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Hawthorn is a useful plant. In folk medicine, not only fruits are used, but also leaves, sepals, and flowers. Hawthorn flowers, medicinal properties and contraindications of these remedies have been known in folk medicine for a long time. The shrub grows over a large territory of Russia; it is an affordable remedy for the treatment of neuroses and insomnia, if collected, preserved, and brewed correctly.
Useful properties and contraindications of hawthorn flowers
Hawthorn flowers contain flavonoids and polyphenols. These substances determine the beneficial properties and healing effect that flower infusions have on the human body:
- have an anti-cancer effect;
- reduce blood pressure;
- saturate cells with oxygen, activate brain function;
- reduce the risk of cataracts;
- normalize the functioning of the liver and kidneys;
- have choleretic properties;
- have low calorie content and do not add excess weight;
- destroy “bad” cholesterol.
Blood red hawthorn flowers have medicinal properties and contain iron, magnesium, potassium, and other useful trace elements.
The flower infusion has a number of contraindications that should be taken into account before taking teas:
- during pregnancy, it can be taken only after consulting a doctor;
- chronic hypotension (you can faint from too low blood pressure);
- Do not take on an empty stomach as side effects may occur.
Experts do not recommend taking the herb during breastfeeding. The plant does not contain toxic substances, but infants may experience digestive problems.
Treatment with hawthorn flowers
The medicinal effect of flowers, leaves, and fruits of hawthorn has been known for a long time. The plant has a wound-healing effect and anti-inflammatory effect. If you regularly drink tea or an infusion of these flowers when you have a cold, your recovery will be much faster, your temperature will drop, and your illness will recede.
Caffeic acid in the plant is a natural antibiotic. The product helps normalize sleep, reduces the excitability of the nervous system, strengthens the heart, relieves tension in blood vessels, and adds vitality.
This is a blood pressure lowering agent. Hypertensive patients should drink this tea regularly.
How to brew hawthorn flowers
For proper brewing, you need to take dried flowers that are collected in season and dried naturally. The boiling water used for brewing should not only be from the fire. The optimal temperature is 70–80 °C. It is better to use porcelain or enamel dishes for brewing. This way all the beneficial properties are preserved. It is not recommended to use plastic and aluminum utensils.
The best option for brewing is a thermos. Many housewives use additional ingredients to enhance the healing properties.
Infusion of hawthorn flowers
Hawthorn flowers have a variety of uses. The infusion is an effective, popular remedy for heart and neurotic ailments. There are several recipes for infusion.
- Water recipe. Take a glass of boiling water on a spoonful of dried raw materials. Place the container in a water bath, simmer for 15 minutes. Cool, strain, divide into 3 parts, drink throughout the day. The recipe will help cope with insomnia, lower blood pressure, relieve neurosis, and settle arrhythmia.
- Alcohol tincture. Take a liter of vodka, 150 g of fresh raw materials. Pour vodka over the flowers and place in a dark, cool place for 2 weeks. Strain, drink 20 drops 3 times a day. Dilute the drops in half a glass of water. Take strictly after meals. Will help with atherosclerosis, neuroses, high blood pressure. The course of treatment is no more than a month, after which a break is necessary.
- Brew 30 g of dried inflorescences. You need to take 1 measuring cup of boiling water per 30 grams of raw material and leave for 50 minutes. Take 20 ml.
Infusion of hawthorn flowers and berries
Hawthorn flowers and their medicinal properties complement the use of the plant's berries. Beneficial properties for the body from regular use of the infusion:
- relieves headaches, rheumatic pains;
- normalizes the functioning of the thyroid gland;
- normalizes blood glucose levels;
- reduces blood pressure;
- eliminates the effects of radiation;
- relieves attacks of dizziness by supplying the brain with oxygen.
There are several medication recipes:
- Pour 1 large spoon of flowers, 2 spoons of hawthorn berries into a glass of vodka. Leave for a week, strain, squeeze.Take 30 drops for atherosclerosis 3 times a day, before meals.
- In 1 liter of boiling water, brew flowers, hawthorn berries, dried berries, rose hips, and motherwort herb in equal proportions. Leave for 2 hours in a dark place. Strain and take half a glass three times a day. Helps hypertensive patients.
- Flower tea. Pour 2 teaspoons of raw material into 250 ml of boiling water and brew for 20 minutes. Drink like tea with honey. Useful for colds during the cold season.
If you have an individual intolerance, then you should not brew or take preparations from hawthorn or fruits. If you have chronic pathologies, it is better to consult a doctor.
How to drink hawthorn flowers
The use of water infusion as a traditional medicine is allowed from 12 years of age. If it is an alcoholic tincture, consultation with a specialist is required. Infusions are contraindicated for persons prone to alcohol dependence.
Traditional medicine specialists do not recommend consuming hawthorn flowers if there is work to be done that requires attention and concentration. The flowers of the plant can cause drowsiness and absent-mindedness.
It is recommended to take the medicine only after meals. There will be no exacerbation of gastritis, ulcers and gastric pathologies.
Medicinal properties and contraindications of hawthorn leaves
Along with flowers, hawthorn leaves are used in folk medicine. The leaves have medicinal properties due to the beneficial, valuable microelements they contain. It is important to collect leaves correctly, away from roads and enterprises, so that they do not absorb a mixture of heavy metals that are hazardous to health.
It is recommended to collect leaves from mid-May to early July.During this period, they have the most complete medicinal composition.
Hawthorn leaves have the same beneficial properties and contraindications as the flowers and fruits of the plant. Helps with neuroses, atherosclerosis, angina pectoris, coronary heart disease.
Contraindications for use are the same: breastfeeding, low blood pressure, work that requires attention, pregnancy, individual intolerance.
The use of hawthorn leaves in folk medicine
In folk medicine, hawthorn leaves are used for:
- diabetes mellitus;
- atherosclerosis;
- hypertension;
- diseases of the nervous system.
For a healing effect, it is important to collect and prepare them correctly. Then the health benefits of hawthorn leaves will be maximum.
Infusion of hawthorn leaves
The most popular infusion recipes use not only hawthorn leaves, but also berries and flowers. For example, for diabetes, the following recipe is popular:
Take a large spoon of flowers, 2 spoons of hawthorn leaves. Pour half a liter of boiling water and cook over low heat for 7 minutes. Leave for several hours, take 6 teaspoons on an empty stomach. Normalizes blood sugar levels, relieves false appetite. There are contraindications for diabetics, so it is important to consult your doctor first.
For insomnia and neuroses, use a decoction prepared from equal portions of hawthorn flowers and leaves. The mixture is boiled in water for a couple of minutes. Drink as a simple tea with the addition of lemon and natural honey. Excellent prevention of cardiovascular diseases, especially in older people.Leaves and flowers remove harmful cholesterol from the body, destroy cholesterol plaques, and prevent the narrowing of large blood vessels.
The leaves are infused into vodka less often; such infusions are taken as a sedative along with drops of valerian. It will help with insomnia, relieve anxiety, and put your nerves in order. You can't drive after such drops.
Restrictions and contraindications for use
The hawthorn flowers in the photo are very beautiful. But in folk medicine there are restrictions on the use of the plant in the form of infusions and folk medicines. These are low blood pressure, bradycardia, pressure surges. It is not recommended to take infusions and decoctions of berries for patients with a slow heartbeat or pulmonary edema. Varicose veins are another categorical contraindication for the use of infusions of leaves and fruits of the bush as a means of traditional medicine.
Leaves, flowers, and fruits of the bush thicken the blood - if you have thrombophlebitis, consult a doctor.
Hawthorn leaves have beneficial properties, but it is necessary to collect only young raw materials, bright green in color. The medicinal indications of young leaves in folk medicine allow the use of raw materials and their preparation for future use. The healing properties of dried raw materials are shown in the treatment of diabetes, nervous disorders, hypertension, liver problems, and constant anxiety. Neurologists recommend infusions as an effective sedative.
An overdose of medicinal tincture harms the nervous system, makes you drowsy and leads to dizziness.
Conclusion
Hawthorn flowers, the medicinal properties and contraindications of which have been known for a long time, are not without reason considered a popular remedy in folk medicine.They can become a lifesaver for chronic hypertensive patients, elderly people, and diabetics. In this case, it is important to correctly collect and prepare healing infusions in accordance with proven traditional medicine recipes. There are contraindications, so it doesn’t hurt to consult a doctor. Herbal treatment is contraindicated for allergy sufferers, pregnant and lactating women; the leaves and fruits of the bush are harmful to hypotensive patients.
