HOME-MADE BLOOD TONIC: A POSITIVE SPARK IN TRADITIONAL MEDICINE

Introduction

The definition of blood is certainly not important to so many people, but the amazing thing is that its functions can never be overlooked. From acting as a medium of transport, to defense, and maintenance of homeostasis; the functions of this particular connective tissue is remarkable in every single way.

Actually, what makes the blood stand out amongst other connective tissues is that although it has cellular elements like others, its extracellular matrix is a fluid (known as plasma). The fluidity of the extracellular matrix is what endows it with the unique ability of transportation of gases, nutrients, hormones, and metabolic waste to, and from the different parts of the body.

At this point, it's pertinent to point out that the blood can only perform all these functions and many more mainly because of the collective efforts of the organs that make up the circulatory system. These organs include: the heart and the three blood vessels (artery, capillary, and vein).

Inspite of the fact that the above explanation has little to do with what we are going to discuss; yet again, in order for anyone to appreciate and understand what we are about focusing on, it's necessary to begin with the basis. In a similar manner, to prevent this from becoming unnecessarily extensive with boring details, we'll go straight to the point.

We were deceived. Blood tonic does not produce blood in the body

I'm convinced that by now so many people are already acquainted with the essentiality of blood in man's survival. But it's worthy of note that, for the blood to execute most its functions in humans, it must be at the normal level and also flow well through vessels. As we move ahead, we will find out if this statement is valid or not.

From numerous researches carried out on blood, we can emphatically say that the blood level in an healthy adult should be between the range of 4.5L - 5.0L. Unfortunately, certain factors such as sickness (example malaria) diminish the blood level and the decrease hampers a lot of biochemical processes in the body. Once this happens, there's always a need for something that could replenish the low blood level.

Over the years, blood tonic is regarded as one of the most popular alternative for boasting blood level in this part of the world. Personally, I felt so ashamed when I recently discovered that blood tonic directly does not increase blood level in the body. Maybe this might be the reason why experts in scientific medicine choose to call it multivitamin. All my life, I took different brands of it with this odd mentality. But the funniest thing is that it seemed to work every single time.

Now the question is; "if blood tonic does not produce blood, then why do we experience increase in blood level after taking it?"

Lets start it this way. It might interest you to know that the whole blood is formed at specific sites and organs in the body. The knowledge of hematopoiesis or blood formation would make this clearer. But to quickly explain the reason for the different sites in blood formation, we'll have to consider the composition of blood. Remember I already told you in the introductory part that the blood comprises of cellular elements. There include:

• Red blood cells (erythrocytes)
• White blood cells (leukocytes)
• Platelets (thrombocytes)

Well. Why the blood is believed to be formed at different sites and organs in the body is mainly because the cellular elements that make up the blood are actually formed at different sites and by different organs. However, the bone marrow is notably responsible for about 70% of their formation. With this explanation, you'll agree with me that the intake of blood tonic cannot just start forming blood since the process of blood formation is a complex one.

All the same, despite the fact that blood tonic does not directly produce blood, it unarguably triggers something that leads to the increase in blood level that we sometimes notice once we start taking it. As we all know, chemical reactions in the body are enzyme-dependent and these enzymes need co-enzymes to function well. Lucky enough, blood tonic is basically rich in minerals and vitamins needed by blood-forming organs for blood formation. So, the minerals and vitamins (in the blood tonic) act as co-enzymes that aids in the activation of the blood-forming organs. This therefore explains the miraculous increase in blood level experienced by most people after taking blood tonic.

Also, aside from activating blood-forming organs, blood tonic enhances blood flow through blood vessels. Although people do not know that sometimes the decrease in blood level experienced is due to inadequate blood flow, one thing seems to be sure; proper blood flow is vital for good health. Hence, what the blood tonic does is that it causes vasodilation to occur in blood vessels thereby resulting in normal blood flow to different parts of the body.

How blood tonic brought traditional medicine to limelight

Since most of the blood tonics are composed of artificial chemicals, their intakes sometimes trigger adverse effects. These side effects could be attributed to the ways in which the blood tonic react with foods and drugs taken by an individual. To some extent, an individual might even be allergic to a particular blood tonic brand.

Because of the possibilities of side effects produced by blood tonics with artificial chemical contents; traditional medicine which happens to deal with naturally occurring plant-derived products is now relied upon. This is evident in the increasing demand for blood tonics predominantly made from natural or plant ingredients.

Aside from absence of side effects, the good thing about blood tonics made from natural products is that the ingredients used are readily available. For example, most of these ingredients (such as plant leaves, seeds, roots, etc.) are consumed as food by man on daily basis. So it therefore means that if our food could serve medicinal purposes, it is possible to make our own blood tonic anytime any day. Let us see how realistic this could be.

Just like me; you can make your blood tonic at home

[Source: Yours faithfully]

All thanks to traditional medicine, I can't remember the last time I bought blood tonic since it's pretty easy to make one at home. Well. The truth is that I grew up in a rural environment in West Africa (precisely Nigeria) and I kept hearing that juice from Telfairia occidentalis (fluted pumpkin) plays a role in boasting blood level. But considering the fact that I'm someone that is always very careful of whatsoever I take into my body, I refused taking this plant juice until several studies affirmed its blood boasting properties.

To be very sincere, one particular reason I didn't take the plant juice was because of its taste. I can't exactly tell if it's bitter, sour, nor sweet. However, further research proved that a combination of malt beverage and condensed milk improves the taste as well as the efficacy of the plant juice. Apparently, this deduction seems to be true since both products (malt drink and milk) contain vital minerals and vitamins needed for blood formation. However, just like @egotheist stated in his post Guns don’t kill people, but milk does, it's advisable to reduce the quantity of milk since the ability to digest milk decreases with transition into adulthood.

When trying to explain how fluted pumpkin blood tonic is made, it is quite obvious that a video would have been more helpful in showing the stepwise procedures for this process. But I want to apologize for not doing that. I'm having issues trying to upload a video but I'll try as much as possible to explain briefly with the five (5) steps below:

Step 1
To avoid contamination; after the fluted pumpkin is bought or collected from the farm, it's important to rinse it thoroughly before using.

Step 2
Pour the leaves inside the blender and add a little quantity of water.

Step 3
After blending at high speed, use clean muslin to drain the plant juice out.

Step 4
Pour the quantity of the plant juice that you're certain you can finish into a cup.

Step 5
Add milk and malt drink to it and stir gently with a spoon. There you have your active home-made blood tonic.

Final thoughts

This article was channeled to correct the misconception about blood tonic. We now understand that blood tonic does not form blood in the body; rather, it activates specific blood-forming organs and also aid in vasodilation of blood vessels. However, since the body always sees anything that's not natural as foreign; the relevance of traditional medicine is brought to spotlight. Personally, I believe that traditional medicine will be appreciated more in no distant time because of its cost effectiveness and absence of side effects. I only wish traditional medicine practitioners could document most of this knowledge for the future generations.

For Further Reading...

Physiological overview of the blood Retrieved on the 11th August, 2018.
Biochemistry of blood cell formation Retrieved on the 11th August, 2018.
How your heart works: Principle of blood flow Retrieved on the 11th August, 2018.
Does mixture of malt drink and milk gives blood? Retrieved on the 11th August, 2018.
Scientists say fluted pumpkin leaves can boast blood level... Retrieved on the 11th August, 2018.
How to make healthy juice from pumpkin leaves at home Retrieved on the 11th August, 2018.
Herbal medicine research and global health: an ethical analysis Retrieved on the 11th August, 2018.

Guyton, A. and Hall, J. (2006). Textbook of Medical Physiology, 11th Edition. Pennsylvania: Elsevier Inc., pp. 419-468

Ramalingam, S. (2011). Modern Biology, 6th Edition. Nigeria: Africana First Publishers Plc, pp. 308-311.

Sembulingam, K. and Sembulingam, P. (2012). Essentials of Medical Physiology, 6th Edition. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers Ltd., pp. 58-60.

Image source

Images are from flickr, and pixabay (except otherwise stated), all licensed under creative commons and eligible for commercial use.