Can You Take Hawthorn Berries With Precription High Pressure Medician – Hawthorn has long been used in Chinese and Western medicine to treat various ailments. The most studied use of hawthorn is for congestive heart failure (CHF). Its effectiveness for CHF and other conditions is limited, but so is its toxicity. However, it is always best to consult with your primary care provider and pharmacist before starting any herbal regimen to avoid any potential interactions with prescription or over-the-counter medications.
The genus and rose family and includes hundreds of types of shrubs and trees. Other names for this plant include quickthorn, may flower, shan za and crataegus berry. Hawthorn is native to northern Europe but is grown around the world. Hawthorn plants are found as thorny shrubs or small trees with bright green leaves, white flowers and red berries.
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Can You Take Hawthorn Berries With Precription High Pressure Medician
Hawthorn fruit is used in Chinese traditional medicine to improve digestion, blood circulation, and treat heart problems such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Dried fruits used to improve digestion are commonly made into jams, jellies, candy or wine. In European herbal medicine, hawthorn is the oldest known medicinal plant. The fruits, leaves, and flowers are commonly used as heart tonic, astringent, muscle spasms and for high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The leaves, berries and flowers can be used to make a liquid extract, usually with water and alcohol. The dried extract can be prepared in capsule or tablet form.
Now Foods, Hawthorn Berry, 540 Mg, 100 Veg Capsules
The most studied clinical effect of hawthorn is its use in chronic congestive heart failure (CHF). However, the results of studies are not consistent, and more data are needed to establish its use. A large 2008 study found that hawthorn when used in combination with standard CHF drug therapy improved exercise tolerance and symptoms of fatigue and shortness of breath, compared to a placebo. However, another trial in patients with CHF tested hawthorn extract against a placebo and failed to show benefit when hawthorn was given along with standard drug therapy.
Overall, hawthorn is well tolerated. The most commonly reported side effects associated with hawthorn include dizziness and lightheadedness. Other less common side effects include nausea, fatigue, sweating, fast heartbeat, headache, shortness of breath, and nose bleeds. The only contraindication to hawthorn is a known allergy.
Products and plants. Because of potential uterine stimulation it should not be used during pregnancy, nor is it recommended during breast-feeding.
There have been no reports of serious overdose with hawthorn berries or dietary supplement products. However, it is always best to consult with your primary care provider and pharmacist before starting the hawthorn diet to avoid interactions with prescription and over-the-counter medications. If you are taking digoxin or any antiplatelet, anticoagulant, or blood pressure medications, consult with your primary care provider and pharmacist as studies show that hawthorn may interfere with these medications.
Add Indian Hawthorn For Spring Flowering
If you suspect that someone has inadvertently taken too much or is experiencing side effects from hawthorn, get help online with WebControl or call 1-800-222-1222. Both options are free to the public, and available 24 hours a day.
It actually happened that two kids aged 3 and 4 ate some hawthorn berries from their backyard. Both children had no symptoms 20 minutes after ingestion, when their mother called Control for Guidance. Control is recommended for any severe and persistent symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea. A follow-up call was made to the mother, and she said no symptoms had appeared.
Hawthorn (herb at a glance). Bethesda (MD): US National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine; Update 2008 May [cited 2021 November 30]. Hawthorn is often referred to as the “heart herb” for its various cardio-protective abilities. Rewarded for its ability to elevate and strengthen the heart emotionally and physically, hawthorn berry has been used for centuries as a natural remedy for serious cardiovascular concerns of all kinds. These include angina, high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, irregular heartbeat and even congestive heart failure.
In fact, hawthorn has been used to treat heart disease since the first century! Doctors in the early 1800s and in the United States were also using this medicinal herb for respiratory and circulatory health disorders. (1)
Hawthorne Berry As Herbal Medicine For Healing Your Heart
The fruits, leaves and flowers of hawthorn are all used medicinally today. Hawthorn fruit comes in the form of small red berries. Native American tribes enjoyed eating them and they used hawthorn to treat heart problems as well as gastrointestinal complaints. (2)
What Makes Hawthorn Jamun So Medicinal? It appears to be their many flavonoids for starters. Flavonoids are powerful antioxidants that are known to effectively reduce inflammation while boosting immune function. Eating a diet rich in flavonoid-rich foods, beverages and herbs has been linked to the prevention of cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases as well as cancer. (3)
Let’s take a closer look at how a small hawthorn berry can actually make a huge difference in the health of many people.
Hawthorn bush, also called thorn or may-tree, is a deciduous plant. It is a member of the rose family (Rosaceae) which belongs to the genus
Hawthorn: Gaia Herbs®
, Hawthorn can come in the form of a thorny hawthorn shrub or hawthorn tree. Most of the time, you can find hawthorn growing along the side of sunny wooded hills. There are many species of hawthorn, many of which are found in North America. (4)
Hawthorn plants have berries as well as flowers that bloom in May. Hawthorn flowers are red, pink or white in color. Beautiful hawthorn berries appear after the flowers bloom. When hawthorn berries are fully ripe, they are usually red in color, but sometimes they are black. These berries are edible. How do they taste? Most people describe hawthorn berries as a mixture of sweet and sour.
Hawthorn herb is loaded with health beneficial compounds. These compounds have actually been shown to promote heart health. Hawthorn’s antioxidant flavonoids improve blood flow, protect blood vessels from damage, and even help dilate blood vessels. (5)
These flavonoids include OPCs. What are OPCs? OPC stands for oligomeric proanthocyanidin. OPCs are some of the most prevalent polyphenolic substances found in plants. (6)
Heart Protective Hawthorn
Hawthorn Berry is best known for its helpful toning effects on the heart. As a “cardiotonic herb,” hawthorn has shown itself to be impressively helpful for serious cardiac concerns of all kinds. These include heart failure, heart disease, angina pectoris, changes in heart rhythm, and atherosclerosis. According to a 2016 study published in the journal
To date, research has shown that hawthorn may also have a helpful effect on heart failure (CHF). Several studies have shown that hawthorn supplementation resulted in improved heart function based on several parameters. These parameters include blood pressure, heart rate, cardiac output, and exercise tolerance.
One trial in particular gave a commercial preparation of hawthorn leaves and flowers to 78 patients with NYHA Class II heart failure. After two months, patients receiving 200 mg of hawthorn three times per day had an increase in heart capacity, along with a reduction in symptoms. The hawthorn group also showed a reduction in systolic blood pressure during physical activity. Another German study also showed that a hawthorn extract (LI132 Faros®) worked nearly as well as a prescription heart failure medicine (captopril). And, hawthorn extract had fewer side effects. (9)
) specialized extracts either alone or as an add-on to conventional treatments. After two years, fatigue, tension dyspnea and palpitations (the three main symptoms of heart failure) were all significantly reduced in the group taking hawthorn, compared to the group not taking hawthorn. (10)
Hawthorn Cordial Recipe: Hawthorn For The Heart
Many herbal practitioners recommend hawthorn berries, flowers and leaves as natural blood pressure lowering agents. A scientific study published in
79 patients with type 2 diabetes took either 1200 mg of hawthorn extract daily or a placebo for a total of 16 weeks. Of the study participants, 71 percent also took hypotension medications.
What did he find? The hawthorn group experienced a greater reduction in diastolic blood pressure. But, there was no group difference in the reduction in systolic blood pressure. (11) Hopefully more studies are coming soon to support the use of hawthorn in lowering blood pressure.
Reduced blood flow to the heart causes chest pain called angina. Sometimes it is confused with dyspepsia. However, true angina can be a symptom of coronary heart disease. So far, research is showing that hawthorn can be an effective natural remedy to prevent and treat angina.
Hawthorn Berry Heart Tonic Honey
Hawthorn’s bioflavonoids help dilate both peripheral and coronary blood vessels. It can improve blood flow to the heart, making hawthorn very useful for angina. Hawthorn’s proanthocyanidins are believed to reduce the tension in the walls of blood vessels. Again, it is very helpful in discouraging angina. (12)
In one study, 80 subjects (45 to 65 years of age) with stable angina pectoris were randomly divided into four groups. The first group was the aerobic exercise group. The other group took hawthorn extract. The third group did aerobic exercise, plus they took hawthorn extract. Finally, the fourth group was the control group. After 12 weeks, the researchers found that the combination of aerobic exercise and hawthorn supplementation was “an effective complementary strategy for significantly reducing the risk of atherosclerosis and heart problems.” (13)
Animal studies have shown that hawthorn berry extract may be a helpful natural remedy for lowering LDL (“bad”) cholesterol from the body. In China, hawthorn is called “shan-zha”.