Anemia is a condition in which the blood is deficient in the body. This deficiency of blood is caused due to the deficiency of iron which is an essential component of the protein complex, hemoglobin, present in the blood.

Anemia is caused as Pandu roga in Ayurveda. It is linked with the paachaka sub-dosha of the pitta. Paachaka is responsible for the proper assimilation of the digested food. If this does not happen, then the minerals in the foods – especially iron – do not pass out into the blood properly. As a result, the quality of the blood deteriorates. This leads to anemia.

There are many factors that can cause the condition of anemia in the body. Hemorrhoids or piles are an important factor. Due to this condition, there is continuous blood loss from the body. The same happens when the body has ulcers or cancers. During puberty, girls may suffer anemia. Anemia can also be caused after some major injury or a surgery in which there was major loss of blood. Hemolysis can also cause anemia. This is a condition in which there is a deterioration of red blood corpuscles.

(1) Useful Herbs in the Treatment of Anemia

1. Ash Gourd (Benincasa hipsida)

Ash gourd can prevent the risk of anemia by checking the amount of blood lost from the lungs, nose and if there are piles. Ash gourd is also effective in controlling hematuria, which is a condition in which there are blood cells in the urine.

2. Celery (Apium graveolens)

Celery has a high quantity of iron and magnesium content. Iron is a component of heme, which is necessary for the production of hemoglobin in the blood. Thus a diet rich in celery helps to increase the amount of blood in the body.

3. Chicory (Chichorium intybus)

Chicory is an effective tonic for the blood. If taken with celery and parsley, it shows excellent results. These three can be had as a salad by people suffering from anemia.

4. Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum)

Known as methi, the bitter-tasting fenugreek is an important component of the Indian cuisine. Its leaves are helpful in building the volume of blood in the body. It is especially effective in girls who are suffering from anemic conditions due to the onset of puberty.

5. Onion (Allium cepa)

Onion has rich iron content. The advantage of the iron composition of onion is that it can be easily assimilated in the blood. Hence onion is the most effective remedy for anemia.

6. Wormwood (Artemisia absinthum)

Wormwood is another herb that is rich in iron. Hence it is regularly used in the treatment of anemia.

(2) Dietary Treatments for Anemia

1. A healthy diet, rich in iron, must be consumed. Whole grain cereals, legumes and pulses are good sources of iron. Nuts and dry dates also contain iron. Among the meats, organs such as kidney and liver contain iron in them.

2. Anemia that is caused due to deficiency of vitamins can be avoided by a proper intake of vitamins in the diet. The food must be properly balanced and contain the proper amount of nutrients. Consult a diet chart for better guidance.

3. In order to prevent anemia conditions that are linked with pregnancy, women can take multivitamin pills and other nutritional supplements at the advice of the doctor.

4. Anemia caused by vitamin deficiency can be aggravated by smoking. Smoking interferes in the proper absorption of several vitamins in the body. Hence these vitamins – especially folate and vitamin C which are water soluble – are flushed out of the body without getting assimilated.

5. Apples are very good for anemia as they have high iron content. They should be eaten regularly; preferably after every meal.

6. Beetroot is also a very good source of iron. Apart from iron it contains various other minerals that are protective in function to the body.

7. Figs must be eaten regularly, at the rate of three to four per day.

8. Organ meats like kidney and liver must be included in the diet.

9. Citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, etc. must be eaten in excess. They should be eaten at regular intervals and not all at once.

(3) Ayurvedic Treatment for Anemia

One of the best Ayurvedic therapies for the treatment of pitta is purgation therapy. Constipation needs to be corrected before the treatment of anemia can begin. Punarnava mandura may be prescribed. This not only increases the amount of blood, but it also acts as a laxative. Triphala is also commonly prescribed.

(4) Home Medications

1. Cold water bath is known to have beneficial effects in anemia. A person with anemia must have at least two cold water baths a day.

2. Flushing out the bodily toxins is necessary. This can be achieved by massages from professionals.

3. For about ten minutes every day, the anemic person must breathe deeply.

4. Anemic people must not lead a lazy lifestyle even though anemia tends to make people lethargic. They must indulge in light exercises to keep the circulation healthy.

5. Yoga has positive effects in anemia. The preferable asanas are paschimottasana and shavasana. These bring the body into a relaxed state of equilibrium and facilitate circulation of blood.

What is Iron Deficiency Anemia?

Iron deficiency is not rare, yet often remains “hidden” from diagnosis due to its vague symptoms, which are often falsely attributed. Iron deficiency anemia is a serious condition which affects many parts of the body, and is caused by a lack of red blood cells (”anemia” literally means “without blood”). Anemia’s symptoms are often mistaken for the symptoms of other conditions. For example, people with arthritis sometimes suffer from headaches and irritability. These are common anemia symptoms, yet are often instead attributed to side effects from medication, or arthritis pain. Diabetes and Cancer are also diseases that can mask the symptoms of iron deficiency anemia. However, the successful natrual treatment of anemia(http://www.mitamins.com/disease/Anemia.html) can relieve such symptoms as dizziness, palpitations, nervousness, headaches, and depression.

What are the symptoms?

People who are deficient in iron may experience symptoms long before they become anemic. Iron is needed to make optimal amounts of APT, which is the energy source that the body runs on. Therefore, fatigue is often experienced in iron deficient people, even if they are not anemic. Symptoms of anemia itself are fatigue, lethargy, weakness, poor concentration, and impaired immune function. Another symptom (called Pica) is the desire of the sufferer to eat unusual things, such as clay, ice, cardboard, paint, or starch. Advanced anemia may also result in light-headedness, headaches, ringing in the ears (tinnitus) irritability, pale skin, restless leg syndrome, and getting winded easily.

Treatment of Iron Deficiency Anemia(http://www.mitamins.com/disease/Anemia.html)

Iron deficiency anemia can be prevented or treated with natural dietary and lifestyle changes. To begin with, stop smoking! Choose fresh, in-season fruits and vegetables and cook in a traditional iron pot, which can supplement the iron in your food. Walking for 10 minutes each morning can give your metabolism a lift and help iron to be available in the body.

Natural plants and herbs such as tumeric, chives, and dandelion can help to treat iron deficiency anemia. Also, green vegetables and oily fish such as salmon and mackerel can prevent iron deficiency anemia(http://www.mitamins.com/disease/Anemia.html). The most reliable way, however, to get iron in your blood is by taking a multi-vitamin. A custom-made supplement will address your specific health concerns while a medicine interaction checker will prevent overdose.

Dietary Changes that May be Helpful

In addition to the dietary changes which can ensure adequate iron in the blood, diet can be supplemented in other ways in order to prevent or treat iton deficiency. Although lack of iron in the diet is usually not the sole cause of anemia, ensuring adequate iron in the diet is important. The most absorbable form of iron, called “heme” iron, is found in meat, poultry, and fish. Non-heme iron is also found in these foods, as well as in dried fruit, molasses, leafy green vegetables, wine, and most iron supplements. Acidic foods (such as tomato sauce) cooked in an iron pan can leech iron into the food and thus also be a source of dietary iron.

Anemia is a blood disorder that is created when your blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells. These cells are the main transporters of oxygen to organs. If red blood cells are also deficient in hemoglobin, then your body is not getting enough iron.

Anemia is usually detected or at least confirmed by a complete blood cell (CBC) count. It is the common blood disorder. There are several kinds of anemia, produced by a variety of underlying causes. Anemia can be classified in a variety of ways, based on the morphology of RBCs. It is found in the person when the number of red blood cells in your blood is low. For this reason, doctors sometimes describe anemia as having a low blood count

Symptoms of anemia:



feeling of restless fastly and loss of energy.

fatigue — occur because organs aren’t getting enough oxygen

Unusually rapid heart beat, particularly with exercise

Shortness of breath and headache in exercise also

Difficulty in concentrating on something



Types & causes of Anemia

1) Macrocytic anemia:Macrocytic anemia can be further divided into “megaloblastic anemia” or “non-megaloblastic macrocytic anemia”. The cause of megaloblastic anemia is primarily a failure of DNA synthesis with preserved RNA synthesis, which result in restricted cell division of the progenitor cells.

2)Microcytic anemia: Microcytic anemia caused due to hemoglobin synthesis failure or insufficiency .Iron deficiency anemia is the common type of anemia so it has many causes. RBCs often appear hypochromic (paler than usual) and microcytic (smaller than usual) when viewed with a microscope

3)Normocytic anemia :Normocytic anaemia causes when the overall Hb levels are decreased, but the red blood cell size (MCV) remains normal. Causes include:



Accurate blood loss

Anemia of chronic disease

Bone marrow failure Aplastic anemia



4)Heinz body anemia: Heinz bodies are an abnormality that forms on the cells in this condition. This form of anemia may be brought on by taking certain medications; it is also triggered in cats by eating onions or acetaminophen (Tylenol). It can be triggered in dogs by ingesting onions or zinc and in horses by ingesting dry Red Maple leaves.

5) Dimorphic anemia : When two causes of anemia act simultaneously, e.g., macrocytic hypochromic due to hookworminfestation leading to deficiency of both iron and vitamin B12or folic acid or following a blood transfusion more than one abnormality of red cell indices may be seen Hemolytic anemia

There are more than 400 types of anemia found in the medical science, which are divided into 3 groups:



Anemia caused by blood loss

Anemia caused by decreased or faulty red blood cell production

Anemia caused by destruction of red blood cells



Treatments of Anemia

To over come the problem of anemia,

1)A proper diet including green vegetables is must

2)Consult with doctor or physician to diagnose the type of anemia and treatment options

3)Take proper nourishments, vitamins and nutritional supplements – Iron, B12 or folic acid

4)infections treatment , inflammations or malignancies

5)Blood transfusions provides red blood cell transfusions for bleeding and/or severe chronic anemias can save the life of a person.

6)Red cell transfusions are the old mainstay, which offers the quickest relief for anemias provided proper consultation should be taken as several risks are associated with transfusion.

A successful treatment of anemia is to identify and treating the above cause: blood loss, a nutritional deficiency, cancer, bone marrow infiltration, chronic illness, inflammation, or decreased response to erythropoietin. Laboratory test results and a physical examination, a physician can determine the cause of you.

Quick effective cure for anemia with natural food

Blood is the fluid tissue of body, responsible for the very existence of life. Blood is life. Blood travels throughout the body through blood vessels called arteries, capillaries and veins, taking with it essential nutrients, oxygen, minerals, hormones and vitamins essential for the healthy survival of bodily cells. Blood also removes the carbon dioxide and other cellular wastes from the cells to the lungs and kidneys, where the wastes are released through exhalation air or urine.

Red blood cells (henceforth RBC) have a special component called hemoglobin that helps in oxygen exchange. Anemia is the condition characterized by lower than normal levels of RBC in blood. Anemia can be caused due to loss of blood due to external or internal bleeding, destruction of RBC or slow production of RBC in body. Production of RBC can lower with Vitamin B12 deficiency and folic acid deficiency. Deficiency of vitamin B12 also affects protein synthesis in body. One particularly difficult condition is anemia during pregnancy.

Body tries to restore the amount of blood. But the body produces only an excess amount of blood plasma. This plasma doesn’t have enough RBC. In anemic cases, the body needs to be prepared for the production of RBC. Natural food practices are the best way to restore RBC count in blood.

Natural food items for iron deficient anemia control – organic milk, pomegranate, sesame seeds, black grape fruit and ghee. One can use triphala as a mild laxative. Other Ayurvedic herbs for quick rebuild include Asparagus racemosus, saffron and punarnava can offer quick cure to anemia.

Ayurveda suggests taking beef liver as a medicine for anemia. Also use mutton liver, red meat and bone soup can also help rebuild RBC. However Ayurveda doesn’t approve the use of red meat as daily food.

Leafy vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, turnip greens, spinach, collards), legumes (beans, green peas, peas), walnuts, cashew nuts, raisins, peanut, egg and seafood like sardines, shrimp, etc are rich sources of iron and especially beneficial in healing iron deficient anemia.

If anemia is due to slow production of RBC in blood, you can try fasting for a few days. This will help improve vitamin B12 assimilation and helps the body fast regain essential RBC count. Fasting is not recommended during pregnancy.

If you have internal bleeding due to ulcer or fracture, you need to take special treatment to cure such bleeding. Slowest rate of bleeding can cause anemia.