I have worked with many women suffering from painful periods. The stabbing pain (hypochondrial, abdominal, etc) felt either before, during, or after is a clear indication of Blood stagnation. This can be verified by noting the addition of a couple of the following symptoms: dark-colored menstrual Blood, dark-clotted Blood, purple nails, purple lips, purple tongue, dark sublingual veins, and a wiry, choppy pulse.

In TCM to alleviate the pain, we would use herbs to move Blood along w/other herbs in an appropriate formula. (Please consult a qualified herbalist).

One food that has an affinity for the uterus and moves Blood is eggplant.

TCM

Taste: Sweet
Temperature: Slightly cold
Direction: Downward
Organs: Large Intestine, Stomach, Spleen

Moves Blood, relieves pain, clears Heat, cools Blood, reduces swelling, activates Qi and Blood in the Lower Burner

Nutrition Note:

Vitamin C, niacin, calcium, phosphorus, alkaloids
Contains vitamin P which can prevent hardening of Blood vessels
Contains solanine in its skin which is a calcium inhibitor and may also aggravate arthritis

How to enjoy: steam, roast, grill, stew, make dip, juice or wine infusion

Benefits Uses:

🍆Abdominal pain

🍆Stomatitis: bake peel from fresh eggplant until v dark on outside but inside intact; mix w/honey chew like gum

🍆 Promotes urination: dehydrate and grind into a powder ¼ tsp

🍆 Painful urination

🍆 Blood in urine

🍆 Snakebites

🍆 Bee stings - use raw, slice open rub on the affected area

🍆 Diarrhea

🍆 Treats dysentery

🍆 Assists bowel motions

🍆 Hypertension

🍆 Skin ulcers

🍆 Skin eruptions: dehydrate and grind into a powder, mix w/sesame oil for external application

🍆 Canker sores

🍆 Toothache

🍆 Chronic cough: boil white eggplant in water and drink the soup w/honey

🍆 Mastitis

🍆 Carbuncles

🍆 Jaundice-type hepatitis: eat with rice for several days

🍆 Bloody stools due to Heat in Blood: steamed eggplant

🍆 Bloody stools due to Hemorrhoids: eggplant leaves boiled in water, drink water

🍆 Bloody stools due to Intestinal Wind: eggplant wine = toasted eggplants soaked in wine

🍆 Bleeding Hemorrhoids or difficult stools: steamed eggplant

🍆 Treating corns (clavus): raw juice topically

🍆 PID, ovarian cysts, dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, uterine myomas

🍆 Chronic venereal infections

Special notes:

Due to its cold energy it stops Bleeding as well, it is therefore considered obstructive to some extent.
Overconsumption may harm the uterus because it moves Qi and Blood without tonification
Please avoid if you are sensitive to nightshades
Avoid in cold patterns

Simple Baba Ganoush recipe

1 medium eggplant
¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup tahini
Clove or 2 of garlic - crushed and minced
1 Tbs olive oil
¼ cup fresh parsley
Turn the oven to 400 F.
Make several piercings with a knife and place in a shallow baking dish.
Tent with foil for about 45 minutes until tender.
Peel and discard skin taking care not to burn yourself.
Put the eggplant in a food processor to puree.
Add in the lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, and parsley to just blend.
Place in a dish to serve. I like this at room temperature.

Other ingredients: tahini is cool (roasted seeds are warmer) and nourishes Blood, parsley is warm and stimulates digestion, lemon is cold and expels Heat, olive oil is cooling and moistening.

I eat a LOT of leafy greens, so it’s a good thing I love them. Dark leafy greens are rich in chlorophyll and not only contain iron but other components that assist in the absorption and utilization of iron and the manufacture of Blood (Maclean).

One of my favorites is beet greens.

Some important nutrients in beet greens per 3 oz serving include calcium 117 mg, iron 2.7mg, magnesium 70 mg, phosphorus 41mg, potassium 762 mg, zinc .38 mg, copper .191 mg, manganese .391 mg, selenium .9 mg, vitamin C 30 mg, beta carotene 3790 ug. Not too shabby, considering all this is packed in about 22 calories.

See the complete nutrient profile here https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/170375/nutrients

I often recommend eating at least a couple of servings of dark leafy greens per day to my clients, especially women. Women are at higher risk of becoming Blood deficient due to monthly Blood loss and if she has given birth. Vegans and vegetarians are also at risk regardless of gender.

From a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) standpoint, generally speaking, if someone is Blood deficient there is a good chance there will also be some Spleen Qi deficiency and vice versa. One of the important jobs of the Spleen is transforming (and transporting) foods and drinks into Blood and nutrients for the entire body. When weakened or deficient it is difficult for Spleen Qi to process certain foods and in these cases, I recommend eating all cooked foods vs. cold and raw foods such as salads.

Today’s greens include beet, curly kale, and spinach (I could only fit ½ the amount in the pan until they wilt down a bit). I turn the heat on high and add a tiny bit of water (the greens are already wet due to rinsing to clean them). Add the greens and turn them with a tong as they wilt down. Takes less than 2 minutes. I sometimes add Celtic sea salt and nutritional yeast to flavor.

Rishi loves kale stems.