Rhubarb compote: benefits and harms

Rhubarb is an amazing plant, rich in vitamins and minerals, which has a number of medicinal properties for the human body. It is widely used for the manufacture of medicines, has proven itself for use at home. Rhubarb compote is an indispensable drink that perfectly helps fill the body with missing vitamins during the long winter.

What can a person eat?

For the preparation of various dishes, most often stewed rhubarb, the stems of the plant are used. It is this part of the plant that is suitable for human consumption. Leaves are used to feed domestic animals, and the root of the plant is used in the manufacture of medicines.

Despite a rich set of useful trace elements and vitamins, rhubarb has a very low calorie content compared to even other garden herbs (dill, parsley), only 20 kcal per 100 g. Nutritionists recommend adding plant stems to food for complete people, the presence of organic acids in the plant promotes better breakdown of subcutaneous fat.

What is the main benefit of rhubarb?

What exactly are the benefits of plant stems when added to food:

1. Pure rhubarb or stewed rhubarb stimulates the cleansing of the liver, the removal of bile from the body.
2. The plant well stimulates the intestines, improves digestion, helps to cope with constipation.
3. After a preliminary consultation with a doctor, rhubarb is often recommended to be used in the early stages of hemorrhoids.
4. For colds, rhubarb jam will help boost immunity and ease cough.

Saturating the body with vitamins and minerals, rhubarb helps strengthen immunity and helps health cope with unwanted colds. An excellent solution could be the preparation of jam or compote of rhubarb for the winter.

Why should you be careful?

For all its usefulness, rhubarb should be used with caution. Such a saturated composition of the plant during abuse can injure the body, not for nothing they say that in everything you need to know the measure.

It is important to be alert:

1. Due to the high content of acids, primarily oxalic acid, abuse of rhubarb can cause unwanted bleeding and even intoxication of the body.
2. It is not recommended for use with a sharp increase in temperature during illness.
3. During pregnancy and feeding, it is also better to abstain and exclude rhubarb from the diet.
4. Diabetes mellitus, peritonitis, diseases of the stomach and intestines are the main contraindications to the use of rhubarb, the plant with such diagnoses will become dangerous for the body.

Why it is useful to make preparations for the winter

If there are no contraindications and you want to maintain the immune system year-round, then the best choice will be stewed fruit compote for the winter, when fresh rhubarb is unavailable. To prepare compote from rhubarb recipes, there are a lot of recipes, at the same time you can dream up and diversify your taste with your favorite berries and fruits.

Pure rhubarb juice in its pure form has a pronounced sour taste, therefore it is customary to combine it with sweeter berries, fruits, add sugar or honey. The choice depends on personal taste preferences.

With proper preparation, compote can be stored for a long time in a sealed container, preferably in a cool and dark place. To date, rhubarb is not the most popular plant, and for the preparation of drinks it is best to use fresh stems, because after a long storage the taste may deteriorate.

If it is problematic to sterilize and seal the compote, frozen ingredients can be used; when stored in the freezer, the rhubarb retains all the necessary properties.

Harvesting rhubarb compote for the winter or making a drink from frozen ingredients is the best way for a weakened body to gain strength.

Simple Health Recipes

When choosing rhubarb as a home health assistant, the first question arises: how to cook rhubarb compote? If there are no problems with the main ingredient, then it can be difficult for a beginner to determine how to mix other components competently so as not to kill the basic taste of the drink.

In this case, recipes for making rhubarb compote, proven over the years, will become indispensable.

1. Rhubarb and apples. An excellent combination with the conservation of natural acidity.

For a liter of water you need to take 200 grams of stems of rhubarb and apples, 40 grams of honey and lemon juice.

Cooking process:

• In a saucepan with water add lemon juice, honey and bring to a boil.
• Wash the rhubarb stalks and cut into small pieces, then pour into boiling water and cook for about 5-7 minutes.
• At this time, cut the apples into slices and send to the pan.
• Cook all the ingredients together for about 10 minutes and the compote is ready.

2. Rhubarb and orange. The drink will be rich in vitamin C.

Based on 2 liters of water, 400 grams of rhubarb, one orange, sugar (to taste) will be required.

Cooking process:

• It is better to prepare all the ingredients in advance, cut the stems of rhubarb, cut the unpeeled orange into slices and remove the seeds.
• Add sugar to the pan with water and wait for it to dissolve.
• Pour the prepared ingredients into water, bring to a boil and then cook for about 5-7 minutes.
• Remove the compote from the heat, let it cool and strain.

After that, the drink is ready for use or prepared for the winter.

3. Rhubarb and strawberries. The drink will have a berry flavor and keep a pleasant acidity of rhubarb.

For two liters of water you need to cook 400 grams of rhubarb, half a glass of strawberries, a few slices of orange and sugar (to taste).

Cooking process:

• Prepare all the ingredients: cut the stems of rhubarb, cut the orange and remove the seeds, peel the strawberries from the stalks.
• The pot of water should be put on fire and brought to a boil.
• After all, add all the ingredients and after a couple of minutes - sugar.
• Mix everything thoroughly, bring to a boil and cook for about 3 minutes.

The drink is ready.

Conclusion

Any of the above recipes is suitable for harvesting for the winter. In order not to be left without the right vitamins, it is necessary to study the sterilization process of containers and proper sealed packaging. Subject to all the rules, rhubarb compote will have all the beneficial properties of the plant and will help the immune system at any time of the year.