Hawthorn- Your Heart’s Favorite Herb

 

Here’s a little post-Thanksgiving trivia for you. Did you know that the pilgrims named the Mayflower after the wood of the hawthorn tree, which was one of the woods they used to build their ship? Hawthorn is also called ‘mayflower’ because its blossoms appear in May, and it has long been prized for its hard wood and medicinal properties. It has also often been used to decorate maypoles and has been featured in numerous legends and myths over time. Some of hawthorn’s supposed “powers” are that it will keep women young and beautiful, it will give fishermen a good catch, it will protect you from evil, and if you sit underneath it, you will be whisked away to the fairy underworld. And for you Harry Potter fans, hawthorn even keeps bogarts away. No wonder it was such a sacred tree for the Celts and other groups of people.

What is not myth, however, are the effective medicinal powers this wonderful herb possesses.When you think of hawthorn, think ‘heart’. The reason is because this herb is specific for healing the heart and it has held the distinguished honor of being the best cardiotonic for centuries. It’s even listed in Potter’s Cyclopaedia of Botanical Drugs and Preparations of 1915 as such. (Harry Potter and I are so proud). Hawthorn works differently than other herbs because it directly affects the cardiac muscle cells and circulatory system. Because of this, it isremarkable for heart failure, post-infarction recovery, heart valve diseases, dyspnea, lesions from previous heart attacks, palpitations, angina, blood pressure, heart inflammation, blood clots, arteriosclerosis, heart wear and tear, and overall heart weakness.

What is hawthorn doing while it’s hard at work on your heart and circulatory system? It moves the blood along keeping the arteries and vessels open and elasticized, allays pain, keeps, promotes excellent circulation throughout the whole body, rebuilds the heart and venous system and fibers, provides vital antioxidants, reduces inflammation, strengthens the heart’s pumping action, lowers cholesterol, removes plaque, steadies the heartbeat, increases the heart’s capability to endure oxygen deficiency, balances heart irregularities, and binds to heart cell receptors for on-site healing. Pretty amazing, right?

Incorporating hawthorn tea or hawthorn berry syrup into your daily regime will strengthen and heal your heart like never before. If you’d like to make your own hawthorn berry syrup, you can learn how to do it here.   There are countless stories of people taking this syrup on a daily basis and seeing wonderful results with their heart health.

It also is a diuretic, helps with kidney/bladder stones, sore throats, gout, fever, pleurisy, nervous tension, insomnia, depression, digestion, relaxing the uterus, and water retention.

If you live in Oregon or Washington, you live in a commercial collection area for hawthorn, usually Crataegus laevigata and Crataegus monogyna. You could also grow this hearty, thorny shrub yourself in temperate climates with full sun, but be prepared for a lifelong friend since they are quite tenacious. The berry drupes almost taste good by late fall when they lose their bitterness, and they can be used in jellies and sauces too.

Don’t want to wait for your hawthorn tree to grow? Lucky for you, we have this herb specially prepared and ready for you in our Essential Survival Herb Kit. If it’s time to show your heart a little TLC, just think “I heart hawthorn.”

  _______________________________________________

Rebecca Potter is a lifelong student of herbalism, a lover of herbs and natural healing. She feels passionately about sharing her knowledge and experience with herbs to empower all to achieve the greatest possible health potential. She received her Master Herbalist degree from The School of Natural Healing, and teaches herbal classes in her local area of Salt Lake City. In addition to her herbal classes, Rebecca enjoys doing personalized herbal consultations, is involved in an integrative health clinic, andperforms a variety of key functions at Essential Survival, LLC.Follow her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/iheartherbs for tips and ideas on herbal healing and nutrition.

Hawthorn

Hawthorn,- Crataegus monogyna - Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia.

                      

 
I'll start by telling a story about this noble and delicate plant:

Talking one day two Greek farmers who also raised goats, asked each other: - How can you have a goat as strong and agile as we are at the end of summer and there is no pasture, how can you effect this miracle?

Replied the other: - Well I'll tell you a secret, you see those bushes full of thorns, with some small and red berries? Looking for one of these bushes and eat berries gives ace your goats. In a few days you will notice the results.

Effectively, the neighbor's goats acquired a vitality as he had never before seen.

It may be that those goatherds were telling your experience to Dioscorides, as it was a brilliant botanist and famous doctor recommended this plan to strengthen the body and to cure various diseases.

The name Crataeugus, may derive from this time because in Greek it means "strong goats".

The Hawthorn always has been appreciated as medicine. It was in the nineteenth century that scientifically proof about their wonderful effects on our health were found.
It was only this time that Gennings and other American doctors who studied the cardiotonic properties of this shrub. These days the Hawthorn enjoys great prestige as a medicinal plant and is part of numerous pharmaceutical preparations.

                                                                 

Properties and indications:
The flowers and fruits of Hawthorn also contain various glycosides flavónicos which chemically are polyphenols which is attributed to its effect on the heart and circulatory system.

 

Cardiotonic:
Its property is mainly attributed to flavonoids which inhibit the action of adenosine triphosphate.
This enzyme is a substance that decomposes serves as a source of energy for cells, including cardiac muscle and produces an increase in the contractile force of the heart and a regularization of her pace.

For this reason, the hawthorn has the following indications:
Heart failure, arrhythmias, angina pectoris. Normalizing blood pressure, sedative.

Precautions:
At very high doses (12 or 15 times higher than recommended), may present bradycardia (decreased pulse rate) and respiratory depression.
Recommended doses do not produce any undesirable side effect.

 

Part used:
Flowers, leaves and fruits.

Internal use:

1 - Infused with 60 g of flowers (about four tablespoons) per liter of water. Fresh flowers are more effective than dry.
To be taken 3 to 4 cups daily.

 

2 - Dried fruit: although there is a lower concentration of active ingredients these are also effective  and may be   taken - a handful of them -  3 times of such amount by day.

3 - Dry extract:
recommended 0.5 to 1 g three times a day.

 

Source: Dr. George D. Pamplona Roger

Ceded by José Cariano