Blood Building

I know this isn’t everyone’s favourite topic and even the sight of blood is enough to make some people keel over. BUT it (should) go without saying, blood is kinda important!

It serves many functions in the body, including:

🩸Carrying oxygen (red blood cells - RBC) from the lungs to cells and tissues, then carry carbon monoxide from cells and tissues back to the lungs
🩸Transporting nutrients to cells and tissues
🩸Carrying other waste products to the liver & kidneys to be removed
🩸Clotting for wound healing
🩸Carrying white blood cells (our immunity soldiers) to fight infection
🩸Regulating body temperature

Not everyone has the same quality and quantity of blood. So many things influence this – age, gender, whether you menstruate, physical activity, hydration and (importantly!) nutrient status.

RBC are produced in the bone marrow and have a lifespan of about 120 days. But some people have a lower RBC count (commonly known as anaemia), while others might have older, bigger RBC that move more slowly around the body. Optimally, we want a good number of RBC that are agile with frequent turnover.

Some nutrients that can support this process include:

🩸Iron – the main component of haemoglobin, the blood protein that carries oxygen around the body
🩸B Vitamins – specially B9 (folate) and B12 are important in the creation of new RBC
🩸Vitamin A & copper – helps RBC access the iron they need to replicate and make haemoglobin

It’s important when testing blood to get a full blood count (FBC) + iron studies + copper (some doctors are resistant to this, but it’s an important marker to give a holistic picture).

Symptoms for anaemia include fatigue, shortness of breath, cold hands & feet, pale skin, dizziness, chest pain, general weakness.

This is a big and common topic. I've been quite top line here and mainly focused on RBC, so if you’d like to chat more about your blood, iron levels or immunity (white blood cells are so important too, will do a special post for them) – please get in touch!