Keeping your circulatory system healthy is very important. Your body depends on your heart to pump blood through thousands of miles of blood vessels to be delivered to each and every one of your cells. Blood carries oxygen from your lungs to the cells of your body, so if there is a problem with your blood (anemia, diabetes) or your blood vessels (clogged arteries and veins, atherosclerosis), then your whole body can suffer. If your brain is not receiving enough oxygen, you may feel dizzy and lightheaded and not able to think clearly. If your stomach is not receiving enough oxygen then your digestion and metabolism will begin to slow and you may feel cold. If one of your blood vessels isn’t functioning properly, then blood could stop flowing to a certain body part, and without blood, the cells in that certain body part could die.
Thankfully, we have mother nature to thank for her wonderful herbs, roots, fruit and vegetables. Food is our medicine, so eating heart and blood-healthy foods will be sure to keep your circulatory system healthy (of course, reducing the amount of processed foods being consumed is also an important factor in a healthy blood system).
Below is a list of 6 natural food items that help with keeping your blood strong, and to help fight and/or prevent against anemia:
1. Kale
Chlorophyll is molecularly identical to our red blood cells, with the exception of the central molecule, magnesium in chlorophyll, and iron in blood. Once it enters the body, chlorophyll, in a way, starts to act like haemoglobin (the proponent of blood that is responsible for transporting oxygen from the lungs to the cells of our body). This means increased nutrient delivery and oxygenation to our cells.
Kale is incredibly rich in chlorophyll (making it a great blood builder), and many other vitamins and minerals like Vitamins K, A, C, and E as well as manganese, calcium, iron and copper. The iron in kale is also essential for healthy blood, keeping us alert and clear-headed.
Adding some kale into your green juices, or making a nice leafy green kale salad (see http://rawedibles.blogspot.ca for kale recipes) is a great way to get kale into your diet.
2. Figs
Figs are a very mineral dense fruit. They have incredibly high iron content which makes them a great blood builder and useful in cases of anemia. Research also indicates that figs have the ability to shrink cancerous tumours, and contain more calcium than milk, and more potassium than bananas. Potassium is a mineral that helps control blood pressure, keeping our circulatory system strong and healthy.
3. Stinging Nettles
Drinking one cup of nettle tea a day can have significant effects on your blood! It is one of the best blood purifiers available, and can thus clean eczema internally and help fight against anemia. It has a tremendous influence on the pancreas and help assists in lowering high blood pressure and blood glucose levels. Stinging nettles not only help the blood, but they protect against hair loss, kidney stones, allergies, hay fever, osteoarthritis, internal bleeding, uterine bleeding, nosebleeds and bowel bleeding. They protect against enlarged spleens, diabetes, endocrine disorders, stomach acid, diarrhea, dysentery, lung congestion, cancer and anti-aging.
The best way to consume nettles is early in the morning before breakfast. Drink the tea every day for one month, twice a year, to help purify and cleanse the blood.
4. Beets
Beet juice is a blood purifier and blood builder and helps in the creation of red blood cells. Beet juice improves blood structure and cures diseases of the circulatory system, large intestine and digestive system, states longevity researcher, Mikhail Tombak, Ph.D.. Beets are very powerful cleansers of the liver and kidney, which help cleanse the circulatory system. Drinking fresh beet juice may help reverse your problems with anemia or other blood issues such as high cholesterol.
5. Parsley
Parsley is well known for it’s remarkable blood-cleansing benefits which classify it as a superfood. It is incredibly rich in chlorophyll (see above) and vitamin C which is a major anti-inflammatory and helps the body absorb iron. Parsley is also an excellent source of folic acid which is crucial for reducing homocysteine levels. Homocysteine mediates inflammation and is linked with cardiovascular disease and brain degeneration. Not only that, but parsley is a powerful diuretic that lowers blood pressure and improves kidney function.
6. Spinach
Anemia occurs when there isn’t enough hemoglobin (an iron-protein compound in red blood cells that transports oxygen) in the blood and there are too few red blood cells. Thus, increasing your iron levels is an important thing to do when you have anemia or other blood related problems. Spinach is rich in iron and vitamin C, and the two together help improve iron uptake (vitamin C helps the body absorb more iron from the foods you eat). Spinach is also a wonderful chlorophyll source, which is a great blood builder (see above). Enjoy spinach in your smoothies or in your salads!
Sources: Live Love Fruit
(1) Patek, A. (1936) Chlorophyll and regeneration of the blood: Effect of administration of chlorophyll derivatives to patients with chronic hypochromic anemia. Arch Intern Med (Chic)., 57, 73-84.
(2) Whipple, G. (1922) Pigment metabolism and regeneration of hemoglobin in the body. Arch Intern Med (Chic)., 29, 711-731.
(3) Appel, L., Moore, T., Obarzanek, E., et al. (1997) A clinical trial of the effects of dietary patterns on blood pressure. New England Journal of Medicine, 336, 1117-24.
(4) Ensminger, A., Esminger, M., et al. (1986) Food for Health: A Nutrition Encyclopedia. Clovis, California: Pegus Press.
(5) http://www.naturalnews.com/027290_stinging_nettles_tea_herb.html
(6) Can We Live 150 Years?, Mikhail Tombak, Ph.D.
Why is the liver so important? It helps process nutrients in our food, makes bile, removes toxic substances from the body and is involved in the building of proteins. When our liver is not functioning properly then nutrients are no longer effectively processed and we become deficient in minerals and vitamins. The bile that is produced in the liver helps digest food (especially fat), and without sufficient bile production (due to a malfunctioning liver), this fat is no longer broken down and clogs our cells, vessels and arteries. A major function of the liver, removing toxins from blood, is especially important. If the liver is not working properly, then it cannot pull out toxins from the blood, and instead, these toxins get re-absorbed into our cells, accumulating and creating problems that manifest in forms of different illnesses and disease. Taking care of our liver is incredibly important! Avoiding alcohol, refined sugar & processed foods, and fatty foods is your first step to healing the liver. Getting rid of the root of the problem, and repairing the liver with natural foods is a recipe for liver-repairing success! When consuming alcohol, an array of chemical reactions take place in the liver resulting in damaged cells – the liver then tries to repair these cells, scarring itself and inflaming surrounding tissues. Refined sugar & processed foods as well as fatty foods create problems for the liver too – eating these foods day after day can lead to a condition known as fatty liver (also caused by excessive alcohol consumption), which is caused by triglyceride fat accumulation. This is then accompanied by progressive inflammation and scarring of the liver.
Foods to help naturally heal the liver: Dandelion Green- Leafy greens, especially dandelion greens and mustard greens are great for the liver! They are incredibly high in chlorophyll which helps remove accumulated toxins. Dandelion greens help stimulate digestion and are considered a diuretic (helps promote water loss from the body through urination) – because of their diuretic effects, dandelion greens help lower blood pressure and relieve premenstrual fluid retention. The extremely bitter taste of dandelion greens and mustard greens promotes bile flow from the liver and gallbladder, and thus allow for more efficient liver processing of nutrients. Beets are a great way to detoxify the liver. They have been used to fight liver toxins for centuries. Beets contain a substance called betaine which protects the liver and bile ducts which are important in proper liver function. This substance also encourages the liver to get rid of intra-cellular toxin buildup. Not only that, but betaine helps lower inflammation levels in the body and so it can help defend against fatty liver. Make sure to eat beets raw, or juice them raw, because this substance is most active when in its raw form. Horseradish- This root helps digest fat, so it eases any work the liver may have at digesting excess fats from your diet. Consuming horseradish also helps to regenerate and heal the liver, keeping it cleansed of accumulated toxins from a life time of bad eating habits. In addition, horseradish is a powerful diuretic, and so it helps quicken the flushing of toxins and other inflammatory agents from our liver and kidneys (via increased urination). Artichoke helps stimulate bile flow from the liver and thus it helps alleviate symptoms of heartburn and “hangovers” from alcohol consumption. Proper bile flow is essential for detoxification (a major task of the liver). Bile serves as a carrier for toxins that we breathe in through the air, eat in our food, or drink in our water – it helps to ensure that these toxins are taken to the intestine or kidneys for proper elimination from the body. Today, extracts of artichoke are used for dyspepsia and to help in the processing of fat metabolism. Celery is incredibly rich in iron and vitamins A, B and C. It is a great tonic for the liver and a mild diuretic for the kidneys. The phytonutrients in celery help protect the digestive tract and liver – specifically, researchers from Taiwan have found that when treated with celery extract, liver cells produced more of a specific liver enzyme which helps flush toxins and other contaminants from the body. The mild diuretic effects of celery also aid in the removal of bodily toxins and lowering blood pressure. Asparagus has been found to boost ADH and ALDH, two liver enzymes which help metabolize ethanol (aka. the alcohol you might have drank last night). This makes asparagus a great way to alleviate symptoms of an alcohol “hangover” and helps protect the liver against toxic contaminants which otherwise may lead to scarring and fatty liver. It should also be noted that the leaves of asparagus also have therapeutic value, and are extremely high in enzymes ADH and ALDH. Make sure to eat fresh asparagus, particularly in its raw state to help boost the enzymatic activity of this vegetable.
Sources: Live Love Fruit
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19895471 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23603008 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23061292 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12405796 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23421107 http://jcb.rupress.org/content/20/3/497.abstract
