The therapeutic effects of hawthorn

The medical effects and functions of hawthorn are known not only to traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, but also to many people with life experience. Every autumn, there are hawkers riding bicycles through the streets selling candied hawthorns. The sour and sweet candied hawthorns are very popular. However, in addition to being delicious, hawthorn also has therapeutic effects that cannot be underestimated. Let's take a look.

Hawthorn's effects:

1. Cancer prevention and anti-cancer

Recent studies have found that hawthorn contains a compound called vitexin, which has anti-cancer effects.

Nitrosamines and aflatoxin can induce the occurrence or aggravation of digestive tract cancer, and experimental studies have shown that hawthorn extract can not only block the synthesis of nitrosamines, but also inhibit the carcinogenic effect of aflatoxin. Therefore, people at high risk of digestive tract cancer should eat hawthorn regularly. For patients who already have cancer, if they have indigestion, they can also cook porridge with hawthorn and rice, which can not only help digestion, but also play an auxiliary anti-cancer role.

2. Strengthen the heart, lower blood lipids and blood pressure

Clinical studies have confirmed that hawthorn can significantly reduce serum cholesterol and triglycerides, and effectively prevent and treat atherosclerosis; hawthorn can also strengthen the heart and prevent angina pectoris by enhancing myocardial contractility, increasing cardiac output, dilating coronary arteries, increasing coronary blood flow, and reducing myocardial oxygen consumption. In addition, the total flavonoids in hawthorn have the effects of dilating blood vessels and lasting blood pressure reduction. Therefore, patients with hyperlipidemia, hypertension and coronary heart disease can take 15 to 30 grams of raw hawthorn every day, decoct in water and drink instead of tea.

3. Treat dysmenorrhea and irregular menstruation

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that hawthorn has the effect of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, and is a good food therapy for patients with blood stasis type dysmenorrhea. Patients with blood stasis type dysmenorrhea often experience lower abdominal pain on the 1st to 2nd day of menstruation or 1 to 2 days before menstruation. When the menstrual blood is discharged smoothly, the pain gradually decreases or disappears, and the menstrual blood is dark in color, accompanied by blood clots. Patients can take 1000 grams of fresh hawthorn with complete core, wash it, add appropriate amount of water, simmer until the hawthorn is cooked, add 250 grams of brown sugar, and simmer for 10 minutes until it becomes a thin paste. Start taking it 3 to 5 days before menstruation, eat 30 ml of hawthorn mud every morning and evening, and stop taking it 3 days after menstruation. This is one course of treatment, and it will be effective after taking 3 courses in a row. This method is also suitable for those with irregular menstruation and blood stasis in Chinese medicine.

Don't eat hawthorn as an appetizer before meals

Many people like to eat candied haws, hawthorn, etc. before meals, thinking that the sour and sweet hawthorn is more appetizing. In fact, this is wrong. It is best not to eat too much hawthorn on an empty stomach.

Hawthorn tastes sour and can eliminate food stagnation and relieve gas. However, because hawthorn tastes "sour", eating it on an empty stomach can easily damage the spleen and stomach. For healthy people, the stomach is already empty before meals, and eating hawthorn is a stimulus to the stomach. Over time, it may also cause more gastric acid secretion and even cause unnecessary stomach pain. People with stomach problems, such as excessive gastric acid, gastritis, gastric ulcers, reflux gastritis, and reflux esophagitis are not suitable for eating hawthorn on an empty stomach. For people with weak spleen and stomach, it is generally recommended to eat less hawthorn. People with caries, especially children, should not eat too much hawthorn, which can easily damage their teeth. At the same time, because hawthorn is easy to consume qi, people with weak constitutions should also avoid eating too much.

Of course, for those who are strong and muscular, they can eat hawthorn after meals to aid digestion, especially when they have eaten too much greasy meat. Hawthorn is very effective in aiding digestion.

Hawthorn and ginger help the elderly improve their appetite

Many elderly people have this feeling: their children enjoy the same dish, but they find it tasteless. Why is this?

Experts pointed out that the loss of appetite and taste of food in the elderly are usually related to two factors. First, as they age, the taste buds on their tongues gradually degenerate, so the tongue's reaction to food gradually weakens. Second, the decline in the elderly's digestive function can lead to stomach coldness and loss of appetite. Sometimes, the elderly can also lose their appetite due to taking too much fire-removing medicine (such as Coptis chinensis). In response to different reasons, experts introduced several very practical methods to help the elderly increase their appetite.

If you are particularly afraid of eating raw, cold or greasy food, it may be because your stomach is too cold and lacks calories. At this time, you can choose ginger as a seasoning for dishes, which can warm the stomach and dispel cold, stimulate the taste, increase appetite, and reduce greasiness. Ginger can be added to dishes and dumplings, or made into ginger soup.

If the digestive system is declining, leading to poor absorption and indigestion, you can choose some medicines that strengthen the stomach and digestion, such as hawthorn, tangerine peel, and Shenqu. Fresh hawthorn can be eaten as a snack, and dried hawthorn can be soaked in water or boiled into soup; after drying, tangerine peel can be cut into shreds and used as a beverage; Shenqu can be used to drink water or boil soup. If the elderly can drink a cup of hawthorn juice or tangerine peel tea about half an hour before a meal, the effect will be better.

In addition, massaging Zusanli more often is also one of the ways to improve spleen and stomach function. Zusanli is located 3 inches below the outer knee and about one horizontal finger on the outer side of the tibia. When massaging, you can place the tip of your thumb on Zusanli, press as hard as you can, and then push the muscles, do it 7 times in a row, alternating on both sides. Rub the legs with your palms, from top to bottom once each, for about 1-3 minutes, which can also play a role in clearing heat and soothing the stomach, promoting digestion and absorption, and increasing appetite.

Some people may think that hawthorn is too sour and don't like to eat it. If you make hawthorn into hawthorn cake or hawthorn water and add some rock sugar, the sour and sweet taste of hawthorn can make it more pleasing.