Want to learn how to use hawthorn berries for heart problems? Continue reading and find out how.
Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) is a miraculous medicinal plant, nature’s magical gift for tired human hearts. Until the 17th century, it was only used empirically, and only after the 1850s hawthorn gained its fame, as an effective remedy for heart conditions. Dr. Green of Ennis in County Clare, Ireland described in his numerous treatises the successes he has in treating different heart ailments with hawthorn. Hawthorn berries are known to strengthen the heart, regulate blood pressure, and act as natural sleeping pills among others. Let’s see how to use hawthorn berries for heart problems. But first.
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How to Harvest Hawthorn Berries
The harvesting time for hawthorn berries is September-October, before the first frost. The ripe berries have an intense red color (not pink or dark red) and are harvested without the stems, only the berries. Harvest them in canvas or paper bags. Dry the berries in shaded places, away from moisture, in a very thin layer (ideally the berries should not touch each other). The drying process is quite long, taking about 1-3 weeks, and it is done when the pulp of the berries is completely dehydrated and slightly brittle, breaking easily when cutting the berries with a knife.
One kilogram (35 oz) of freshly picked hawthorn berries will make approximately 300 grams (10.5 oz) of dehydrated berries.
Health Benefits of Hawthorn Berries
Hawthorn berries are rich in vitamins A, C, and E, minerals, and natural salts. The most important active principles they contain are crategic acid, flavonoid derivatives, essential oil, tannins, pectins, vitamin C, and mineral salts. They have vasodilatory, hypotensive, energizing action on coronary and cerebral circulation, cardiac activity, and mild sedative action on the central nervous system. Hawthorn berries are used for most cardiac problems, namely arrhythmias, palpitations, coronary insufficiency, angina, cardiac neurosis, hypertension and hypotension, atherosclerosis, etc. They can be administered as tea, tincture, extract, decoction, powder, and syrup. Now let’s see how to use hawthorn berries for heart problems.
How to Use Hawthorn Berries for Heart Problems
1. Stenocardia
For this natural remedy, you need 50 g of hawthorn berries, 50 g of rose hips, 20 g of hawthorn flowers, 1-2 cloves of garlic, and 1/2 l of water (2 cups). Scald the berries, flowers, and crushed garlic in the boiling water for a few hours, then strain the tea. Drink this infusion four times a day before meals, for 2 weeks straight. You can also use this recipe in case of vascular insufficiency. Or, a simpler remedy is this. Steep 100 g of hawthorn berries in 2 cups of hot water for a few hours. Strain through several layers of cheesecloth and drink 4 times a day, after meals, for 18 days.
2. Strengthen the Heart Muscle
Crush two handfuls of fresh hawthorn berries and put them in a glass jar. Pour half a liter of naturally sweet red wine on top, seal the jar, and let it macerate for 3 weeks. Shake daily. Strain and transfer to a clean glass bottle. Drink 1-2 shots of the hawthorn liqueur after the meals. In addition, hawthorn baths are very good for heart problems. Boil two handfuls of hawthorn leaves and berries in two liters of water. Strain and pour into the bath water, together with a handful of sea salt. The skin is activated by the precious natural substances in the berries and leaves, which correct blood flow and heartbeat.
3. High Blood Pressure
Drink a cup of hawthorn berries tea in which you add a spoonful of raw honey every day before going to bed. To make the tea pour a cup of boiling water over 2 teaspoons of dried berries and steep for 10-15 minutes. This is an amazing remedy for high blood pressure.
4. Heart Palpitations & Arythmias
Make a herbal blend with 1 tablespoon of chamomile, and 4 tablespoons each of motherwort (Leonorus cardiaca) and hawthorn berries. Steep a spoonful of the mixture in boiling water in a thermos for an hour. Have 1-2 tablespoons of the warm infusion (depending on body weight) 3 times a day, 30 minutes before meals, for 4 weeks. This is a great natural remedy for tachycardia caused by stress.
Forest Therapy with Hawthorn
Hawthorn sometimes has a warming and energizing effect, at other times it cools and calms us down. After spending some time in its intimacy, this magnificent tree balances our energy through the protection it provides. Our worries and physical pains fall apart when we embrace a hawthorn tree. The tree responds to us with empathy, it charges us up with energy in a holistic healing process.
Get close to the hawthorn bush barefoot to feel the ground under your feet. If the hawthorn is tall and has the shape of a tree, get close to it until the tips of your toes touch its trunk, and you can wrap your arms around it. If it is just a bush, grasp the tips of its flowering branches with your palms. When doing this, be relaxed and fully present, and focus exclusively on touching the tree. In a short while, you will actually merge with the consciousness of the hawthorn tree and feel its infinite healing energy.
Hawthorn, The Healer of Broken Hearts
In the Carpathian Mountains, hawthorn has been used since the time of the Agathyrsi, who were native to these lands, to cure the heart and the liver. In the Middle Ages in Europe, hawthorn was known especially as a magical plant, famous for its power to break spells and untie blindfolds. Thus, in the magic medicine of the Celts, the Gauls, and also the Thracians, it was believed that the red berries of the hawthorn have exceptional properties for strengthening love bonds and repairing a broken heart.
At the beginning of autumn, the Celts used the hawthorn to purify the soul of someone suffering from love, in a sort of meditation under the hawthorn tree, until the heart would liberate the pain inside. The Germanic and Slavic peoples believed that hawthorn wood had magical properties for strengthening the heart of the kind and weakening the heart of the evil. Ritual arrows were made from hawthorn wood with which those suspected of working with evil spirits were touched and annihilated.
Some of the popular beliefs surrounding the hawthorn are largely confirmed by modern studies today, which show that the berries, leaves, and flowers have sedative and calming effects, helping to overcome mental tensions, calming anxiety, panic, and emotional instability – specific to those who suffer strong emotional disappointments.
Healing Hawthorn Berries Recipes:
Hawthorn Tincture
Hawthorn Extract
Hawthorn Powder
Hawthorn Tea
Hawthorn Decoction
Hawthorn Syrup
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