Ample blood supply is the key to rosy cheeks, trouble-free menstruation and vitality. A persistently pale, waxy complexion should be interpreted as a health warning, according to Yao Lanying, director and physician of internal medicine at the Hangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Rich, nourishing blood is vital to good health. This is especially the case for women, who are prone to blood deficiencies at times of menstruation, pregnancy and lactation.

Yao recommends Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for nourishing the blood and maintaining a healthy complexion. You can combine health and good eating by adding Chinese wolfberry and the herbs astragalus root, fragrant solomonseal rhizome and ovate atractylodes root to home made soup. Black agaric, mulberry, black sesame seed, and walnuts also enrich the blood.

The ingredients to another simple but effective remedy for healthy blood and a glowing complexion healthy comprise:

100 grams peanuts
100 grams red dates
200 grams honey.

Method:
Cook the peanuts and red dates in a pressure cooker for 30 minutes and add the honey.

Massage is a fruitful source of good health. It enriches the blood and maintains good spirits and, applied to certain points on the face, relieves muscle tension and promotes blood and lymph circulation. It can also relieve allergy symptoms and sinus congestion, inhibit wrinkles and promote the skin's natural glow.

Method:
1. Cup the hands around the face, with fingers resting on the inner eyebrows, and slide outwards to the temples.
2. Using the middle fingers, gently stroke the grooves on either side of the nostrils downwards three times.
3. Gently massage from the center of the lower lip to the outer corners three times.
4. Gently massage the lower jaw in a circular motion, starting from center and moving to the top of the ear, three times.

(Source: xinhuanet.com/ Translated by womenofchina.cn)