The useful properties and contraindications of honeysuckle in Russia have been known since the middle of the 18th century. This happened due to the description of an unusual shrub by the discoverer of Kamchatka, Vladimir Atlasov. In his work on Kamchatka nature, Russian researcher S.P. Krashennikov elaborated on the characteristics of the northern blue berry and gave comprehensive knowledge about honeysuckle and its beneficial properties for humans.
Plant description
Honeysuckle is a fairly powerful, highly branched shrub the size of an adult. The berries of the plant are elongated, dark plum color and medium-sized - about a centimeter. Only garden varieties of fruits are suitable for food, of which there are about fifty in Russia alone, but the “wild game” is also used for medicinal purposes, however, in this case, all parts of the bush are used, except berries and rhizomes.
Honeysuckle does not require constant care, and to maintain the bush in a cultivated condition, you only need to periodically remove excess shoots and prune far-flung branches. The bush blooms with white and blue flowers for one month - from the end of May, and in early July it is already possible to harvest.
The useful properties of honeysuckle - berries and inedible parts of the bush - are affected not only by the variety of the plant, but also by the place of its growth. Ideal for maintaining the maximum concentration of valuable substances in the composition of the honeysuckle is considered to be a climate close to its native one - mostly cool.
Nutritional value and composition of honeysuckle
In the description of the beneficial properties of honeysuckle (see photo of the plant in the article), special emphasis is placed on a rich vitamin set of berries, a combination of three basic organic acids, micro and macro elements and pectins. To replenish the daily norm of B vitamins that affect brain activity and improve metabolism in the human body, it is enough to eat 0.2 kg of ripe honeysuckle fruits per day. The same amount of berries is enough to maintain an optimal level of iron in the blood. In addition, the honeysuckle contains a record volume of ascorbic acid - about 34 mg, magnesium - 22 mg, sodium - 34 mg, calcium - 21 mg and phosphorus - 36 mg. There are iodine and manganese in honeysuckle, copper and aluminum, tannins and valuable flavonoids.
In 100 g of berries, less than 9 g of carbohydrates are present, and there is no fat or protein at all. That is, the berry has a full therapeutic spectrum of a high-quality multivitamin complex and is virtually devoid of calories (about 40 kcal).
The benefits of berries of honeysuckle garden
One of the most unique beneficial properties of honeysuckle is the resistance of its beneficial elements to thermal effects. The value of the berries does not decrease during hot drying or cooking, valuable substances of the composition do not suffer even when the berries are preserved in the form of jam (syrup) and fruit drinks.
Useful properties of honeysuckle for humans:
- blood pressure regulation;
- immunomodulation;
- treatment of unproductive cough;
- normalization of hemoglobin;
- stimulation of intestinal motility, decreased activity of harmful microflora of the intestinal tract;
- mild diuretic effect;
- antispasmodic effect;
- inhibition of pathological proliferation of cell tissues;
- acceleration of regeneration processes;
- maintaining vascular tone.
Honeysuckle berries are recommended for atherosclerosis, hypertension, seasonal migraines, kidney and liver failure. The antioxidants in the composition of the fruit help to cope with the negative effects of antibiotic treatment and chemotherapy.
The benefits of honeysuckle leaves and branches
For the preparation of medicines, the bark of an adult fruiting shrub is used after the harvest has been carried out. It is best to take autumn bark, which can be finely chopped and dried to facilitate storage.
A decoction from the bark is used to relieve age-related or painful swelling, to improve bowel function, with diarrhea, regular migraines. One of the simplest recipes for preparing a decoction is to scald 250 ml of boiling water with 10 g of crushed dry matter and hold a closed container with the medicine for 10 minutes in a water bath. Then, for an hour, the product is insisted, filtered and drunk in 30 ml before main meals.
Dry branches of honeysuckle are brewed to get rid of joint diseases. Broths are added to the bathtub with hot water, and leaflets of the plant, broken by hands, can also be added there.
Application of honeysuckle flowers
Honeysuckle flowers are harvested in early to mid-June, dried and mixed with finely chopped branches of shrubs. Dried flower petals are not boiled, but insisted on boiling water, taken at the rate of a glass of water on an incomplete tablespoon of dry matter.
Use the tool in the following cases:
- dermatitis, including wet and dry eczema, acne, psoriasis, trophic ulcers - compresses with infusion for the whole night;
- conjunctivitis - instillation of eyes with strained infusion 3-5 times a day;
- detoxification, cystitis, urolithiasis - drink means of 2 tsp before the main meals.
Compresses from honeysuckle flowers are used to accelerate the healing of open wounds, to reduce vascular "stars", with protruding veins on the legs.
The benefits of forest honeysuckle for the body
Useful properties of forest honeysuckle are enclosed in the inedible part of the plant - branches, shoots, bark, which you need to have time to prepare during the period of active flowering of the bush. But the fruits - small red berries - can not be plucked and used in medical procedures categorically. People call these berries wolf, and it is deadly to eat them. Only one branch of medicine - homeopathy includes microscopic doses of extracts from poisonous fruits in prescription formulations.
Useful properties of wild honeysuckle are used for colds of the throat - tonsillitis, laryngitis, pharyngitis. For this, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of crushed dried twigs and plant bark are placed in a glass dish, pour 300 ml of hot water and boil the composition in a water bath for 10 minutes. Cooled broth gargle up to five times a day.
For the treatment of infectious diseases of the eyes and for rinsing the nasopharynx with sinusitis, a more concentrated infusion of leaves of forest honeysuckle is prepared - from 3-3.5 tbsp. tablespoons of dried herbs. The agent is washed abundantly in the affected mucosa and taken orally by a teaspoon.
Powder from crushed leaves of wild honeysuckle stops blood and disinfects wounds, it is added to anti-burn and antifungal preparations, to anti-acne masks.
Honeysuckle for women
For women, the beneficial properties of honeysuckle are used in aesthetic medicine and cosmetology. Berry extract is readily used in the industrial production of caring cosmetics. Essential oil and concentrate are added to funds for problem skin, damaged hair, and even to biologically active additives to improve vision and stabilize weight.
High-quality and natural cosmetic products, which include a sufficient volume of honeysuckle concentrate for healing, are very expensive, so many women prefer to use home-made beauty and health recipes:
- To restore the hair structure - mix dry chamomile and a mixture of crushed bark and honeysuckle leaves (1: 2), pour boiling water over them, insist for an hour and rinse the washed hair with liquid.
- Acne and early wrinkle lotion - crush 7-10 dried honeysuckle fruits, pour a pinch of chopped shrub leaves and pour all 3 cups of boiling water. After 25 minutes, the hot infusion is filtered and the obtained product is used to rub the problem skin.
- For youthful skin - fresh berries of a garden shrub (8-12 pieces) are crushed by a press to make juice stand out. Then the pulp is added to an already prepared mask based on oatmeal, cottage cheese or cosmetic clay.
It is very useful for women's health to eat at least a handful of fresh berries per day. It is believed that this helps prevent the development of mastopathy, uterine fibroids and the formation of tumors on the reproductive organs.
To men
The beneficial properties of honeysuckle for men are aimed at maintaining the cardiovascular system. Since men suffer from ischemic diseases and atherosclerosis more often than women, and the body's recovery after an exacerbation of the pathology takes longer and more difficult, this area of health should be constantly monitored.
As a prophylaxis and at the first signs of deterioration of health associated with circulatory disorders, men should include honeysuckle in the obligatory daily diet. You can prepare such a decoction: 4 tbsp. tablespoons of berries are placed in a thermos and brewed in half a liter of boiling water. After two hours, the liquid is filtered and the entire infusion is drunk for three days in equal doses, before main meals.
This infusion can also be used to stimulate the synthesis of testosterone with its natural, age-related decrease. Do not prepare solutions of double or triple concentration, even in the absence of contraindications. The useful properties of honeysuckle for men and the positive effect of treatment become possible not with the "shock" of the portions, but with the regular use of berries and remedies from them.
Honeysuckle for children
There are no comprehensive studies on the effect of honeysuckle on the children's body, so doctors recommend that you refrain from including berries in the children's diet at least until the child is three years old. Nutritionists and specialists in healthy eating have a different opinion and advise you to abandon a unique product only if there are contraindications. The beneficial properties of honeysuckle berries, in their opinion, far outweigh the dubious concerns about the negative reaction of the child's body to a new product.
At an early age, children quickly get used to the unusual taste of berries, and complementary foods do not cause them to protest, but it is better to introduce honeysuckle to an adult child’s food in combination with the usual products - cottage cheese, milk porridge, natural yogurt.
Honeysuckle for pregnant
The useful properties of honeysuckle have been proven when carrying a child, and the dosages of fresh berries will vary for women who have already consumed honeysuckle repeatedly before pregnancy, and those who decided to diversify the menu after confirming this fact. In the first case, it is allowed to eat up to 70 g of goodies per day, in the second - no more than 40 g.
It is unreasonable, if possible, to include honeysuckle berries in the diet, to refuse this important source of valuable substances, because the regular use of a fresh, dried or canned product relieves a pregnant woman from toxicosis, stimulates appetite, improves bowel function and facilitates heartburn, characteristic of the last months of gestation.
Honeysuckle for diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is accompanied by the appearance of characteristic symptoms, which almost no drugs can cope with. So, with a sharp set of overweight, doctors still recommend following a strict diet, the effectiveness of which is weakly manifested even after a long time. And it is possible to partially cope with edema only by constantly taking diuretics that adversely affect the endocrine system.
These and other problems that worsen the quality of life of diabetic patients can be controlled by introducing honeysuckle tinctures from the flowering and deciduous parts of the bush into the treatment tactics:
- 45 g of dried components brew 0.5 liters of boiling water;
- insist the drink to cool completely, strain.
During the day, you can consume up to 300 ml of such a tincture.
Alcohol tincture on honeysuckle
Useful properties and contraindications of honeysuckle completely go to the tincture of the berries of this plant, prepared on alcohol, moonshine or vodka. You can take such a drink only for adults and not exceeding the permissible dosages.
For 1 liter of alcoholic liquid take:
- two full glasses of washed and dried berries;
- ¾ cup of purified water;
- 2/3 cups of granulated sugar.
Honeysuckle should be finely chopped with a knife, transferred to a 2-liter jar, and pour vodka on top. The jar is closed with a plastic lid and cleaned in a secluded place where direct sunlight does not penetrate. After seven days, chilled syrup prepared from water and sugar is introduced into the jar, and after another 5 days, the finished tincture is filtered and drunk in accordance with the purpose.
Contraindications
The unique properties of honeysuckle can not be used by everyone, but the restrictions usually apply only to berries of the bush - they should not be eaten by patients in the state of acute gastritis or with ulcerative lesions of the stomach. Nevertheless, warm infusions of flowers, leaves and branches of a plant can significantly alleviate symptoms and contribute to the speedy regeneration of damaged tissues. An absolute contraindication to the use of honeysuckle is considered only individual intolerance to the components of the composition.