Due to the excessive pressure on modern women, such as staying up late, drinking alcohol, and excessive fatigue, combined with the four physiological periods of menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and lactation, it is easy for women to deplete blood and qi, leading to imbalance of qi and blood and various deficiency syndromes. So, how should women with deficiency syndrome supplement their diet?
1. Qi deficiency
The main manifestations of qi deficiency are: lack of energy, fatigue, low voice, shortness of breath with movement, easy sweating, dizziness, palpitations, pale complexion, loss of appetite, heat, sweating, prolapse of the uterus, pale and fat tongue, teeth marks on the tongue edge, weak pulse, and decreased gastric function. It may not necessarily be a disease, but those with qi deficiency need to supplement qi. Medicinal ingredients that can be used to supplement qi include ginseng, astragalus, and codonopsis.
Foods to supplement qi deficiency: beef, chicken, pork, glutinous rice, soybeans, white kidney beans, jujube, crucian carp, carp, quail, eel, shrimp, mushrooms, etc. They can be eaten alternately on a regular basis.
Example of a diet therapy recipe to supplement qi deficiency: Jade Treasure Chicken: Clean a hen and put 30g each of longan, dried lychee, black dates, lotus seeds, and wolfberries into the chicken's belly. Steam and eat with seasoning to supplement qi and nourish essence. Astragalus Steamed Quail: Steam 6-9g of astragalus with 2 quails and eat together to supplement qi deficiency.
2. Blood deficiency
The main manifestations of blood deficiency are: pale and sallow complexion, pale lips and nails, dizziness and fatigue, blurred vision and palpitations, insomnia and vivid dreams, dry stools, irregular menstruation with light and pale color, pale tongue, less slippery coating, weak pulse, etc. To supplement blood deficiency, blood-tonifying, blood-nourishing, and blood-generating methods should be used. Medicinal ingredients that can be used to supplement blood include angelica, donkey-hide gelatin, cooked rehmannia, and mulberry fruit.
Foods to supplement blood deficiency: black-bone chicken, black sesame seeds, walnut meat, longan meat, chicken, pig blood, pig liver, brown sugar, adzuki beans, etc. They can be alternated regularly.
Example of a diet therapy recipe to supplement blood deficiency: Angelica Black-Bone Chicken: Put 15g of angelica and 15g of astragalus in a gauze bag, and steam together with a black-bone chicken. Eat the chicken and drink the soup to supplement blood deficiency. Donkey-hide Gelatin Glutinous Rice Porridge: Boil 9g of donkey-hide gelatin (crushed) with 60g of black glutinous rice to make porridge. Eat it to supplement blood deficiency.
3. Yin deficiency
Also known as yin deficiency with excessive fire, commonly known as virtual fire, the main manifestations of yin deficiency are: heat intolerance, irritability, cheek flushing, dry and sore throat, dry stools, short and red urine, less saliva, discomfort of the five hearts (palms, soles, and top of the head) with heat, night sweats, lumbago and back pain, nocturnal emission and spermatorrhea, red tongue, thin or peeled coating, rapid pulse, etc. To supplement yin deficiency, methods such as nourishing yin and moistening dryness should be used. Medicinal ingredients that can be used to supplement yin deficiency include raw rehmannia, Ophiopogon japonicus, Polygonatum sibiricum, pearl powder, tremella, Cordyceps sinensis, dendrobium, turtle shell, etc.
