By Ivana Dragica |
The most healing plants in the world: hawthorn |
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Hawthorn is among the plants with the longest tradition.
The Chinese used it for making a fermented drink, and its remains were found in 9000 years old pots.
It is believed that it was an important plant in religious services.
Legend has it that Christ's crown of thorns was made from this bush.
Many other beliefs are tied to this plant and even myths like the one about it being used to destroy vampires.
Hawthorn in those times grew all around Europe, Asia, North America and the Mediterranean, but now it has spread throughout the world.
It is also known under the names of white thorn, white thorn, hawthorn, sharp thorn, haw etc.
Heart drug
Hawthorn contains active substances with antioxidant properties. Its flowers, with a trace of essential oil, contain trimetilamine and glycoside oxiacantine.
Fruits contain essential oil, tannins, saponins, glycosides and fructose and the significant amounts of potassium, sodium, and calcium salts of phosphoric acid.
After Wilmar Schwabe included the fresh hawthorn fruit tincture in his book on homeopathy, this herb became popular and a subject of much research.
The research has confirmed that hawthorn is valuable medicine for the heart.
Among the encouraging findings is the one that hawthorn prevents the plague of the modern age - the heart attack.
All those who have a high blood pressure, those who seek protection from high cholesterol and atherosclerosis and those who suffer from cardiac crisis can rely on hawthorn.
This plant is widely used for maintaining cardiovascular health, for treating high pressure, weakening of the heart muscle and cardiac arrhythmias.
This plant is accepted as a safe and effective treatment in the early stages of heart disease as well as an effective therapy for an already advanced stage.
It is recommended after a heart attack, since it increases blood flow to the coronary arteries.
It promotes activity and better nutrition of heart muscle cells. In general, everyone over the age of 50 should occasionally take the hawthorn tincture.
Other applications of hawthorn
Hawthorn is one of the plants with the strongest calming effect.
It helps with fatigue, lack of energy, poor sleep, shortness of breath, dizziness, palpitations, anxiety, nervousness and the noise in the ears.
It is also a very useful plant for menopausal women. It can be used as an aid in weight loss, because it stimulates the removal of excess water from the body.
This property makes it useful against cellulite, edema and joint disease.
Hawthorn strengthens the connective tissue in the joints, and its anti-inflammatory properties are useful for treating ulcerative colitis and digestive problems.
Protects against free radicals and prevents vascular diseases such as arteriosclerosis.
Numerous studies have found that hawthorn is a safe and well tolerated plant.
However, hawthorn is not recommended to pregnant or lactating women.
Hawthorn harvest
Two types of hawthorn are most frequently used in medicinal purposes - red (Lat. Crataegus oxyacantha) and the lesser-known white hawthorn (Lat. Crataegus monogyna).
Hawthorn grows along roads, forest edges and meadows, and is characterized by thorns and three or five pointed leaves.
The bark is harvested in the spring when juices circulate and is used dried or fresh.
The fruits are harvested in the fall when they are bright red.
The flowers, preferably white, are picked as buds or just before the opening.
The period for flower harvesting is between April and June. Flowers should be dried in shade.
Hawthorn drops
Cover 20 g of crushed leaves and flowers with 200 ml of 70 percent alcohol. Stir occasionally.
After three weeks, strain and filter the mixture. Drink twenty drops a day with a bit of liquid.
These droplets act preventively, and as adjunctive therapy for diseases of the circulatory and nervous systems.
Hawthorn syrup
Put a kilogram of hawthorn berries in a blender. Cover with water so that the water reaches 2.5 cm above the berries. Blend the mixture and leave for 24 hours.
Place the mixture over a slow fire and when it begins to gently boil, let it simmer for half an hour. Turn off the heat and let it sit for another half an hour.
Strain the liquid when cool and put it in the refrigerator. Blend the berries by adding them new water.
Then boil it again for half an hour and let it stand for half an hour. Strain the mixture through a cloth to keep it as thick as possible.
Blend this juice with the original mixture and then simmer it over slow fire until there is ¼ of the mixture left.
Pour into sterilized bottles and take 6 to 12 tablespoons a day. Shelf life is unlimited.
Help with myocardial infarction
An enhanced formula by herbalist Richard Schulze for those who have suffered a heart attack.
Ingredients:
- 240 ml of hawthorn syrup
- 30 ml of gentian tincture
- 30 ml of ginger root tincture
- 30 ml of Selenicereus grandiflora cactus tincture
- 30 ml of red paprika tincture.
Preparation:
Take a half-liter bottle and fill it half way up with hawthorn syrup. In a separate bowl mix the remaining tinctures and then add the syrup and stir well.
Drink one teaspoon 3 to 8 times a day.
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