficiency may Include:
. Pale lips, tongue, face and fingernail beds
. Dry skin and hair
. Dizziness or Light-headedness when standing up
. Cracking and Popping of Joints
. Muscle Spasms
. Anemia
. Nervousness & Anxiety
. Heart Palpitations
. Insomnia
. Blurred Vision
. Floaters in the Visual Field
. Infertility
. Fatigue

Our ability to produce blood is strengthened by maintaining a balance between rest and physical activity. Physical activity strengthens the digestive systems ability to convert food into blood and helps the heart circulate it around the body. Rest, especially in the early afternoon, enables the liver to renew the blood during the day.

Blood is very easily improved through diet.  A diet rich in fresh vegetables is essential. In particular, dark green leafy vegetables and chlorophyll-rich foods are helpful, especially when combined with grains, seeds and nuts. Adequate protein is also necessary.  All meat and fish, many beans and several seafoods will strengthen the blood. In severe cases of blood depletion, organs meats such as liver can be helpful.

As all food forms the basis of blood, we may simply say eat well and widely. The overuse of fatty foods, denatured, processed foods and sweetened or salted foods will tend to weaken the blood.

Some of the foods that are especially beneficial for nourishing blood are:
. Aduki, black soybean, and kidney beans
. Apricots, cherries, dates, figs, grapes, and longan fruit
. Beets, dandelion, kale, dark green leafy greens, parsley, spinach and watercress
. Kelp, microalgae (E3 Live), and seaweed
. Beef, bone marrow broth, chicken eggs, liver, mussels, octopus, oysters and sardines
. Sweet rice and tempeh