Better Quality Blood = Smoother Perimenopause!

Sometimes Chinese medicine can sound a little confusing. It's not a system of medicine we grow up with in the Western world unless you had cool parents or family members who attended acupuncture treatments. This article is about the ‘SUBSTANCES’ which are integral part to every patient's diagnosis (female or male). These are known as Blood, Yin, Yang & Qi.

Let's talk about Blood!

Blood is a substance we can all see and know it's importance in a western medicine sense. Your Blood carries a real time imprint of your level of health. When Blood is deficient / weak one can become a shadow of our true potential. The mind and spirit resides in Blood, if this substance is deficient a person tends to float through life without an anchor. This can manifest as anxiety, inability to raise enough stamina to move forward, confidence issues, insomnia and general flatness.

How does Blood become deficient?

Heavy menstruation phases. Vegan diet. Blood loss during childbirth (haemorrhage). Consecutive pregnancies (termination & miscarriage counts here). Years of breast-feeding. Long term illness. Over work. Chronic mental health issues. You might be scratching your head at the last reason. Emotions in over drive consume Blood. If you have been a worrier for most of your life it will have impacted the quality of your Blood. 

Consider the idea of our 'spirit' (soul) being housed in our Blood, then take a step further to know it contains the memory of everything which has taken place (bad & good). Often trauma as they are learning in modern medicine is held in the body as a long term memory or response, therefore it is held in Blood.

Why is Blood so important during peri to pause?

Blood is a vital element to our energy levels. Blood lubricates skin, muscles & tendons. During perimenopause when oestrogen drops often women will experience muscle and joint pain which can come & go and move location (quite common). If your diagnosis is Blood deficiency from a TCM perspective you’ll need to be gentle with yourself to regain energy. This is a deep pattern to shift. It is said ‘it takes 40 parts of qi to make 1 part of blood.’

A multi factorial approach is a good plan. Considerations: 

• Chinese herbs, acupuncture and a Blood nourishing diet (my digital course The Natural Menopause Solution has a tailored plan for you!)
• Daily iron tonic such as Spa Tone with apple or Blueiron Liquid
• Add a small portion of lean red meat each week
• Drink bone broth each day (the Chinese drink broths everyday for nourishment)
• Building Blood requires a greater protein intake, the best are animal sources. It's possible to build blood on a vegetarian diet but it will take more time.

Bone broth…

Drinking bone broth everyday will provide a boost. Make with organic chicken or beef bones which release the magic ingredient of bone marrow. Green leafy vegetables are rich in chlorophyll are an important addition. These contain other components which assist in the absorption and utilisation of iron and production of Blood.

Additives in food

Blood quality is directly affected by the level of additives in food, especially hormones, excessive sugar and salt. Try your best to buy organic or chemical free meats. If that’s not possible having meat is more important than not in this case. This is really most important when consuming liver, all chemicals filter through the liver, even in animals!

Proportions

The emphasis of this meal planning should be green leafy veg (30 - 40%), high quality, preferably organic, animal protein ( 20 - 30%) and (30 - 40%) complex carbohydrates.