Blood-Stasis Constitution — TCM Food Therapy & Dietary Approach

Traditional Chinese Medicine Patterns

In TCM, this constitution is differentiated into several patterns, each with a classical herbal formula:

Blood Stasis in the Chest Pattern (Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis)

Formula: Xuefu Zhuyu Tang (Blood Mansion Stasis-Expelling Decoction) (Corrections of Errors in Medical Classics, by Wang Qingren, Qing dynasty)

Ingredients: peach kernel 12 g, safflower 9 g, Chinese angelica root 9 g, raw rehmannia root 9 g, Sichuan lovage root 5 g, red peony root 6 g, achyranthes root 9 g, platycodon root 5 g, bupleurum root 3 g, bitter orange 6 g, licorice 3 g

Traditionally used to invigorate blood and dispel stasis, and move qi to relieve pain. For long-standing unremitting chest pain and headache with fixed stabbing pain, a dark-red tongue or one with stasis macules, and a choppy or wiry-tight pulse.

Blood Deficiency Complicated by Blood Stasis Pattern

Formula: Taohong Siwu Tang (Peach Kernel and Carthamus Four-Substance Decoction) (Golden Mirror of Medicine, where the name first appears; formed by adding peach kernel and safflower to Siwu Tang)

Ingredients: prepared rehmannia root 15 g, Chinese angelica root 15 g, white peony root 10 g, Sichuan lovage root 8 g, peach kernel 9 g, safflower 6 g

Traditionally used to nourish and invigorate blood, and resolve stasis to generate the new. For early menstruation with dark purple blood containing clots and abdominal pain, and other blood-deficiency-with-blood-stasis conditions.

Blood Stasis in the Lower Burner Pattern (Abdominal Mass in Women)

Formula: Guizhi Fuling Wan (Cinnamon Twig and Poria Pill) (Synopsis of the Golden Chamber, 'Pulse, Syndromes and Treatment of Pregnancy Diseases in Women,' by Zhang Zhongjing, Han dynasty)

Ingredients: equal parts of cinnamon twig, poria, moutan bark, peach kernel, and peony root, made into pills with refined honey

Traditionally used to invigorate blood and resolve stasis, and gradually disperse masses. For pre-existing abdominal masses in women with persistent uterine bleeding, dark menstrual blood with clots, and other lower-burner blood-stasis conditions.

These formulas are for reference under TCM constitution differentiation and should only be used under the guidance of a qualified practitioner.

Food Therapy & Diet

Dietary Therapy Recipes

Hawthorn and Brown Sugar Soup: wash 10 hawthorns, remove the seeds and crush them; put them in a pot with water and simmer for about 20 minutes, then stir in brown sugar and eat. Traditionally used to invigorate blood and resolve stasis.
Peach Kernel Congee: 10 g peach kernel (soaked and peeled), 10 g raw rehmannia root, 100 g japonica rice, 2 g cinnamon powder, and 50 g brown sugar. Bring the peach kernel and rehmannia to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for 30 minutes; strain to obtain the liquid, add the japonica rice and cook into congee, and when done stir in the cinnamon powder and brown sugar. Traditionally used to dispel stasis, unblock the menses, invigorate blood and relieve pain, and nourish the spleen and stomach.
Black Soybean and Sichuan Lovage Congee: wrap 10 g Sichuan lovage root in gauze and cook together with 25 g black soybeans and 50 g japonica rice until done; add some brown sugar and take warm in divided doses. Traditionally used to invigorate blood, dispel stasis, move qi and relieve pain.
Hawthorn, Cinnamon Twig and Brown Sugar Soup: 15 g hawthorn flesh and 5 g cinnamon twig, simmered in 2 bowls of water over low heat until reduced to 1 bowl; stir in 30 g brown sugar, bring to a boil, and drink. Traditionally used to warm the channels, unblock the vessels, resolve stasis and relieve pain.
Stir-Fried Lotus Root with Black Fungus: 250 g fresh lotus root slices (cut with the nodes) and 10 g black fungus (soaked soft in warm water), stir-fried briefly with a little seasoning. Traditionally used to disperse stasis, harmonize the blood, and supplement the spleen and boost qi.

Dietary Principles

Favor foods that invigorate blood, resolve stasis, and move qi and relieve constraint, such as hawthorn, vinegar, rose, kumquat, peach kernel, safflower, black soybean, rape (leafy greens), black fungus, and brown sugar.
Eat less astringent, cold and iced items such as smoked plum, persimmon, pomegranate, and bitter melon.
Eat less fatty, sweet, greasy, and high-fat, high-cholesterol foods such as fatty meat, egg yolk, pig brain, and cheese.
A small amount of grape wine or sweet glutinous-rice wine may help blood circulation, but should not be overdone (alcohol harms the liver); people with hypertension or coronary heart disease should not drink it.
Women should use blood-invigorating foods with caution during menstruation.

Understanding the Constitution

The blood-stasis constitution is mostly formed through congenital insufficiency, or through postnatal injury, emotional depression with qi stagnation, chronic disease entering the collaterals, and aging. In Chinese medicine, qi is the commander of blood and blood is the mother of qi; when qi moves, blood moves, and when qi stagnates, blood stasis develops: emotional depression and liver qi constraint leave the qi mechanism obstructed and weak in its propelling force, so blood moves sluggishly and gradually accumulates like silt into stasis — this is qi stagnation with blood stasis. Cold causes contraction; cold congealing produces blood stasis; blood heat scorching and heat accumulation can also produce stasis. Traumatic injury leaving extravasated blood that fails to disperse, chronic disease entering the collaterals, and the slowing of qi and blood movement in old age (as the Huangdi Neijing, Lingshu 'Tian Nian' chapter says, 'at sixty, qi and blood become slack') can all lead to internal obstruction by static blood. When static blood is not removed, new blood cannot be generated; stasis obstructing the channels and viscera gives rise to a constitutional state characterized by impeded blood flow and internal blood stasis, which often coexists with qi-stagnation and phlegm-damp constitutions.

This content is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.