Chokeberry: medicinal properties and contraindications

The fruit shrub, which is popularly called the chokeberry, is a plant full of surprises. Firstly, the medicinal properties of chokeberry are so pronounced and varied that it is grown on an industrial scale for pharmaceutical needs.

Secondly, this is not a mountain ash, although it belongs to the same Pink family. This aronia is another botanical genus.

Thirdly, it is sometimes confused with Aronia chokeberry - a wild North American shrub with small inedible fruits. The chokeberry that is subpopular in Russian gardens is correctly called the chokeberry of Michurin. It was he who, through long selection work, cultivated the American wild bird, giving the world a valuable medicinal plant.

The chemical composition and caloric content of chokeberry berries

Aronia fruits in the strict botanical sense are not berries. These are small apples of black or purplish-black color collected with fruit in seeds with seeds inside.

The chemical composition of the fruits of the chokeberry Michurin is well understood. They contain:

Despite the fact that the fruits of the black chokeberry taste quite sweet, their calorie content is very low - only 55 kcal per 100 grams of product.

The benefits of chokeberry for the body

The healing properties of a plant are determined by its content of vitamins, anthocyanins, flavonoids, pectins, tannins and the composition of mineral elements.

For example, the ratio of vitamins C and P in the fruits of the chokeberry Michurin is so good that after using them, the content of hyaluronic acid in the tissues increases.

This natural biopolymer is actively used not only in medicine, but also in cosmetology.

Aronia as a medicinal plant has the following list of properties:

• regulates blood sugar and cholesterol;
• reduces capillary permeability, strengthens vascular walls;
• stimulates the immune system;
• has a diuretic effect;
• increases the acidity level of gastric juice;
• has an astringent effect on the intestinal wall, reduces peristalsis;
• has a hepatoprotective effect;
• reduces excitability;
• inhibits the aging process of the eye;
• neutralizes the effects of radiation exposure.

Often black chokeberry is used to correct iodine deficiency conditions. It is believed that in its fruits, iodine is four times more than in any other. This is not quite the right opinion. The content of this element varies greatly depending on the region of cultivation. The aronia growing on iodine-poor soils will not be rich in it itself.

The benefits of chokeberry during pregnancy

Aronia is a plant that can reduce the manifestations of toxicosis in the first trimester of pregnancy. This is due to the hepatoprotective properties of its fruits.

At a later date, when many pregnant women suffer from edema, chokeberry juice can be used as a diuretic. True, caution must be exercised.

If edema is accompanied by low blood pressure, it is better to refrain from using this product.

Aronia Michurin can be an aid in the treatment of such pregnancy pathologies:

• hypertension of pregnant women;
• diabetes of pregnant women;
• placenta previa or detachment;
• intrauterine hematomas.

Before consuming chokeberry fruits, it is important to consult a doctor to rule out pathologies in which this product is contraindicated. It is also worth limiting it if pregnancy is accompanied by heartburn and constipation.

Chokeberry for children

You can enter black chokeberry in a children's diet from the age of two. The slightly astringent, sour taste is not always liked by children, so it is better to combine the fruits of chokeberry with other fruits and berries - for example, use them as part of fresh juices, compotes or jelly.

As a remedy, black chokeberry will help out the child with diarrhea. At the same time, it gently inhibits peristalsis and delivers dietary fiber into the intestines, which bind and remove toxins. As a result, the stool quickly normalizes.

The strong antioxidant effect of chokeberry fruits can also be used for viral infections that children are usually exposed to. In this case, drug therapy is supplemented with a warm drink from chokeberry with honey or fresh mashed potatoes from its fruits.

Traditional medicine recipes

The experience of traditional medicine has accumulated many ways to use chokeberry to treat various diseases.

As raw materials, you can use not only the fruits, but also the leaves of this plant, as well as its bark.

Harvesting of fruits can be carried out all fall until the frosts. The main thing is to correctly determine the right moment when the chokeberry has ripened, but has not yet begun to crumble. Leaves are better to collect in early summer, and bark - in the late autumn, after leaf fall and the end of sap flow.

Vitamin tea

To prepare a healthy vitamin drink, dry fruits and leaves of chokeberry are taken in equal proportions. Next, 3 tablespoons of this mixture should be placed in a thermos and pour 0.5 liters of boiled and cooled to 700 ° C water. Close the thermos and leave for 1 hour.

Ready tea can be sweetened with honey and taken during seasonal epidemics as an immunostimulating agent.You can drink 2-3 glasses of such a drink a day.

Chokeberry juice

Aronia juice has many uses.

It is recommended for the following diseases:

• hypertension;
• atherosclerosis;
• hypoacid gastritis;
• sleep disturbances caused by stress;
• diarrhea.

To prepare fresh chokeberry juice, you can use an ordinary household juicer or grind the fruits in mashed potatoes and squeeze through cheesecloth.

You can also prepare juice for future use. It is done like this:

1. Juice is squeezed from the fruit.
2. For 1 liter of juice, 1 cup of sugar and a third of a teaspoon of citric acid are taken.
3. Juice is poured into an enameled dish, slightly warmed up, sugar and citric acid dissolve in it.
4. Juice is poured into glass jars or bottles, covered with a sterile lid and placed in a pot of water for sterilization for 15 minutes.
5. After sterilization is completed, the containers are rolled up or hermetically sealed.

Such a product is stored in a cool place. If the concentration seems too large, it is diluted with warm water in a 1: 1 ratio before use. A child can be given chokeberry juice of 150 ml, and an adult - 250 ml 2 times a day.

Restorative drink

You can prepare reinforcing drinks from aronia with the addition of other ingredients: dry raspberries, rose hips, linden flowers, cherry and blackcurrant leaves. All available raw materials are combined in equal proportions.

For cooking, take 3 tablespoons of the mixture, put in a thermos and pour 0.5 liters of boiling water. All infused for 2-3 hours. If the drink is prepared with rose hips, you need to insist it longer - at least 12 hours. Use in a warm form for 2-3 glasses a day.

Sometimes alcohol tincture of chokeberry is prepared as a stimulating and strengthening agent. They do it like this:

1. Take 500 grams of fresh ripe chokeberry fruits, 0.5 liters of vodka and 3 tablespoons of honey.
2. Fruits are poured into a suitable glass container, honey is also placed there.
3. Everything is poured with vodka and shakes vigorously.
4. The container is clogged and put away in a dark cool place (not in the refrigerator).
5. For 2.5 months, the drink is shaken every 4 days.

Ready tincture can be taken 1 tablespoon to normalize sleep, stimulate appetite and digestive upset.

Atherosclerosis Prevention

Atherosclerosis is a dangerous vascular disease that is accompanied by the deposition of cholesterol on their walls. For its prevention, use a decoction of chokeberry bark.

The prepared bark is ground with a blender and dried. Then take 5 tablespoons of raw materials, placed in an enamel bowl, pour 0.5 liters of boiling water and put on a small fire. The mixture is boiled for 2 hours, cooled, filtered and taken 20 grams 3 times a day.

With hypertension

The pronounced hypotensive effect of chokeberry allows it to be used to treat hypertension. To reduce pressure, they use juice, infusion or decoction of chokeberries.

To prepare the infusion, 0.5 cups of fresh or dried fruit is poured into a thermos, pour 2 cups of boiling water and insist for a day. Take 100 ml 3 times a day for a month.

The broth is prepared from 1 cup of fruit and 1 liter of boiling water. The mixture is boiled for 10 minutes, cools and is taken according to the same scheme as the infusion.

It is important to constantly monitor the pressure. If it has stabilized, the intake of chamomile should be limited.

With anemia (anemia)

Before proceeding with the treatment of anemia, it is necessary to establish its type. The fact is that with hemolytic or sickle cell anemia, chokeberry does not help. It will also be of little use in cases of iron deficiency or folic acid deficiency anemia, since the content of iron and folic acid in this plant is low.

It is interesting:iron supplements for low hemoglobin in adults

If anemia developed as a result of bleeding, an infusion of chokeberry and rosehip fruit can be used to supplement complex therapy.For 3 tablespoons, 0.5 l of boiling water is taken, infused in a thermos for a day and taken in 1 glass 3 times a day.

Black chokeberry liqueur with cherry leaves

As an anti-stress relaxing agent, you can take a light liquor.

Prepare it like this:

1. For 400 grams of chokeberry fruit, 80 fresh cherry leaves, 300 grams of sugar, 1 teaspoon of citric acid, 1 liter of vodka and 1.5 liters of water are taken.
2. The leaves are washed and boiled for 10 minutes, removed and in a boiling broth, pour black chokeberry.
3. After 10 minutes, add sugar, wait for its dissolution, add citric acid and turn off the fire.
4. The mixture is cooled, filtered, combined with vodka and bottled.

Such liquor is stored in the refrigerator. You can take it at 40 grams before bedtime.

Chokeberry - indications and contraindications

Summarizing all the information, it is possible to systematize the beneficial properties of chokeberry and contraindications for its use:

It is important to understand that folk remedies are not independent treatment methods. They need to be used in combination with drug therapy.

Is it possible to freeze chokeberry for the winter?

The beneficial properties of harvested chokeberries are best preserved when the fruits are dried. An easier way of storage - freezing - unfortunately, does not fit. At low temperatures, an important component of the chokeberry fruit, tannin, is destroyed. Berries lose their characteristic astringent taste, become sweeter, but at the same time most of the benefits disappear.

Proper preparation and storage of medicinal raw materials guarantee the effectiveness of finished products. A careful attitude to the recommendations and contraindications will avoid possible complications. If these two conditions are met, black chokeberry will be a great help in the treatment of many diseases.