True Blood

At the very heart of your health there is one liquid. It nourishes every cell in your body and helps fight off infection. Its the hidden powerhouse many doctors believe is the key to health and well-being. Heres how to show it a little TLC.

- Merritt Watts And Jessica Powell

You know the basics: blood feeds your heart. Blood ferries oxygen around your body, allowing other organs to function. Blood is blood – not particularly sexy, sometimes messy, perpetually just chugging along. Except, for women, blood isn’t “just” anything. It’s there at puberty, shuttling you from girlhood to adolescence.

And again when you lose your virginity, marking yet another milestone. It’s there – in copious amounts – when you birth a new life. When you really think about it, blood’s impact on a woman’s womanhood is almost poetic.

Yet our relationship with the stuff of life remains opaque. Mostly because, it turns out, we know so little about our constant companion: the vast majority of us can’t name our blood type, which new science shows could affect our risks for serious diseases. Many remain confused about blood disorders that hit more women than men; others are hazy on donation details or too squeamish to investigate blood-related red flags.

Read on to soak up critical intel on what’s pumping through your veins and how, specifically, to decode your blood’s wide impact on your health. It could be the key to hitting, then sailing through, a few more of life’s milestones.

A STICKY SITUATION