Lingonberry is a small heather bush with evergreen leaves. Production of berries began only in the last century, when people realized that this medicine for many ailments, absolutely unpretentious. Now it is cultivated on the plantations of northern countries - Sweden, Germany, Poland, Finland, Belarus, etc.
The excitement around the small red berries is quite understandable - cranberries have enviable useful properties.
Cowberry berries
Let's start with the beneficial properties of berries cranberries, or rather, with their composition:
- 86% of the berry consists of water;
- its caloricity is scanty - 46 kcal / 100 g;
- carbohydrates - 8%, including fructose, sucrose;
- organic acids - lemon, salicylic, apple, benzoic (thanks to the latter, cranberries are easy to "preserve" in plain water);
- carotene;
- vitamin C;
- vitamin E;
- vitamins of group B;
- Potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium , iron;
- pectin.
First of all, it is worth mentioning about the beneficial properties of cranberry fruits in gastrointestinal ailments. It is recommended to use for gastritis with low acidity, gallstones, and also in putrefactive processes in the intestines, which are accompanied by dysbiosis, flatulence, bloating. Applied berries and with cholecystitis, stomach tumors, dysentery. In addition, lingonberries and cowberry juice are a known remedy for worms.
Due to the high content of vitamins and organic acids, cranberries are used for hypo- and avitaminosis. And the dried, frozen and fresh cranberries will be useful. Increase immunity , help cure colds, fever, measles - juice and berries extract.
Leaves
Leaves of cowberry have their useful properties, including for weight loss.
Composition:
- tannins;
- arbutin;
- hydroquinone;
- tannin;
- carboxylic acids;
- gallic, quinine, tartaric acid;
- vitamin C;
- cowberry seeds are linoleic and linolenic fatty acids.
Useful properties of cranberry leaves are used for diabetes - they prepare a decoction, which, incidentally, is useful for weight loss. To make such a decoction, just pour in a thermos 60 g of leaves 300 ml of boiling water. Insist "cranberry tea" should be only 10 minutes, then take three times a day before meals. Such tea lowers the level of sugar in the blood and, accordingly, the appetite. The same broth is advisable to use with stones in the kidneys, rheumatism and gout.
And if you are lucky enough to get blossoming twigs with leaves of cranberries, they can be useful in pregnancy and for the treatment of "female" diseases. It is useful even cranberry jam - and shoots with flowers, and berries (even in the form of jam) help to maintain a "complex" pregnancy.
Cowberry and Disease Treatment
Let's list, in what form, and under what diseases should be used cranberries:
- Morse from cowberry - antipyretic;
- infusion of berries - laxative;
- berries in fresh form - against hypertension and gastritis;
- fresh juice from berries - has a sedative effect, increases intestinal motility, diuretic;
- cowberry jam in combination with tea from lime flowers - for colds;
- infusion of leaves - in diseases of the liver, kidneys, gout, rheumatism;
- juice of cranberries - a breakdown, headache, flu;
- infusion of berries - constipation, colitis, hepatic-renal diseases;
- cowberry juice - neuroses and anemia;
- a decoction of berries and leaves - a diuretic, helps with night incontinence in children;
- young shoots - antidepressant, analgesic.
Cowberry storage
Of course, the simplest thing is to freeze the berries and dry the leaves. But, as far as berries are concerned, there is a more effective way to save a maximum of vitamins.
To do this, washed cowberry berries should be spread over clean jars, pour chilled boiled water. Leave for 10 days. Then drain the water, bring to a boil and pour the cans back. After that, the cans can be sterilized in the usual way.