🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Blood Nourishing Formulas
Blood is one of the most precious substances in the human body, nourishing internal organs and externally moistening skin, hair, tendons, and bones, maintaining normal function of all organs and tissues, enabling clear vision, steady walking, firm grip, precise finger movement, clear mind, and abundant energy—all functions of blood. If blood deficiency occurs, leading to inadequate nourishment, symptoms include dull complexion, weakened eyesight, blurred vision, dry eyes, stiff joints, numb limbs, dry skin, itching, mental abnormalities, headache, dizziness, palpitations, insomnia, and frequent dreams. Therefore, blood nourishment must be emphasized.
Blood-nourishing methods apply to those with blood deficiency. Not suitable for non-deficient individuals. Blood deficiency refers to insufficient blood supply, often manifesting as generalized blood insufficiency or weakened nourishment to specific body parts. Clinical signs include pale complexion without luster, pale lips, dizziness, blurred vision, pale tongue, fine weak pulse, reduced menstrual flow, delayed periods, even amenorrhea.
[Formula One]
Milk 250 grams, glutinous rice 100 grams, sugar as needed. Wash glutinous rice, place in pot, add water, cook until half-done, then add milk, continue cooking until porridge forms, sweeten with sugar before eating.
This formula greatly nourishes yin and blood. Suitable for weakness, exhaustion, and emaciation.
Recorded in "Dietary Guide for Disease Adjustment" and "Compendium of Materia Medica," originally used for "greatly nourishing yin and blood," especially suitable for the elderly, commonly used for deficiency conditions. Long-term neglect or chronic illness may lead to organ damage and depletion of yin and blood, resulting in deficiency syndrome requiring strong nourishment of yin and blood. The formula uses milk—a substance of animal origin—as main ingredient, highly effective in nourishing yin and blood, repairing deficiency; glutinous rice serves as auxiliary, strengthening spleen to support milk’s effect. Combined, they form a powerful formula for nourishing yin and blood. This formula has strong tonic power, particularly suitable for severe deficiency cases.
Due to its moistening nature, it is not recommended for those with spleen-stomach coldness, diarrhea, or phlegm-dampness.
[Formula Two]
Fresh cuttlefish meat 250 grams, peach kernel 15 grams, yellow wine, soy sauce, sugar as needed. Wash cuttlefish meat, cut into strips. Wash peach kernels, remove skins. Place cuttlefish meat in pot, add peach kernels and water, bring to boil over high heat, then add yellow wine, soy sauce, sugar, reduce heat and simmer until tender.
This formula nourishes blood and regulates menstruation. Suitable for blood deficiency causing amenorrhea.
Recorded in "Lu Chuan Ben Cao," originally used for "female amenorrhea," a representative formula for treating blood deficiency-related amenorrhea. Blood deficiency fails to nourish Chong and Ren meridians, leading to empty blood sea and amenorrhea. The formula uses cuttlefish meat (a substance of animal origin) as main ingredient, highly effective in nourishing blood and regulating menstruation; peach kernel as auxiliary, activates blood and regulates menstruation. Together, one nourishes blood to regulate menstruation, the other activates blood to regulate menstruation, with emphasis on nourishing blood. Thus, it applies to amenorrhea due to blood deficiency with blood stasis or pure blood deficiency.
In "Tang Yao Experience Formula," removing cuttlefish and adding lotus root improves blood-activating and menstruation-regulating effects, originally used for "postpartum blood stagnation."
Pregnant women should avoid this formula.
[Formula Three]
Fresh mulberry fruit 1000 grams, glutinous rice 500 grams. Wash fresh mulberries, crush into juice (or use 300 grams dried mulberries to extract juice after decoction), combine juice with glutinous rice, cook into dry rice, cool down, add yeast appropriately, mix and ferment into rice wine.
Eat daily as side dish. Suitable for liver-kidney yin deficiency, thirst, constipation, tinnitus, dim vision, lymph node swelling, joint stiffness, etc. Mulberries have strong blood-nourishing and yin-supplementing effects; combined with glutinous rice to strengthen middle energizer and enhance efficacy.
[Formula Four]
Lamb milk 250 grams, lamb fat 60 grams. Place lamb milk and lamb fat in pot, cook into porridge.
This formula strengthens physical weakness and nourishes essence and blood. Suitable for weakness and emaciation.
Recorded in "Food Therapy Canon," originally used for "tonifying kidney deficiency, also treats stroke," a formula for strengthening physical weakness and nourishing essence and blood. Chronic illness leads to organ depletion and deficiency of essence and blood, resulting in weakness and emaciation. Treatment involves strengthening physical weakness and nourishing essence and blood. The formula uses lamb milk as main ingredient, strengthens weakness and nourishes essence and blood; lamb fat as auxiliary, nourishes deficiency and moistens dryness to assist lamb milk's nourishing effect. Combined, they form a formula for strengthening physical weakness and nourishing essence and blood. This formula has strong nourishing and moistening effects, especially suitable for weakness and emaciation with dry, withered skin.
Due to its warm and moist nature, not suitable for those with unresolved external pathogenic factors or internal fire-phlegm excess.
[Formula Five]
Pork tenderloin 50 grams, glutinous rice 50 grams, Sichuan pepper, salt, fennel, sesame oil as needed. Wash tenderloin, mince into fine pieces, mix with salt, Sichuan pepper, fennel, sesame oil, set aside. Cook glutinous rice into porridge, add above ingredients when nearly done, continue cooking until meat is tender and rice is soft. Consume twice daily.
Pork tenderloin is lean meat from the back of pig, less connective tissue, tender and delicate, free from fishy odor, excellent for cooking. Contains about 20% protein, rich in B-complex vitamins and iron, with fat content around 8%
According to ancient Chinese medical texts, pork is sweet and salty, neutral in nature, with nourishing yin and moistening dryness effects. "Compendium of Medical Essentials" states: "Pork has a pleasant taste, nourishes intestines and stomach, generates body fluids, fills the body, and moisturizes skin." "Sui Xi Ju Food Spectrum" says: "Nourishes kidney fluid, replenishes gastric juice, nourishes liver and kidneys, moisturizes skin."
The formula uses pork tenderloin to nourish blood and moisten skin; glutinous rice strengthens spleen and boosts qi; Sichuan pepper and fennel serve both as flavor enhancers and warming agents to supplement deficiency. Overall, the formula nourishes yin and blood, strengthens middle energizer, regular use promotes smooth, lustrous skin.
Not suitable for those with internal dampness-phlegm accumulation.
[Formula Six]
Fresh oyster 250 grams. Wash clean, marinate in yellow wine, salt, scallion, and ginger for half an hour, remove, grill over fire until cooked. Eat as side dish.
Oysters have long been recognized for their health benefits. Ming Dynasty's "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: "Oyster has sweet, warm taste, non-toxic. Cooking and eating treats deficiency, harmonizes middle energizer... Roasted oyster is very delicious, makes skin fine and complexion beautiful." Ancient Japanese texts also state: "Sweet and warm, non-toxic, clears internal heat in spleen and stomach, stops sweating, quenches thirst, relieves alcohol intoxication, nourishes yin and blood, long-term consumption keeps skin delicate."
The beauty-enhancing effect of oysters comes from proteins, carbohydrates, unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, and trace elements such as zinc, copper, iodine, selenium. These nutrients not only strengthen the body but also benefit skin health.
Although oysters are nutritionally rich, people far from coastal areas rarely get to eat them. To allow more people to benefit, scientists from China and Japan jointly developed "Oyster Extract." This product uses advanced processing techniques to extract active components from oysters, preserving their nutrients and enhancing absorption by the human body.
[Formula Seven]
Pork skin 500 grams, yellow wine, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, salt as needed. Remove hair from pork skin, wash clean, cut into strips, place in pot, add water, scallion, ginger, yellow wine, simmer over low heat until skin is nearly cooked, add salt and soy sauce, continue until skin is tender and broth thickens. Remove from pot, refrigerate for later use. Serve as side dish.
Pork skin is sweet in taste, cold in nature, nourishes yin and clears heat. Traditionally used for hoarseness caused by heat in the Shaoyin kidney channel. Recently widely used for skin moisturizing and beautification.
After prolonged boiling, collagen in pork skin hydrolyzes into gelatin, a type of animal protein similar in structure to human skin collagen. With low molecular weight, it is easily absorbed by the body, helping increase skin elasticity and delay aging. Long-term continuous use is required for noticeable moisturizing effects.
Various institutions have extracted hydrolyzed protein from pork skin to develop skincare products. Skin tests show no irritation or side effects, easily absorbed, moisturizing, significantly relieving itching; promotes wound healing and repair, reduces pigmentation, making skin smooth, fair, delicate, elastic, and reducing wrinkles.
[Formula Eight]
Large pig trotter 1 piece, pine nut kernels 30 grams, walnut kernels 30 grams. Remove hair from pig trotter, boil until half-cooked, remove bone, take out skin, fill inner part with walnut kernels, pine nut kernels, and leftover meat fibers, roll tightly, tie securely with thread, then boil until completely tender. Cool, slice, serve as dish.
According to ancient records, all three ingredients in this formula have lubricating effects on the skin. Pig trotter nourishes blood and yin, "moistens skin by nourishing gastric fluid" (Sui Xi Ju Food Spectrum); walnut kernels tonify liver and kidney, beautify skin, "regular consumption makes flesh and skin fine and smooth" (Food Therapy Canon); pine nut kernels moisten lungs and nourish body fluids, "moistens skin, enriches five viscera" (Ri Hua Zi Ben Cao). Combined, they achieve nourishing and moisturizing effects.
The beauty benefits stem directly from the nutritional components of the ingredients. Collagen in pig trotter is an excellent ingredient for beauty and health; walnuts and pine nuts are nuts rich in fats and proteins, with fat content exceeding 40%, mainly consisting of essential fatty acids. These play multiple physiological roles in the body; deficiency can impair cell membrane function, potentially causing eczema in infants and various skin disorders in adults. Additionally, vitamin E in walnuts and pine nuts delays cellular aging and reduces skin pigmentation.
Not suitable for those with hyperlipidemia, obesity, or loose stools.
[Formula Nine]
Lotus root as needed, glutinous rice 2 liang (about 100 grams), a little rock sugar. Wash lotus root, slice thinly, cook with glutinous rice and rock sugar in a clay pot into thin porridge. This formula strengthens spleen, stimulates appetite, nourishes blood, stops diarrhea. Suitable for poor appetite, loose stools, dry mouth and irritability after febrile illness.
[Formula Ten]
Dried red dates 50 grams, peanuts 100 grams, rock sugar 50 grams. Wash and soak dates until soft. Lightly boil peanuts, remove skins. Place soaked dates and peanut skins in the water used to boil peanuts, add cold water as needed, simmer gently for half an hour. Remove peanut skins, add rock sugar, dissolve, reduce to syrup, consume as snack.
This formula strengthens qi and nourishes blood, suitable for blood deficiency syndrome.
[Formula Eleven]
One clean hen (about 1250 grams), longan flesh 15 grams, lychee flesh 15 grams, black jujube 15 grams, lotus seed flesh 15 grams, goji berries 15 grams, rock sugar 30 grams, seasonings as needed. Place hen belly-up in large bowl, surround with longan, lychee, black jujube, lotus seed, goji berries, add rock sugar, salt, cooking wine, scallion, ginger, sufficient water, steam for 2 hours. Season, sprinkle with pepper powder.
This formula nourishes blood and yin, enriches essence and brightens eyes. Suitable for post-illness or postpartum qi and blood deficiency, pale complexion, emaciation, etc.
[Formula Twelve]
Lotus root powder, glutinous rice powder, sugar each 250 grams. Mix lotus root powder, glutinous rice powder, and sugar in a bowl, add boiling water, knead into dough, steam in steamer until cooked.
This formula strengthens deficiency, aids digestion, nourishes blood, stops bleeding. Suitable for weakness, poor appetite, hematemesis, melena.
Recorded in "Supplement to Compendium of Materia Medica," a formula for treating deficiency and bleeding. Weak constitution and poor stomach function cause blood to deviate from normal channels, leading to poor appetite and bleeding. Treatment involves strengthening deficiency, aiding digestion, nourishing blood, and stopping bleeding. The formula uses lotus root powder as main ingredient, strengthens deficiency and opens appetite, nourishes blood and stops bleeding; glutinous rice powder and sugar as auxiliaries, glutinous rice powder strengthens spleen and stomach, sugar nourishes deficiency and moistens dryness. Combined, they form a formula for strengthening deficiency, aiding digestion, nourishing blood, and stopping bleeding. Since glutinous rice is used as powder, its sticky quality is greatly reduced, especially suitable for elderly weak individuals.
Not suitable for those with internal heat-phlegm accumulation.
[Formula Thirteen]
Two mother pig trotters, trachelospermum 6 grams, yellow wine, salt, scallion, ginger as needed. Scrape hair from pig trotters, wash clean. Place trachelospermum in a muslin bag. Put pig trotters in pot, add water, trachelospermum, yellow wine, scallion, ginger, simmer over low heat until eight-tenths cooked, remove trotters, remove bones. Filter original broth, remove residue, add trotters and salt, simmer until tender.
This formula nourishes blood and promotes lactation. Suitable for insufficient milk after childbirth.
Recorded in "Mei Shi Ji Yan Fang" and "Sui Xi Ju Food Spectrum," named "Later Supplement," originally used for "early stage of breast abscess or back carbuncle with slight redness," "lactation deficiency in women, mastitis, early stage of back carbuncle," a representative formula for treating postpartum insufficient milk. Postpartum blood deficiency leads to inadequate milk production. Treatment involves nourishing blood and promoting lactation. The formula uses pig trotters as main ingredient—substance of animal origin—highly effective in nourishing blood and replenishing milk; trachelospermum as auxiliary, unblocks meridians and promotes milk discharge. Combined, one nourishes, one promotes, nourishing while promoting, well-matched, forming a formula for nourishing blood and promoting lactation. Additionally, this formula has pus-drawing effect, thus also applicable to mastitis and back carbuncles.
[Formula Fourteen]
Pig trotter 1 piece, scallion 2 stalks, yellow wine, salt as needed. Remove hair, wash clean. Cut along toe seams into two halves, place in pot, add water, bring to boil over high heat, skim off foam, add scallion, yellow wine, salt, simmer until tender.
This formula nourishes blood and draws out toxins. Suitable for swollen sores on limbs, painful ulcers, non-healing wounds.
Recorded in "Zhou Hou Bei Ji Fang." Named "Later Supplement," originally used for "toxin attacking hands and feet, pain threatening to sever," a formula for nourishing blood and drawing out toxins. Blood deficiency cannot expel toxins outward, leading to sores, pain, or non-healing wounds. Treatment involves nourishing blood and drawing out toxins. The formula uses pig trotter as main ingredient, supplements blood vessels, draws out toxin, promotes muscle growth; scallion as auxiliary, unblocks yang and detoxifies to aid toxin expulsion. Combined, they form a formula for nourishing blood and drawing out toxins. This formula is especially suitable for sores due to blood deficiency and toxin entrapment. It also nourishes blood, useful for insufficient milk after childbirth.
Not suitable for those with heat-toxin sores.
[Formula Fifteen]
Peanuts 200 grams, pig front trotter 1 piece, yellow wine, scallion, ginger, salt as needed. Remove hair from trotter, wash clean, cut into two pieces, place in pot, add peanuts, water, yellow wine, scallion, ginger, bring to boil over high heat, switch to low heat and simmer until tender. Add salt and simmer briefly.
This formula nourishes blood and promotes lactation. Suitable for insufficient milk after childbirth and general blood deficiency conditions.
Recorded in "Lu Chuan Ben Cao," named "Later Supplement," originally used for "low milk supply," a common formula for treating blood deficiency-related insufficient milk. Insufficient blood fails to generate milk, leading to low milk supply. Treatment involves nourishing blood and promoting lactation. The formula uses peanuts as main ingredient, nourishes blood and increases milk; pig trotter as auxiliary—substance of animal origin—highly effective in supplementing blood vessels and promoting milk flow. Combined, they enhance blood-nourishing and lactation-promoting effects. This formula nourishes and replenishes blood, thus also applicable to general blood deficiency conditions.
Additionally, "Qian Jin Fang" recommends simply stewing pig trotter to treat "no milk."
Can be used for anemia, leukopenia.
Due to its nourishing and greasy nature, not suitable for those with heavy phlegm-dampness.
[Formula Sixteen]
Pig pancreas 1 piece, dried seaweed 150 grams, cooking wine, salt, white pepper powder, ginger slices, meat broth as needed. Wash pig pancreas, blanch briefly in boiling water, remove, slice. Soak dried seaweed (dry product), wash clean, then boil in pot with water until boiling, remove, wash again, return to pot with pig pancreas, cooking wine, salt, white pepper powder, ginger slices, meat broth, simmer until meat is tender. Serve in soup bowl.
Pig pancreas is sweet in taste, neutral in nature, nourishes lung and spleen, moistens dryness. Treats lung injury, cough, hemoptysis, pulmonary distension with shortness of breath, spleen deficiency diarrhea, blocked lactation, diabetes, etc. Dried seaweed is salty and warm, nourishes liver and kidney, enriches essence and blood, eliminates goiter. "Ri Hua Zi Ben Cao" says: "Cooked and eaten, nourishes five viscera, enhances sexual function." "De Pei Ben Cao" records it treats: "Postpartum emaciation, eating makes body fatter." Using pig pancreas with dried seaweed is suitable for patients with liver-kidney deficiency, dual deficiency of lung and spleen, hypertension, weakness, impotence, cough, asthma, diabetes, etc.
[Formula Seventeen]
Jinhua ham 2000 grams, pork rib meat 3000 grams, baijiu 1000 grams, light soy sauce 200 grams, sugar 100 grams, fennel 10 grams, Sichuan pepper 20 grains. Burn the skin side of ham over open flame until slightly charred, soak in warm water, scrape off grease and scorched marks. Boil in pot until cooked, keep skin, cut into small cubes. Cut pork rib meat into cubes, blanch briefly, then combine with Jinhua ham in clay pot, simmer with meat broth, add baijiu, light soy sauce, fennel, Sichuan pepper, sugar, simmer over low heat until meat is tender.
Delicious aroma, popularly known as "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall."
Jinhua ham is warm in nature, salty in taste, nourishes spleen and stimulates appetite, nourishes kidney and generates body fluids, strengthens qi and blood, enriches essence and marrow.
[Formula Eighteen]
Pork belly with skin 500 grams, rice 70 grams, sweet potato 200 grams, amaranth 200 grams. Rock sugar 60 grams, salt 15 grams, ginger paste 10 grams, fermented rice wine juice 10 grams, Sichuan bean paste 10 grams, sweet bean sauce 20 grams, Sichuan pepper husks as needed. First, clean pork, slice into 6 cm thin pieces, peel sweet potato, cut into dice. Cook rice and flower pollen in pot over low heat until fragrant, turn golden brown, remove, grind into coarse powder. Wash amaranth, cut into 3 cm sections, set aside. Place sliced pork in ceramic bowl, add 7 grams salt, ginger paste, fermented rice wine juice, appropriate amount of bean paste, 10 grams sweet bean sauce, dissolve rock sugar in water, mix all with pork, marinate briefly, then mix with rice powder. Mix amaranth and sweet potato separately with rice powder, sweet bean sauce, and salt. Place prepared amaranth and sweet potato in large ceramic container, put mixed rice pork on top, add water to pot, place container in steamer, steam until soft, then serve. Golden color, flavor combining salty, sweet, spicy, and aromatic.
Strengthens qi, generates body fluids, nourishes middle energizer and blood, strengthens spleen and stimulates appetite. Sweet potato also has laxative effect. According to "Sui Xi Ju Food Spectrum," sweet potato can prevent motion sickness and seasickness.
[Formula Nineteen]
Pork elbow 1000 grams. Red dates 50 grams. Good soy sauce 20 grams, vinegar 10 grams, scallion, ginger, garlic, beer, starch as needed. Process pork elbow as usual, wash red dates. Mix soy sauce, vinegar, scallion, ginger, garlic in bowl, add starch and beer, stir evenly. Place a few pieces of pork bones at bottom of clay pot, add 1000 grams water, place pork elbow, bring to boil, skim off foam, add red dates and prepared sauce, simmer slowly over low heat until tender and sauce becomes thick.
Strengthens spleen and stomach, nourishes yin and blood. Especially suitable for spleen-stomach weakness, yin-blood deficiency. Can assist in treating thrombocytopenia and enhance resistance in healthy individuals.
[Formula Twenty]
Pig blood 500 grams, ginger 5 grams, cooking oil 30 grams, cooking wine 3 grams, seasoning to taste, salt as needed. Cut pig blood into large chunks, blanch briefly in boiling water, remove, drain moisture, cut into small pieces. Wash ginger, slice. Heat oil in pan until 70% hot, add pig blood, cooking wine, ginger, salt, stir-fry, serve with monosodium glutamate.
Nourishes qi and blood, suitable for and assisting in treating dizziness, abdominal distension, intestinal discomfort with worms, cervical erosion, and persistent vaginal discharge.
[Formula Twenty-One]
Mutton 250 grams, ginger 60 grams, angelica 15 grams, 1 spoon cooking wine, clear broth, scallion, salt as needed. Cut mutton into slices, stir-fry with vegetable oil, add about 1000 ml clear broth, add angelica, ginger, cooking wine, salt, simmer until mutton is tender. Consume by eating meat and drinking broth. Take lightly to induce sweat, avoid wind exposure for 2–4 hours after eating.
Warm the center, nourish blood, relieve pain. Suitable for abdominal cold pain due to blood deficiency and qi coldness, aversion to cold, cold extremities, loose stools, as well as dysmenorrhea and menstrual abdominal pain due to cold-damp stagnation, scanty dark-colored menstruation.
<Blood Nourishing>