Birch buds are a storehouse of nutrients. This was known to our ancestors, who went out into the forest every spring to harvest brooms and birch buds.
Their use in folk medicine is very wide. They contain flavonoids, vitamin C, resins, essential oils. They are useful as a diaphoretic and diuretic, with the help of birch buds you can treat eczema and heal wounds. An extract of them is part of some anticancer drugs. Alternative medicine recommends preparing decoctions or infusions from the kidneys for the treatment of tuberculosis and gastritis. They help a lot with chronic indigestion. Broths expel roundworm, pinworms from the body. Lotions or poultices relieve pain in gout and rheumatism.
To preserve all the properties of birch buds, it is recommended to collect them in early spring, when they are already swollen, but have not yet had time to bloom. Collect not individual buds, but whole young branches. After keeping warm for some time, they are hung in a cool dark place. A month later, when they dry, the kidneys are torn off and put in paper bags.
How to prepare preparations, which include birch buds? Their use depends on the disease. Here, for example, is a recipe for a magic elixir that can prolong youth. He was known by ancient healers.
It is necessary to take equal amounts of dried birch buds, chamomile, immortelle, St. John's wort. Mix them thoroughly, chop. This is best done in a mortar, but you can use a coffee grinder. Pour the resulting powder into a dark glass jar, close. Every evening, about an hour before bedtime, a tablespoon of the powder is poured with a half liter of water, boiled, insisted for 20 minutes. In a filtered broth, dissolve a spoon (as much as possible) of honey and drink it before bedtime. In the morning, drink the remaining broth before breakfast. Two weeks after taking the elixir, a surge of strength will appear. The dream will be improved, the complexion will improve, the metabolism will normalize. Healers claim that taking such an elixir daily prolongs life.
How else use birch buds? Their use for inhalation has also passed the test of time. Dry birch and pine buds are mixed, thyme, eucalyptus, sage are added, and they are passed through a coffee grinder. Then pour boiling water, put on fire for 2 minutes. Leaning over the dishes with broth, covering himself with a towel with his head (carefully so as not to get burned!) Inhale the vapor. Such inhalations will reduce cough, relieve inflammation, and help cure a cold.
Decoction can treat heart disease, regulate the liver and kidneys. A decoction of birch leaves is recommended to drink with vitamin deficiency, nervous or physical exhaustion.
Prepare it like that. Fresh leaves are washed, poured with cold but boiled water for 10 minutes. Then the water is drained, the leaves are poured with hot but not boiling water, left for 4 hours. After this, the cake is removed, and the resulting dark green drink is allowed to stand for about 6 hours, after which it is filtered. Drink a glass daily. To improve the color and taste of the drink from birch leaves, it can be filtered through charcoal. However, the vitamin C content will drop sharply.
Such a decoction can be prepared from dry leaves, but there will be extremely few vitamins there. For back pain, you can make pulp, which will include leaves and birch buds. The use of such a slurry for compresses can relieve pain.
Fresh birch leaves are ground together with the kidneys, a few drops of alcohol are added, the spine obtained with the porridge is smeared. Wrap up first with compress paper, then with a warm scarf. Hold for half an hour.
Birch buds and leaves, like any other herbal remedies, may have contraindications, cause allergies. Do not use them without the advice of a doctor.