Sweet and sour gooseberries are worth its weight in gold.
And not by chance: the benefits of a delicious garden berry are enormous.
In folk medicine, gooseberries are used as a medicinal plant that heals various diseases and strengthens the immune system.
Gooseberry Berry Composition
Green or red berry, sprinkling with spiny branches of low shrubs, has a unique chemical composition. Gooseberries are second in ascorbic acid, second only to blackcurrant. And there is more iron in the "northern grapes" than in apples.
The useful properties of gooseberries are explained by the fact that the following substances are part of the berry:
• serotonin (prevents some types of cancer, normalizes blood pressure, restores the normal functioning of the nervous system);
• balanced rich mineral complex (except iron, berries contain a record amount of copper, a lot of magnesium, as well as calcium, zinc, phosphorus, molybdenum);
• vitamins B1 and B2, A, E, PP, carotene, folic acid;
• biologically active substances flavans and anthocyanins;
• pectin, which removes strontium and other salts of heavy metals from the body (it is not by chance that it is believed that a mature gooseberry bush growing in the yard can save from radiation).
Gooseberries are able to maintain a normal acid-base balance in the body. Molybdenum contained in the berry provides amino acid metabolism and promotes the production of hemoglobin, which prevents vitamin deficiency and allows you to preserve muscle mass.
Ascorbic acid contained in gooseberries makes the fruits a powerful cure for colds, viral attacks. Due to its amazing antioxidant properties, the “northern grape” is able to give beauty and slow down the aging process. Vitamin PP prevents internal bleeding, strengthens blood vessels, and folic acid is indispensable for people suffering from blood loss and anemia.
At the same time, gooseberries have very few contraindications, unlike official medicine. Fruits are eaten raw or used to make jam, jelly, wine, juice, jelly, jam, marmalade, various desserts, cakes, yogurts.
Gooseberry Benefits
The useful properties of gooseberries help to heal a variety of ailments. It was mentioned above that the berries of the prickly shrub very well affect the circulatory system, and therefore are good for anemia. However, the benefits of northern grapes are not limited to this. The list of ailments in which it is worth including sour-sweet striped fruits in your diet is much longer:
• gooseberries have a beneficial effect on the intestines, relieves chronic constipation;
• useful for gastroenterocolitis, kidney and bladder diseases;
• has a choleretic effect, stimulates bile secretion, helps the liver cleanse the blood and break down fats better;
• has anti-edematous properties;
• prevents the development of cancerous tumors;
• strengthens the fragile walls of blood vessels;
• normalizes metabolic processes, useful for obesity.
The useful properties of gooseberries with regular use affect the restoration of normal functioning of the whole organism. Berry is especially good to take fresh. To cure vitamin deficiency, anemia, restore metabolic processes, decoctions or berries wiped with sugar are good. In just two months, you can put your body in order, strengthen your immune system, get rid of persistent edema and lose a few pounds of excess weight.
Due to the excellent diuretic properties, gooseberries are able to prevent the formation of kidney stones. In the presence of sand, the juice of a unique berry, like the juice of watermelons or cucumbers, helps to remove it from the genitourinary system.
Due to its beneficial properties, gooseberries become indispensable for women with heavy periods. In addition, fresh berry flesh can restore the menstrual cycle, have a beneficial effect on the female hormonal background, alleviate the symptoms of PMS and alleviate the condition during menopause.
Gooseberries should definitely include a diet for those who have had chemotherapy, abdominal surgery, and serious illness. It is useful to eat gooseberry jam in the winter, since vitamins and other useful substances are stored in it. If gooseberries are raw, then preference should be given to fully ripened, dark fruits. In them, the content of ascorbic acid is almost half as high as in green berries.
Folk recipes with gooseberries
Berry juice and broth has a mild laxative effect. This useful property of gooseberries should be used by overweight people and chronic constipation. To prepare the juice, large ripe fruits need to be rubbed through a frequent sieve. Then mix with water, taking on each part of the gooseberry two parts of water. Taking this juice, you can normalize metabolic disorders and stimulate the intestines. In addition, by mixing juice with honey, you can get a natural cure for anemia, hemorrhage, skin rash.
Gooseberries have no contraindications, therefore, juice can be safely given to children after 3-4 years. If the metabolism is impaired, it should be consumed for at least one and a half months. A lasting positive effect in the treatment of kidneys and liver is achieved earlier. After two weeks, the inflammatory processes stop.
To prepare a decoction of berries, you need to pour a large spoonful of ripe soft gooseberries with a glass of boiling water, simmer under the lid over low heat for ten minutes, then strain and drink. If the decoction is used as a laxative to stimulate the lazy intestines, it is drunk half a glass four times a day.
To treat the liver, with pain in the stomach, an infusion of gooseberries is made. To do this, two tablespoons of raw material is poured with three glasses of boiling water in a thermos. The infusion is ready five hours later. It is mixed with a small amount of bee honey and taken half a glass several times a day.
With chronic diarrhea, it is not necessary to cook a decoction or infusion of gooseberries. You can cope with the misfortune and "fix" the chair with fresh fruits. They need to be eaten every day at will (one or two plates). Relief occurs after the first week of eating the berry. However, before treating protracted diarrhea with folk remedies, it is good to find out its cause. Behind the symptom may be a serious illness that requires serious treatment. In this case, gooseberries are contraindicated for use as a monotherapeutic agent in home medicine.
The useful properties of gooseberries help to quickly cope with respiratory diseases. A cold, accompanied by a sore throat, is treated with fresh gooseberry berry juice mixed with natural bee honey. You can gargle with a healing liquid throat: inflammation will quickly pass.
Traditional medicine uses gooseberry decoction to treat erysipelatous skin inflammations and burns caused by poisonous plants. The cooked broth should be filtered and rubbed into the affected area. Pain, itching, inflammation will subside almost immediately.
We must not forget about the leaves of gooseberry bushes. Since ancient times, folk healers have used a decoction of small green leaves to treat tuberculosis, arthritis, and osteochondrosis. On a tablespoon of raw materials you need to take a glass of boiling water, pour leaves and insist for an hour. Drink strained liquid in three doses during the day.
Gooseberry contraindications
Despite the undoubted benefit of a delicious berry, there are still contraindications to gooseberries as a remedy for many ailments. Berries can not be used raw or in the form of decoctions, infusions, juice in the presence of the following diseases:
• diabetes;
• enterocolitis (exacerbation may begin);
• stomach ulcer and 12 duodenal ulcer.
Gooseberries have very few contraindications. Therefore, its wonderful beneficial properties can and should be used by both adults and children.
