Nurturing the blood starts by nurturing our qi, which is “the mother of the blood". So whatever is t
rue for a diet designed to tonify the spleen is also true for tonifying blood.
The following rules should be emphasized though. Since blood is tightly linked to the liver, and the live serves (among other things) as a filter, the purity of the food is particularly important for blood deficient people.
Therefore eating industrialized food, or eating contaminated food is particularly contraindicated in this case.
To further aid the liver, which represents the wood element, greens should be added, as long as they don’t enhance the spleen qi deficiency. Asparagus and artichoke are particularly effective in clearing toxins from the blood, but other greens such as green beans, broccoli, spearmint, green lentils and kale.
To nourish the blood directly it is important to mention the avocado, which is one of the most potent blood tonics we can eat.
Red fruit is also very important for nourishing blood: pomegranate, apples (green or red), berries of all shapes and kinds, particularly goji berries, raisins (pay attention to sugar issues if applicable!), black grapes, papaya.
Meats and fish- unfortunately many of the animal products available today are of very low quality. Therefore, it is important to make sure we get products of good quality: organic, grass fed and rich in blood. Eating liver is particularly recommended, though since the liver is the filter of the animal- it is imperative that it will come from reliable, clean source. Beef is preferred over poultry and pork. Fish strengthens blood too, particularly fish of cold weather, such as salmon, trout or tuna, since they are rich in omega 3.
Milk products and eggs were traditionally considered natural blood tonifiers. However, the heavy industrialization rendered many of these products heavy on hormones, especially estrogen, and therefore unless we can get organic/free range products we are better off refraining from these products.
Among milk products goat, sheep and buffalo milk products are preferred over cow milk. Eggs that are free ranged are preferred over organic eggs since by eating insects the chicken provides a protein of a higher quality.
Super foods that are particularly good for tonifying blood are bee pollen, spirulina, green magma, kelp, nori or any other seaweed and Shiitake mushrooms.