Are you looking to improve your blood circulation by consuming certain foods? If so, read on and find out first if you have poor blood circulation before consuming the recommended foods below.
Poor Blood Circulation And Blood Deficiency Are Different Things
The first thing you should know is if you are having poor blood circulation or simply blood deficiency. They are both different things so let’s find out more.
Blood deficiency means a person’s blood lack nourishment. A person with blood deficiency often appears pale. His/her hair is not as voluminous as compared of his/her peers. If you look at this person’s nail, lip and palm color, you will also notice that the color is not as red as others. In general, it is more common for women to be deficient in blood as compared to men, especially women who have given birth.
Poor blood circulation, or in our context, I refer to as blood stale, often happens after a person has blood deficiency for a long time. The easiest way to determine if you have the blood stale body type is to take the online TCM body constitution test.
If after taking the online body constitution test, your body type is Blood Stale, then you are highly recommended to follow the advice in this article.
How To Know Whether You Have Poor Blood Circulation?
Having said that, someone with a different body constitution can also have poor blood circulation. The following are some symptoms that will appear if you have poor blood circulation:
- You find that bruises appear on your body out of nowhere from time to time.
- You often experience pain in different parts of your body unknowingly.
- Your face tends to be more brownish and darker in color as compared to others.
- You have dark eye bags even if you have enough sleep.
- You tend to be more forgetful.
- Your lips appear darker in color as compared to others.
Avoid These Foods As They Will Slow Down Your Blood Circulation Even Further!
If you have a blood stale body constitution or have two or more poor blood circulation symptoms as indicated above, please reduce or avoid eating or drinking cold stuff like ice cream, cold beverages, etc.
Cold drinks and desserts can worsen the symptoms that you are experiencing and thus, slowing the blood flow in your body even further.
When a person’s blood flow is slowed, clots will tend to form and through a period of time, you will experience pains when the clots grow or move from place to place in your body.
Just one more piece of advice before we move on to the list of foods to eat – make sure you make effort in reducing cold drinks and desserts.
It is only through reducing the intake of harmful foods (in this case, the cold stuff) and consuming the right foods that you will experience healing. There is no point in eating the right food but at the same time, you consume harmful foods.
Foods That Will Improve Your Blood Circulation
The following 6 foods + 1 herb will help to improve your blood circulation. Make sure to include them into your diet regularly:
- Lotus Root – Lotus root cools the body and disperses clots. it is one of the most effective natural food in improving blood circulation. Read here for more details on lotus root.
- Black Beans – Black beans not only have protein but also help in getting rid of blood clots. Read here for more details on black beans.
- Konjac – One of the main properties of Konjac is that it can dissolve phlegm and clots. Hence it is a very good food to improve blood circulation. Read here for more details on Konjac.
- Black Fungus – Black fungus can reduce high blood pressure effectively. Hence, it is also a good food to help in blood circulation. Read here to find out more about black fungus.
- Hawthorn – Hawthorn is a good food to help aid digestion, promote blood flow and reduce pain. Thus, it is highly recommended to drink Hawthorn tea regularly. Read here for more details on Hawthorn.
- Shiitake – Shiitake mushroom excels in reducing blood pressure too. Read here for more details on shiitake mushrooms.
Besides the above 6 foods, there is one herb in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) that is very suitable for people who need to improve blood circulation. The herb is called 田七 or 三七. Its English name is Panax notoginseng.
You can find this herb (in powdered form) in most TCM retail shops.
The one on the left is what I use and you can add the powder to any soup or porridge.
Just make sure you do not add too much. 1 to 3g is enough for one person’s dosage.
Alternatively, you can also purchase Panax notoginseng online in supplement forms like this one. Make sure you really have poor blood circulation before you consume such supplements. The best way is to consult a TCM physician if you are able to do so in your area.
I hope you find this post useful!