Hawthorn has many different useful properties. This plant is used not only for treatment, but also for the prevention of various diseases. There are many legends associated with the origin of the plant. One of them says that it appeared at the request of birds for protection from predators. According to another legend, once upon a time there lived a woman who helped people. She wanted to continue to help even after death. The people went to the witch to help the noblewoman stay with the people. And she turned the old woman into a beautiful and useful shrub.
Whatever the origin of the plant, since ancient times people have known the benefits and harms of hawthorn. Its red berries attract attention. The shrub has several names: mistress, glod, boyarka, cock spur, hawk claws.
Chemical composition
Until now, the exact chemical composition of the plant is unknown. It is believed that the therapeutic effect is achieved due to plant polyphenols, flavonoids. They not only add colorberries, but also prevent the fragility of the walls of blood vessels, and also get rid of free radicals. It is the chemical composition that determines the benefits and harms of hawthorn. This plant contains:
- Quercitrin, which maintains the elasticity of capillary walls. Also, this substance has an antioxidant and antitumor effect.
- Quercetin, which is an excellent tool for the treatment and prevention of cerebrovascular accidents, pathologies of the cardiovascular system. With sufficient intake of quercetin in the body, the risk of developing cataracts is reduced.
- Hyperoside. This substance is able to increase the oxygen consumption of tissue cells, and also enriches the heart muscle with potassium, which leads to an increase in cardiac output.
- Vitexin. The element enhances the metabolic processes occurring in the heart.
Also found in the hawthorn acid. This plant contains:
- Caffeic acid. It has a strong antibacterial property and also increases the excretion of bile.
- Oleanol. Tones, enhances blood supply to the heart and brain.
- Ursolic acid. It has an anti-inflammatory, wound-healing effect.
- Chlorogenic. It affects the performance of the kidneys and liver. It has anti-sclerotic and choleretic properties.
The benefits and harms of hawthorn are also determined by carotenes, vitamins, macro- and microelements. Some plant species are comparable to rose hips in terms of vitamin A content. The fruits contain sugar, sorbitol. They contain a lot of calcium, potassium, iron, copper and manganese, zinc, tannins.substances. After freezing, the latter become smaller, and the berries acquire a sweetish taste.
Before you start taking infusions, tinctures or decoctions, you need to know what benefits and harm hawthorn can bring to the body. This plant has a complex effect on systems and organs. The substances that make up the drug affect different organs and systems.
Effect on the heart, blood vessels, nervous system
The benefits and harms of hawthorn berries for the cardiovascular system are determined by its constituent elements. This plant has a vasodilating effect, provides a sufficient supply of oxygen. Reception of hawthorn allows you to normalize the heart rate, increase the strength of heart contractions. As a result, the excitability of the heart muscle decreases, fatigue disappears, the state of the coronary circulatory system and cerebral circulation improve.
The benefits and harms of hawthorn fruits are said for tachycardia, atrial fibrillation. This plant is able to restore the function of the heart in these pathologies, eliminate mild arrhythmias.
The plant normalizes blood clotting, prevents the formation of atherosclerotic plaques, and also normalizes cholesterol levels. The benefits and harms of hawthorn tincture allow you to determine whether the drug will help in a particular case. So, it can be prescribed for spasms of blood vessels as an antispasmodic. But hawthorn should not be used by those who suffer from hypotension, as the plant is able to reducearterial pressure. In hypotensive patients, this remedy can cause collapse.
Hawthorn-based preparations have a sedative effect, but without drowsiness. The plant helps to relieve the excitability of the nervous system, normalizes sleep.
Gastrointestinal Benefits
Knowing everything about the benefits and harms of hawthorn infusion, you can decide whether or not to take this remedy for the treatment and prevention of gastrointestinal pathologies. This plant has a positive effect on the stomach with gastritis of any form, helps to overcome flatulence. As prescribed by a doctor, it can be used for difficult digestion in children. Hawthorn helps with diarrhea.
Other Useful Features
Flowers and fruits help to overcome headaches, dizziness. The plant has an antioxidant effect that prevents the formation of tumors. Knowing everything about the benefits and harms of hawthorn for the body, you can quickly restore strength after an illness, SARS.
The benefits of the bush were appreciated by nursing women. Hawthorn products help stimulate milk production. Cosmetics are made from fruits and flowers that help restore the natural moisture of the skin, eliminating age-related changes.
Pharmacological drugs
For the preparation of medicines, fruits and flowers of common, blood-red, prickly hawthorn and some other varieties are used. These species are better studied.
Hawthorn fruits are available in different dosage forms. They can be purchased in the form of plant raw materials,powder, tincture and extract. There are lozenges available. All proposed pharmacological preparations help to eliminate arrhythmia, have a calming effect on the central nervous system, normalize blood clotting, increase milk production, and also help fight digestive disorders in children.
Hawthorn flowers help lower blood pressure.
Medications
In the pharmacy you can buy different types of drugs developed on the basis of hawthorn. These could be:
- "Cardiovalen". These drops are for oral administration. The preparation contains different types of herbs: valerian, adonis, which enhance the beneficial properties of hawthorn.
- "Valemidin". The drug relieves muscle spasm from blood vessels and internal organs, has a calming effect.
- Fitorelax. Sold in pharmacies in the form of tablets. It contains valerian rhizome. It has a sedative effect, helps to cope with insomnia, nervous excitability.
- Kedrovit. Offered as an elixir. The tool tones up, increases the body's resistance, helps to restore strength in case of overwork.
- "Amrita". It has a general strengthening and tonic effect.
There are other remedies based on hawthorn.
Homemade recipes
Knowing everything about the benefits and harms of how to take hawthorn, you can cook with berries a variety of infusions, decoctions, teas, juices. Each remedy has a specific effect.
During flowering flowers are harvested. They are laid outa thin layer on a newspaper and dried under a canopy or in a well-ventilated area. After ripening, the berries are harvested. They can be dried and frozen. Dried flowers and fruits have a lot of useful properties.
Healing tea
And what are the benefits and harms of hawthorn berries, how to take them? The easiest recipe for making the remedy is hawthorn tea. To prepare it, you will need twenty to thirty berries, pour a liter of boiling water and insist overnight. He althy tea is ready in the morning. It is taken in a cup no more than three times a day. You can add rose hips to tea.
Hawthorn tea helps relieve fatigue, calms, normalizes the digestive tract and cardiovascular system. If rose hips are added to tea, then this remedy will help restore strength after a cold.
Infusion recipe
To prepare the infusion, you need to take a handful of berries and brew them with a liter of boiling water. The remedy is infused overnight. In the morning, the composition is filtered, taken in a third of a glass three times a day. The infusion helps to get rid of arrhythmia, nervous excitement, angina pectoris.
You can grind the berries to get the remedy faster. For this, a spoonful of crushed raw materials is taken and steamed with a glass of boiling water. An hour later, the infusion is ready. Taken in a third of a glass three times a day.
Preparation of tincture
Tincture is prepared from dried flowers and berries. For cooking, you need five spoons of hawthorn, which are poured with two glasses of vodka. The remedy is infused for fifteen days. Ready tincture is filtered. Take it twenty-five drops, diluted with water. The tincture is drunk an hour before meals.
There are more benefits in a flower remedy than in berries. This type of preparation has more effect than the berry preparation.
Tincture is used for angina pectoris, for hypertension.
Contraindications
Like any medicinal plant, hawthorn has its own indications and contraindications for use.
Prolonged and immoderate use of drugs based on hawthorn leads to a strong decrease in blood pressure, causing heart rhythm disturbances. With extreme caution, hawthorn remedies should be taken by hypotensive patients, since they already have low blood pressure.
You can not drink infusions, decoctions on an empty stomach. Otherwise, drugs can provoke intestinal spasm, nausea, vomiting, and vasospasm.
Before starting therapy, you need to learn how to prepare infusions or decoctions of hawthorn, the benefits and harms, how to take, what is the composition of the plant. After all, it cannot be used by those who are allergic to the substances that make up berries and flowers.
Other capable of using hawthorn
Hawthorn berries are valued not only for their medicinal properties, but also for their excellent taste. Jams, kissels, juices, marmalades are prepared from them. The flowers of the plant are an excellent honey plant - from one plant you can get up to twenty kilograms of he althy and tastyhoney.
Homemade wine is made from hawthorn. Its use has a positive effect on both women's and men's he alth, especially for those over forty. Avicenna also knew about the benefits.
Every day more and more people prefer traditional medicine. However, few people decide to first consult with experts in this field. Phytotherapists help to choose the right dosage of medicinal plants, talk about how and how much to take decoctions and infusions, identify contraindications.
