On the territory of almost the whole of our country, a beautiful and useful plant - horsetail grows. It has several varieties, but they are all used by alternative and classic medicine to treat certain diseases. Field horsetail, as the name implies, is found in forest glades, among crops, loves railway embankments, sandy banks of rivers, fields. Thickets of this plant indicate that the soil is highly acidified. Outwardly, the grass resembles a Christmas tree, which is why the people call it that. And they call it pine, panicle, tin grass.
Tin grass receives nutrients from the soil with the help of long, up to one meter, roots, equipped with blackish growths-cones. These nodule cones are very tasty if baked.
The shoots of a field Christmas tree are twofold. In spring, brown stems appear with a whisk on the top. It is on them that the spores necessary for reproduction ripen. When the spores ripen, these stems die off, and replaced by rough green summer shoots, which must be collected from June to August.
To obtain medicinal raw materials, field horsetail mow, chop, dried in the shade. When collecting grass, you need to be very careful - some species are poisonous.
Why collect field horsetail? Its properties are diverse. Infusions or decoctions of pine remove lead from the body, relieve intoxication in case of poisoning, and act as a strong diuretic in renal diseases. Herringbone preparations stop blood, relieve inflammation, kill germs, bacteria.
Tin grass contains a lot of silicon, necessary for proper metabolism, bone development, and strengthening of blood vessels. Rich in vitamin C and carotene, pine is useful for diseases of the throat, nosebleeds.
The plant contains a lot of tannins, fatty oils, flavonoids, so it has found horsetail application in folk medicine and cosmetology. To rejuvenate your face and reduce wrinkles, use a tin Christmas tree mask. To do this, a decoction of 4 tablespoons of dry raw materials with a glass of water, infused for an hour, is mixed with honey, fresh carrot juice. The resulting composition is impregnated with gauze, applied to the face. After 15 minutes, you can wash yourself with weak green tea. If you wipe your face with a clean decoction, and after that do not wash your face for half an hour, then after 2 weeks the pores on the face will narrow and the oily sheen will disappear.
The same decoction, only in a lighter concentration, helps fight cellulite. Baths with a tin grass decoction reduce sweating, give the skin elasticity, and the body - a pleasant smell. Freshly squeezed juice or a decoction of horsetail helps with internal bleeding, acts as a strong diuretic.
In order to strengthen the body, it is not necessary to use field horsetail as a medicine. From it you can prepare delicious, very healthy dishes, rich in healthy substances. Potato soup, in which crushed pine pestles are added, is very tasty. After 5 minutes of boiling, the soup is served on the table, previously seasoned with sour cream. If you mix the chopped pestles with an egg, a small amount of fried onions, add a little sour cream, you get an excellent filling for pies. The herringbone can be added to casseroles, okroshka, salads.
To get rid of excess weight, nutritionists recommend field horsetail mixed with elderberry root, strawberry leaf, cornflower or cuff flowers , brew, cool for 15 minutes, and drink daily before bedtime.
When using tin grass, you should drink a lot of liquid, since it has a strong diuretic effect. With uncontrolled use, horsetail can disrupt the acid and salt balance of the body.