Article 30: Qi and Blood Are Just as Important for Men-Misconceptions About Men's Qi and Blood Nourishment and Beauty

Qi and blood are just as important for men.

We often hear or see advertisements about women nourishing their Qi and blood. Is nourishing Qi and blood a woman's prerogative? Of course not, men also need to nourish their Qi and blood.

What are the signs of insufficient Qi and blood in men?

• Difficulty falling asleep, easily startled and awakened, frequent urination at night, and heavy breathing.

· Loud purring.

• Vertical ridges appear on the nails, and there are no half-moons on the fingers or only on the thumb.

• The eyes are not bright, the gaze is unfocused, the eyes are dry and heavy, and there are bloodshot eyes.

• Rough, dull, dark, yellow, pale, bluish, or reddish skin.

Dry, split ends, hair loss, and yellowish hair color.

Insufficient Qi and blood can lead to decreased organ function and premature aging. Qi deficiency means weakened organ function and poor disease resistance. People with Qi deficiency experience symptoms such as aversion to cold, cold limbs, spontaneous sweating, dizziness, tinnitus, lethargy, fatigue, weakness, palpitations, shortness of breath, and delayed development. People with blood deficiency experience symptoms such as pale complexion, sallow skin, dry skin, brittle hair, cracked nails, blurred vision, numbness in the hands and feet, insomnia, dreaminess, forgetfulness, palpitations, and mental confusion.

What causes blood and qi problems in men?

Excessive stress

In today's society, men face immense pressure, and this high-pressure work and life often leads to spleen and stomach problems. The *Huangdi Neijing* states, "The middle jiao receives qi and extracts juice, which transforms into red, this is called blood." The *Zhengzhi Zhunsheng* says, "The spleen and stomach are the father of qi and blood." A strong spleen and stomach can transform the essence of ingested food into qi and blood. If the diet is irregular or liver and gallbladder diseases affect the spleen and stomach, it can weaken their function, leading to insufficient essence and a lack of source for production. Over time, this can result in blood deficiency, which may further cause dysfunction in other organs.

Unhealthy eating habits

Although the old tradition of "men working outside the home and women working inside the home" has been broken, a minority of men are still truly able to take good care of themselves. Due to busy schedules or social engagements, men often eat out or even skip meals, leading to insufficient production of qi and blood, resulting in blood deficiency. Yu Chang of the Qing Dynasty stated in his *Medical Laws*: "Abundant food naturally generates blood, while insufficient food prevents blood production." This illustrates the principle. Furthermore, even with sufficient food intake, unbalanced or unhealthy eating habits can also lead to a lack of raw materials for blood production, resulting in insufficient sources of qi and blood.

Kidney Qi Deficiency

Poor sexual habits can lead to kidney deficiency. The kidneys store essence, which generates marrow, and the essence and marrow can transform into blood. Insufficient congenital endowment, malnutrition acquired after birth, and excessive sexual activity can all cause kidney deficiency. Kidney deficiency leads to less essence, and essence deficiency leads to blood deficiency.

As the saying goes, "A healthy body eliminates a hundred ailments." Men can begin nourishing their Qi and blood with dietary therapy. Below are some foods that help replenish Qi and nourish blood:

loach

Loach is low in fat and has kidney-nourishing and sperm-producing effects. It is rich in lysine, an essential component for sperm formation. Therefore, regularly eating loach can not only promote sperm formation but also help improve sperm quality.

egg

Eggs are a high-protein food with a protein composition similar to that of the human body. Therefore, the human body can absorb up to 99% of the protein in eggs (compared to only 85% in milk). Eggs are also the best nutritional supplement for enhancing human sexual function.

Chinese chives

There's a folk saying: "Men should eat more leeks, and women should eat more lotus root," meaning that men should eat more leeks and women should eat more lotus root for their health. Leeks are pungent and salty, and warm in nature. They have the effects of warming the middle jiao (spleen and stomach), promoting qi circulation, tonifying deficiency and boosting yang, and dispersing blood stasis and detoxifying. Leeks are known for their ability to regrow after being cut, their longevity, and their enduring vitality, hence the name "longevity herb." Because they can invigorate yang, they are especially suitable for men and are therefore also called "yang-raising herb" or "aphrodisiac herb."

oat

Oatmeal is rich in both soluble and insoluble fiber, which can absorb large amounts of cholesterol in the body and excrete it, thus reducing excess body fat. Oatmeal is also extremely rich in linoleic acid, which can delay aging and has auxiliary therapeutic effects on fatty liver, diabetes, edema, and constipation. Eating oatmeal for breakfast can help men replenish kidney deficiency and help women replenish qi and blood.

Grape

Grapes are sweet and sour in taste, neutral in nature, and enter the spleen, lung, and kidney meridians. They contain many nutrients and can help men replenish their qi and blood.

There are many foods around us that can replenish qi and blood, not just the ones mentioned above. Men can prevent qi and blood deficiency caused by the energy expenditure of work and life by eating more of these foods.

Misconceptions about Qi and Blood for Beauty

Whether it's television commercials or beauty and weight loss books, we often hear or see information about nourishing qi and replenishing blood. However, amidst this wealth of information, there are bound to be many misconceptions.

Brown sugar is good for replenishing blood.

Brown sugar can have some effect on regulating menstruation, relieving menstrual cramps, and warming the stomach, but it does not contain any effective blood-replenishing components, so using large amounts of brown sugar to replenish blood is useless.

Cold foods should not be eaten.

Many people, especially women, have a resistance to cold-natured foods, believing that women are afraid of the cold and should avoid them. In fact, completely avoiding these foods is also incorrect. Combining cold-natured foods with warm-natured foods can actually be beneficial. Furthermore, not all cold-natured foods have negative effects on the body; as long as they are suitable for a person's constitution and the season, they can have a neutralizing and balancing effect. For example, in summer, when the body sweats profusely, it's good to eat a moderate amount of watermelon, which is very cooling. Watermelon can relieve heat and replenish the water and sugar lost through sweating. In this case, watermelon can have a harmonizing and blood-nourishing effect on the body. However, eating watermelon in cold weather can easily lead to blood deficiency.

Only women need to nourish their Qi and blood.

Many people believe that replenishing qi and blood is a woman's responsibility. Indeed, due to physiological reasons, women are more prone to blood deficiency than men. However, this does not mean that replenishing qi and blood is a woman's prerogative. Men can also get sick if they have insufficient qi and blood.

Eating red dates can replenish blood.

Red dates do contain components that can replenish blood, but this does not mean that eating a few red dates will have the effect of replenishing blood. This is because the components in red dates are difficult for the human body to absorb. If you want to use red dates to replenish blood, you need to combine them with other foods in a reasonable way.

Vegetables and fruits are not good for iron supplementation

Many people are unaware that eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is very helpful in replenishing the body's iron levels. Fruits and vegetables contain abundant vitamin C, malic acid, citric acid, and other organic acids. These organic acids can react with iron to form compounds, which can accelerate the dissolution of iron in the intestines, helping the intestines absorb iron and thus aiding in blood replenishment.

Drinking coffee and tea regularly is fine.

If a woman frequently drinks coffee and tea, and in large quantities, she is more likely to develop iron-deficiency anemia. This is because tea contains tannic acid, and coffee contains polyphenols; both of these substances react with iron to form insoluble salts, thus inhibiting iron absorption. Therefore, women should not drink too much coffee and tea.

Eating too much meat is bad for your health

Many health experts now advocate eating more vegetables, leading many women to mistakenly believe that eating meat is bad for their health. In fact, reducing meat consumption decreases the body's intake of animal-based iron. Many animal-based foods, including meat, are rich in iron, with an absorption rate as high as 25%, much higher than plant-based iron. Therefore, it's important to include some meat in your regular diet.

Blood-enriching health products as an alternative to anemia treatment

Anemia may not be a disease itself, but rather a symptom of an underlying condition. While many iron supplements sold on the market contain various forms of iron to aid in the treatment of iron-deficiency anemia, their iron content is generally low and cannot replace proper iron supplementation for treating anemia. Therefore, women should not rely solely on iron supplements to improve their blood levels.

Exercise can increase blood and energy.

Exercise can unblock meridians, strengthen heart function, and improve the body's ability to eliminate waste, but it does not increase the body's Qi and blood energy. The main health benefits of exercise are accelerating blood circulation and clearing some blocked meridians, especially the pericardium meridian. A clear pericardium meridian strengthens the heart, enhances the body's immune function, and accelerates metabolism and waste elimination.

If you simply exercise without improving your lifestyle or increasing or adjusting your sleep time, you'll only be wasting your energy.

Donkey-hide gelatin can replenish blood.

Many people believe that donkey-hide gelatin can replenish blood, but blood cannot be replenished simply by eating angelica or donkey-hide gelatin. Donkey-hide gelatin cannot directly replenish blood; rather, it works by using the astringent properties of donkey skin to temporarily concentrate blood, allowing it to work in one place and temporarily improve the body's condition. If your spleen and stomach functions normally, you can replenish blood even by eating rice and steamed buns; this is the correct principle of "replenishing."

Lying down is the best way to nourish your blood and qi.

Overwork depletes Qi, so does that mean lying down or sitting all day is better? Of course not. Lying down or sitting for too long will only make you more tired and further deplete your Qi. The *Huangdi Neijing* (Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic) already clearly states: "Prolonged lying down injures Qi." Qi is dynamic; if you're always lying down or sitting still, Qi cannot move freely and smoothly, causing it to stagnate and thus affecting the spleen. The spleen is the transport station of Qi, related to its ascent and descent, and since "the spleen governs the four limbs," if the limbs are not moved, the spleen's function of transformation and transportation is further affected. People who are bedridden for long periods have poor appetites and poor digestion, resulting in less acquired Qi, making Qi depletion a natural consequence.

Therefore, to cultivate one's Qi, one should pay attention to appropriate exercise so that the Qi in one's body can be generated and circulated better.

Eating more pork liver can replenish blood.

Pig liver is the largest detoxification organ in a pig's body. Various toxic metabolic products and toxins from feed remain in the liver, are detoxified by it, enter the kidneys, and are then excreted through urine. Therefore, the toxic blood in pig liver is dispersed in tens of thousands of hepatic sinusoids. As a result, pig liver contains both nutrients and a large amount of toxins, and its blood-replenishing effect is weak, so it should not be eaten in large quantities.

Drinking milk can replenish iron.

Milk contains abundant protein and other nutrients, but it is not high in iron. Moreover, the human body only absorbs 10% of the iron in milk, making it difficult to provide sufficient iron for women with menstrual anemia. Therefore, relying on drinking milk to supplement iron and blood is not feasible.

Qi and blood are the guarantee of physical health and quality of life. No matter your age, they will silently take care of you. Therefore, you must pay attention to qi and blood and treat yourself well.