Hawthorn Berries Diuretic, Mechanism Of Action – Effects: antioxidant, adaptogenic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, astringent, cardiotonic, carminative, digestive, diuretic, hypotensive, lithotriptic, nervine, nourishing, rejuvenating, relaxing, stimulating, troforestorating and dilating vessels
Vitamins and minerals: aluminum, calcium, chromium, cobalt, iron, magnesium, manganese, niacin (B3), phosphorus, potassium, protein, riboflavin (B2), selenium, silicon, sodium, thiamin (B1), tin, vitamins A and C and zinc.
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Hawthorn Berries Diuretic, Mechanism Of Action
Habitat: This dense shrub lives on the edge. It is a hedgerow species that creates a “border” along properties or just a shift from open prairie to woodland. You can find hawthorn along a path, in a hedge, near banks, or growing somewhere in the open where a bird has deposited its seeds. Hawthorn is native to Europe and has relatives in North Africa and West Asia. This shrub is scandalous in that it multiplies with many different varieties. Even in this way it is difficult to identify. You will most often see plants with red and black fruits that vary in shape and size. Enjoy a trip to the edge in search of this thorn bush.
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Collection: The flowers are collected in spring (between March-May) and the berries or troughs are collected in autumn (between September and October). I learned to harvest the flowers with the anthers still pink (look at the picture above and notice the pink anthers). Watch out for the thorns that protect the heart of this bush!
Hawthorn normalizes the heart. Stimulates or suppresses heart activity depending on the need. According to Rosemary Gladstar, “most naturopaths and herbalists feel that hawthorn preparations are safe to use in conjunction with allopathic heart medications because hawthorn works through a nourishing and supportive mechanism rather than a drug-like chemical.” He also recommends checking with your doctor if you are taking heart medication before taking hawthorn. Hawthorn is not for acute illness.
The fruits, leaves and flowers of hawthorn are rich in bioflavonoids, antioxidants and procyanidins, which tone the heart. Hawthorn is delicate. It acts on the heart in a supportive, nourishing and protective way. David Hoffman says: “As a long-term treatment, they (referring to the berries) can be used for heart failure or weakness. Similarly, they can be used for heart palpitations.” Cardiotonic, troforestorative and rejuvenating properties of hawthorn help the circulatory system in the treatment of high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, weakness of the heart muscle, degenerative heart disease and the treatment of heart attacks. Hawthorn’s ability to dilate blood vessels helps open up circulation, which can help reduce the effects of hardening of the arteries and also help lower blood pressure.
To reap these benefits, take your time with Hawthorne. For best results, feed on hawthorn infusions or tea for 3 months or more. The benefits obtained from Hawthorn will remain even after you stop using it.
Hctz / Triamterene Tablets
Heart herb, hearth, center, hawthorn. Spiritually, hawthorn is said to help with grief and loss. It provides love for the broken hearted. And he covers you when you need to be supported and protected (think of those thorns that protect his berries and flowers). One of my teachers claims that Hawthorn was too “wet” for her. His blanket was heavy and she felt suffocated… others believe that Hawthorn is gentle and protective without being violent. I wonder what you feel when your heart needs support and love.
If you are experiencing the “winter blues” or have been diagnosed with SAD, then Hawthorn can help bring light to the dark months. The nervine and antioxidant properties, along with the bioflavonoids of this herb, can help deep-seated grief.
As a flower medicine, it can help by providing an endless supply of faith and hope in life’s difficulties. It is grounding and solid.
Bring the water to a boil. Add the hawthorn berries and reduce to a simmer. Let it simmer for at least 25 minutes. If it is not strong enough, use less water or steep the berries longer.
Hawthorn: Heart Health & Antioxidant Activity
It’s a great way to get your daily dose of hawthorn. It can also be used on pancakes, waffles, French toast and ice cream for a special treat. Editor and reviewer affiliations are most recently listed on their Loop research profiles and may not reflect their situation at the time of review.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD), particularly atherosclerosis, is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide; it places a significant burden on families and carers and results in significant financial costs. Hawthorn has an extensive history of medicinal use in many countries. In China, the use of hawthorn for the treatment of CVD dates back to 659 AD. In addition, according to traditional Chinese medicine theory, it works to tonify the spleen, promote digestion, and activate blood circulation to disperse blood stasis. This review revealed that hawthorn extracts have serum lipid-lowering, antioxidant, and cardiovascular protective properties, thus gaining popularity, especially for their antiatherosclerotic effects. We summarize four underlying mechanisms, including blood lipid lowering, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and vascular endothelial protection, providing a theoretical basis for further uses of hawthorn.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD), especially atherosclerosis, is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. CVD places a significant burden on families and primary caregivers, along with a high financial cost to society. In recent decades, coronary heart disease and stroke are the two leading causes of death in China ( Yang et al., 2013 ). With a rapidly aging population, the absolute number of CVD deaths in China has increased by 46%, four and three times higher than in the United States and Western Europe, respectively (Du et al., 2019). In addition to conventional medical treatment, herbal plants have several natural compounds for the prevention and treatment of various diseases. Herbal medicine such as adjuvants is also popular worldwide. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly four billion people in developing countries consume herbal medicines as a primary source of health care (Bodeker and Ong, 2005). Therefore, the use of herbal medicines in complementary and alternative medicine is widely spread in many countries (Ekor, 2014).
Crataegus sp., commonly known as hawthorn or hawthorn, is a large genus of thorny shrubs and trees belonging to the family Rosaceae, comprising approximately 280 species, native to temperate regions of Europe, eastern Asia and North America (Hobbs and Foster, 1994). Hawthorn has been used around the world for centuries as a food and as a folk medicine. Hawthorn is one of the recognized medicinal plants in European medicine, since Dioscorides described mainly its cardiovascular effects in the first century (Petrovska, 2012). Currently, countries such as China, Germany and France have officially recorded some species in their pharmacopoeias (Chang et al., 2002).
Pdf) Crataegus Oxyacantha Linn. Commonly Known As Hawthorn A Scientific Review
In China, bright red hawthorn berries, also called Shanzha (Figure 1), have been widely used to treat various ailments due to their medicinal properties. It was first mentioned for the “treatment of dysentery” in the Tang Materia Medica (Tang Ben Cao) of AD 659, the world’s first known official pharmacopoeia. As described in the Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu), which is considered to be the most complete and comprehensive herbal monograph, the dried berries of Crataegus pinnatifida have been reported to have therapeutic efficacy for thoracalgia, hernia, indigestion, blood stasis, and hematochezia (Liu et al., 2011). Considerable efforts are currently underway to identify bioactive components from various plant parts and to reveal potential mechanisms of their pharmaceutical effects.
Figure 1 Crataegus pinnatifida tree and fruits (left). Traditional Chinese herb Shanzha (Fructus Crataegus, modified pieces of Crataegus pinnatifida var. major) fruit pieces (right).
Currently, in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the fruits of both C. pinnatifida Bge. cook major N.E.Br and C. pinnatifida Bge are the only two medicinal species documented in the Chinese pharmacopoeia to be used to aid digestion and improve blood circulation. Other species, such as Crataegus monogyna and C. azarolus, have also been used as focal medicine in other countries. Various parts of the plant, i.e. flowers, leaves, seeds and berries, have long been recorded for their traditional medicinal use either in the form of decoction or powder as folk medicine in many countries such as Serbia, France, Chile, Turkey and others. China to treat various ailments (e.g., antispasmodic, cardiotonic, diuretic, hypotensive, and antiatherosclerotic) (Cloud et al., 2019; Dehghani et al., 2019).
In the past 20 years, more than 150 chemical compounds, including flavonoids, triterpenoids, oligomeric proanthocyanidins, and organic acids, have been separated and characterized in the berries, leaves, and flowers of C. pinnatifida (Özcan et al., 2005; Wu et al., 2014) (Figures 2–4). In addition, pectin in fresh hawthorn fruit has been reported to be as high as 20.5% ( Wang et al., 2007 ). Pectin oligosaccharides with 2–11 polymers exhibit antioxidant, hypolipidemic, antiglycation and antibiotic properties (Li et al., 2010; Li et al., 2013a; Li et al., 2014; Zhu et al., 2019). Interestingly, one study demonstrated the contribution of total polyphenolics rather than total flavonoids or anthocyanins to the antioxidant capacity of hawthorn beverages (made from C. pinnatifida) (Liu et al., 2016). In addition, exposure to heat and microwave radiation could increase the level of anthocyanins such as cyanidin-3-galactoside ( Liu et al., 2016 ). In other species such as C. monogyna and C. azarolus, similar types of phenolic compounds were present and categorized into four subclasses: phenolic acids including hydroxycinnamic acid and hydroxybenzoic acid, flavonoids which are