Radish is not a popular root vegetable in our diet, although this tangy, juicy food is ignored in vain. Multi-colored radish of different shapes can become not just a flavoring additive, but also a prophylactic agent in the treatment of many diseases.
As a medicine, they eat not only the fruits of the radish, but also the seeds, and leaves, and flowers, and pods. Radish is boiled, pickled and eaten raw, added to salads, soups, meat dishes and vegetable side dishes.
The Greeks and Romans have long revered the radish and worshiped its properties. Apollo believed that it was worth as much gold as it weighs itself.
The benefits of radish
Radish is a source of many minerals, vitamins C, B1, B2, organic acids, essential oils and glucosides. It is 90 percent water, low in calories, contains sugar, fiber, sulfur-containing substances that have bactericidal properties, acids, sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, amino acids. Radish is an excellent vitamin supplement for the winter diet and an antimicrobial agent that is relevant in the season of illness.
In the Middle Ages, radish was considered the best medicine, and it had no equal in the treatment of many diseases. Paired with honey, she was able to work miracles. She was treated for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, not forgetting the properties of radish to increase appetite. With its help, vision was restored and kidneys were treated.
Also, our ancestors guessed to extract oil from radish seeds, which was then successfully used for external manipulations – for example, rubbed into the scalp so that the hair grows healthy.
Today, radish has also remained a favorite of traditional medicine. It is used to treat sciatica, loss of appetite and diseases of the gallbladder, urolithiasis, diseases of the stomach and intestines, cholecystitis. Radish juice is used for coughs – bronchitis and whooping cough. Also, diluted with water as part of compresses, it perfectly heals joint inflammation and pain, swelling and wounds.
Radish is a good cosmetic product. Its juice removes freckles and age spots. It is able to give the face a healthy look and tone the skin. Grated radish gruel is used as a stimulating hair mask.
This root vegetable is also used with various diets – radish perfectly saturates and dulls the feeling of hunger.
Radish is included in the complex of anti-cancer measures, since it contains a lot of vitamin C and folic acid, which help with intoxication.
Radish also relieves itching and pain well after being bitten by insects – mosquitoes, hornets, bees, wasps.
Radish is used in the treatment of fever, which is accompanied by fever and body aches.
Due to its taste, radish freshens breath and interrupts strong odors, improves blood circulation, stimulates metabolism, and stops nausea.
Contraindications
Despite the wide range of uses of the radish, it can only be used as an adjuvant in non-severe cases. For those who have a history of stomach ulcers, gastritis, gout or any severe inflammatory processes, as well as heart and kidney diseases, it is better to fear radish – it can provoke a sharp deterioration in health.