You may have some herbs in your kitchen right now that will increase your circulation. For example, the ginger in your spice cabinet can be added to your food dishes or baked in desserts such as gingerbread or ginger cookies to help stimulate your circulation. Using herbs to increase your circulation quickly delivers nutrients and oxygen throughout your body and effectively releases toxins.
Herbs
Eat cayenne pepper or take cayenne capsules 2 to 3 times daily to burn off fat by boosting your metabolism and circulation. Cayenne pepper contains the ingredient capsaicin (kap-sey-uh-sin), which makes this pepper hot and makes cayenne one of the best herbs to activate your circulation.
Take ginkgo biloba to increase your circulation, not only to your brain but throughout your body. Ginkgo improves the circulation in both the arteries (large vessels) and capillaries (small vessels).
If you're on your feet a lot during the day, take butcher's broom. Butcher's broom increases the circulation in your legs, hands and feet, reducing edema (water retention). Add motherwort to your list of good herbs to take. Motherwort not only increases your body's circulation, but increases circulation specifically to your heart muscle.
There are many ways you can use ginger to increase your circulation. Drink ginger tea in prepared tea bags or brew your own using fresh ginger root. Make a warm poultice---grated ginger root wrapped in a soft, moist cloth---and place it over an injured part of your body to increase circulation in that area. Add a few drops of ginger essential oil to your lotion or blend it with a citrus or spicy oil and add to your bathwater. Take 75 to 2,000 mg of ginger capsules in divided doses with food.
Ginger Tea
The Chopra Center for Well Being, founded in 1996 by mind-body healing expert and author Deepak Chopra, M.D. and David Simon, M.D., provides ginger tea recipes you can easily make to help improve your circulation.
Peel and chop a 2-inch piece of ginger root into large pieces, place in a 3-quart pot with 1 quart of purified water and boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and pour into a glass jar.
For one cup of ginger tea, peel and grate 1 heaping tsp. of ginger root and stir into a cup of hot water. Steep for 2 minutes and drink (the ginger will settle on the bottom) or strain first and drink.
Special Conditions
Reynaud's disease, common mostly in women between the ages of 15 to 40, is a condition that causes your fingers and toes to become painful and numb in cold temperatures. Andrew Weil, M.D., integrative medicine pioneer, suggests you take 120 to 240 mg per day of ginkgo to help increase circulation in your fingertips and toes.
Tips
Sprinkle cayenne pepper in your socks or shoes to keep your feet warm in the winter.
Warnings
Check with your doctor before taking any herbs while pregnant or breastfeeding, or before giving them to young children.
Do not take herbs to increase your circulation if you take blood-thinner drugs such as warfarin (Coumadin).
Although ginger essential oil is safe, it can cause irritation if your skin is sensitive.
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