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Hawthorn is an ornamental plant with white and pale pink flowers, which has valuable healing properties. Hawthorn has already been used in folk medicine, and now – also in medicine – its fruits, flowers and leaves are used. What’s in hawthorn? How does it work, when and how to use this plant, and are there contraindications?
Hawthorn is the general name of plants belonging to the species Crataegus. In Poland, the most common are single-necked hawthorn, double-necked hawthorn and middle hawthorn. Under natural conditions, hawthorn is in the form of thorny shrubs 3–4 meters high or trees up to 8–10 m high.
Hawthorn flowers They are white or pink, while ripe, spherical or elliptical fruits are most often dark red or red-brown in color. The color of the hawthorn fruit however, it depends on their maturity, as well as on a specific plant species – you can find green, yellow, red and dark purple fruits.
Hawthorn fruits ripen between August and September.
Hawthorn is a herbal raw material – its flowers, top leaves and fruits are of pharmaceutical importance. Hawthorn flowers are harvested in May or June, and then dried at room temperature to 30 degrees C. The fruits are fit for harvest in September and October, initially they are dried at 30 degrees C, and finally dried at 50 degrees Celsius. C.
Scarlet hawthorn is a plant that grows in forests, along roads or in home gardens and parks. There are no too high soil requirements. Such an ornamental plant has no medicinal properties, but its white or pale pink variety is valued in pharmaceutical and herbal medicine.
Hawthorn – composition and properties
The use of hawthorn for medicinal purposes and prevention is possible due to the chemical composition of this plant. The rich content of minerals and other chemical compounds is observed especially in hawthorn fruits and flowers. Hawthorn is a rich source of many micronutrients, especially potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and sodium. It is a plant that provides significant doses of vitamin C, and its main ingredients also include flavonoids and procyanidins.
Hawthorn flower It contains flavonoid compounds, which relax the smooth muscles of the intestine, uterus, urinary tract and blood vessels. This effect is important for the coronary arteries as the oxygenated blood supply to the heart muscle increases, which in turn contributes to the relief of breathlessness and pain. In addition, the hawthorn flower contains procyanidins, which lower blood pressure. It also affects the strength of the heart muscle contractions. By slowing down their frequency, it makes the heart work more efficiently. Try the Hawthorn Flower available on Medonet Market, from which you can make a tea.
Hawthorn flower extract can be found, for example, in dietary supplements that have a beneficial effect on the human circulatory system. We recommend Elixir for pressure with garlic, hawthorn, lemon balm and olive leaf or Elixir for the heart Herbapol in Krakow, which you can buy at Medonet Market at a favorable price.
Hawthorn flower also has a positive effect on the blood vessels of the brain. The fruits of this plant have similar properties, but they contain much less flavonoids and more procyanidins. They also contain vitamin A and sugar alcohol. You can also brew hawthorn fruit as a tea.
Thanks to the chemical composition hawthorn is appreciated for its healing properties:
- Effects on the circulatory system. The beneficial effect of hawthorn on the cardiovascular system was observed when taking hawthorn fruit or flower extracts. A reduction in LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol and triglycerides has been noted, as well as an increase in HDL cholesterol. Hawthorn also helps lower blood pressure, and some studies suggest that it may act as an antiarrhythmic and be important in the prevention of acute coronary syndromes and strokes. Buy ON CIRCULATION today – a herbal tea that contains hawthorn and supports the proper functioning of the circulatory system.
- Antioxidant properties. Hawthorn contains many antioxidants, including polyphenols (including flavonols, lignans, anthocyanins). Water and ethanolic hawthorn extracts are especially effective in the fight against free radicals. The antioxidant effect was twice as strong in the case of ethanol extracts of hawthorn, i.e. those prepared on the basis of alcohol.
- Effects on the immune system. Hawthorn is anti-inflammatory by preventing the release of histamine or prostaglandins. Studies have shown that the flavonoids contained in the hawthorn fruit extract have anti-inflammatory properties. In contrast, the hawthorn contains sitosterol, which increases the number of leukocytes and the activity of macrophages. To take advantage of the benefits of hunger, try Natjun Autumn Fortification tea, which also includes ginger, raspberries and ginseng. We also recommend BIO concentrate of hawthorn probiotic drink. You can buy the preparation separately or in the BIO set of probiotic drink concentrates (forest fruit + hawthorn + hops).
- Antimicrobial properties. Hawthorn has antibacterial properties (it fights against staphylococci and streptococci, among others) and antifungal (it can cope with yellow aspergilloma, Fusarium solani or Microsporum canis).
Hawthorn is part of CARDIATEFIX – herbal tea that you can buy at Medonet Market. Order it and take care of your cardiovascular system today.
Hawthorn is used primarily in medicine and as a food product. In the kitchen, hawthorn fruits are used to prepare preserves or drinks, but they are also eaten fresh.
Hawthorn has also long been recommended by folk medicineespecially in the treatment of ailments such as diarrhea, gallbladder disorders, asthma, insomnia. She also appreciated the properties of hawthorn chinese medicine, recommending this plant to people with digestive problems, hyperlipidemia or circulatory disorders.
Officially, hawthorn is considered a herbal raw material, and extracts from hawthorn flowers and leaves in Europe and the United States are used in people struggling with heart failure class I and II (in the NYHA scale). Hawthorn is also commonly available in the form of various pharmaceutical preparations.
Hawthorn can also be consumed as an infusion. To help your body fight infections, try Natjun Winter Immunity Tea. In addition to hawthorn, it contains, among others Echinacea, ginger and linden leaf.
Hawthorn – a plant useful in the kitchen
The culinary use of hawthorn fruit includes mainly preserves (jams, preserves, juices), jellies, teas, tinctures and hawthorn candies.
In the kitchen, you can also use hawthorn as an infusion of flowers as well fruit infusion. The latter – drunk systematically – is helpful in hypertension and atherosclerosis. Infusion of hawthorn flower and it will help in eliminating heart ailments and alleviate rheumatic, joint and muscle pains. It can also be used in the onset of atherosclerosis and hypertension.
If you are at risk of developing high blood pressure or have disturbing symptoms, you can have laboratory tests that are available on Medonet Market.
You can apply hawthorn flowers for the preparation of infusion – then you need 1 teaspoon of crushed hawthorn flowers and leaves, which you then need to pour a glass of warm water and then slowly warm, covered, for about 3 minutes. Then it is enough to strain and drink a glass of decoction twice a day – prepared just before drinking.
You can also make infusion of hawthorn fruit – just pour 2 teaspoons of hawthorn fruit with a glass of boiling water and leave it covered for 20 minutes. Drink 3 times a day. In order to prepare hawthorn tea you can pour hot water over the dried fruit – prepared by yourself or purchased in a herbal shop.
Hawthorn in preparations from the pharmacy
Hawthorn flowers and fruits are components of many remedies available at the pharmacy. These are mainly preparations that lower blood pressure and heart medications. They improve the blood supply to the heart muscle and increase the coronary blood flow. They also accelerate the heart rate and improve its tolerance to oxygen deficiency.
Hawthorn is also included in mixtures used as sedatives, acting against atherosclerosis, and also as agents used in lipid disorders. Hawthorn fruits are also components of vitamin blends with a strengthening effect. And the hawthorn flower extract is one of the main ingredients of agents used in the treatment of injuries or edema threatening thrombophlebitis.
People looking for hawthorn on pharmacy or store shelves can find it in the form of inflorescences and fruit for infusion, tablets, drops of hawthorn (i.e. extract), juice, as well as herbal remedies candy with hawthorn.
You can buy hawthorn juice Herbal Monasterium at an attractive price on Medonet Market.
The use of hawthorn – contraindications
Hawthorn can be used as a supplement in the treatment of many ailments, but in the case of more serious diseases, medical consultation is required. This is especially true for patients with heart failure – reaching for hawthorn will not always be advisable. Preparations with hawthorn are not recommended for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Want to ask your doctor if you can include hawthorn in your diet? There are no contraindications for this on the haloDoctor platform. Enter the question in the box and wait for the specialist’s answer.
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