Blood is undeniably linked to life and has often been described as the river of life for several good reasons. It transports life-preserving oxygen from the lungs to body tissue, and then picks up carbon dioxide from body tissue and brings it back to the lungs. It also delivers nutrients from the food we eat to our cells, cruising through the liver first where the nutrients are detoxified. The Bible book of Genesis even refers to blood as the place where the soul—or life—resides. Clearly, blood is very special and worthy of our attention.
Purify It With a Cleanse
Blood is manufactured in the bones, and the average adult has about 5 quarts in circulation. Due to the fact that it not only transports beneficial elements through the body but also waste material, blood significantly benefits from periodic cleansing, and a few key supplements are highly beneficial for accomplishing the process.
- Vitamin-C—Five to ten grams (5000 to 10,000 mg) of vitamin C daily are recommended during a blood cleanse lasting less than 7 days. It helps keep the blood alkaline, encourages oxygen uptake, and promotes the formation of collagen for healthy new tissue.
- Green Foods—Green foods like chlorella, spirulina, barley grass and wheat grass help keep the blood in a health-promoting alkaline state, plus they bind with toxins in the blood to help remove them from the body.
- OPCs—The OPCs in pine bark and grapeseed extract are super-strong antioxidants that help keep blood tissue healthy during a cleanse.
Red Blood Cells and Healthy Hemoglobin Levels
About 55% of our blood is made up of plasma, a clear straw colored fluid that carries blood-clotting platelets. Blood contains another crucial component called erythrocytes, or red blood cells, that are rich in hemoglobin, a protein that binds to oxygen. This distinguishing feature of red blood cells makes them highly valuable for delivering life-sustaining oxygen to tissues. Several supplements contribute to healthy red blood cells including these five:
- Iron—Integral part of hemoglobin production and the oxygenation of red blood cells.
- Folic acid—Needed for red blood cell formation
- Vitamin B Complexes—Needed for red blood cell formation
- Brewer’s Yeast—Food source of vitamin B complex
- Vitamin E—Prolongs life of red blood cells.
A Word About Iron
- Absorption—Sugar is vilified yet again; nevertheless, it does interfere with iron absorption from food and supplements. Completely avoiding sugar enables the body to better absorb this important mineral for healthy red blood. Eating heme sources of iron like fish along with non-heme, but iron-rich, vegetables like spinach and other leafy greens increases the bioavailability of their iron to your body. Also vitamin C may up the bioavailability of iron by as much as 30%.
- Build-up—Because iron is stored in the body, excessive iron intake can result in the production of free radicals and increases the need for the antioxidant vitamin E. Do not supplement with iron unless a blood test reveals that you are deficient in this important mineral.
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