Anemia is a condition where the number of healthy red blood cells in the body is too low. Red blood cells are very important, because they carry oxygen to all of the body’s tissues.

Anemia is measured according to the amount of hemoglobin — the protein within red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the body’s tissues.

The causes of anemia are divided into two types — those that reduce the production of red blood cells and those that increase the destruction of red blood cells.

Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anemia.

People with anemia appear pale and can often complain of a cold.They may also experience other types of disorders, like dizziness (especially when standing up), unusual cravings such as wanting to eat ice, clay, or dirt, trouble concentrating and tiredness, constipation, sometimes inflammation of the tongue, brittle nails.

Anemia is a disease in which the whole body becomes pale (skin, nails, eyes) due to rakta alpata (deficiency of blood), and in Ayurveda this disease is called Pandu roga. In Sanskrit, the word Pandu means pale. Ayurveda determines the anemia according to the disturbances of the vital energies in the body — Doshas. According to Ayurveda, nutrient deficiencies arise because of Pitta flowing in an abnormal direction — it means that something has gone wrong with the body’s fire element, represented by Pitta dosha. Vata and Kapha doshas can also cause Anemia and therefore the cause of Pandu roga is classified according to the dominant dosha.

In Ayurveda, Anemia usually finds its root in the imbalance of Agni (fire element) in the body, which leads to the formation of Ama (toxin) in the body. This disruption is caused by the aggravation of Pitta dosha by eating foods that are too sour, salty, spicy or hot, exercising or having sex during the process of digestion, also feeling negative emotions like fear, jealously or anger. In anemia, the liver (Ranjaka Pitta) slackens and weighs down the tissues, especially affecting the blood, muscles.