Barbaris: benefit and harm

More than 500 varieties of barberry - a high spiny shrub - are grown around the world for decorative and industrial purposes.For its beauty, it was grown in ancient Rome, where it adorned almost every garden and was considered a symbol of luck.

Interesting! For treatment, barberry was used in Tibet, where he had the glory of a means of prolonging life.

Composition and calorie content

The main healing part of barberry is its bright red smooth berries. They are rich in various acids:

• lemon;
• apple;
• the wine.

Also in the composition of berries are pectins - polysaccharides, capable of cleansing the body of salts of heavy metals and other toxic compounds.Monosaccharides( glucose and fructose), vitamin K and a large amount of ascorbic acid( 500 mg per 100 g of berries) also benefit.

In folk recipes, other parts of the plant are used - bark, leaves and roots. They are rich in tanning oils, alkaloids( berberine, palmate, oxycontin, etc.), vitamins E and C.

There are no proteins and fats in barberry, a small amount of carbohydrates provides a low energy value of the product - only 29 kcal per 100 g.

Useful properties

Unique alkaloid - berberine - has a complex positive effect on the body:

• strengthens the secretion of bile by the liver - it helps with biliary dyskinesia, cholecystitis;
• stimulates the smooth musculature of the uterine wall;
• slows heart rate, which is useful for tachycardia;
• lowers blood pressure;
• helps fight leishmaniasis.

Barbaris has a pronounced anti-inflammatory effect, thanks to which it helps to fight with ulcers of the gastrointestinal tract, gastritis and duodenitis.In addition, berries stimulate the digestive system, relieve colic.

A large number of vitamins, especially ascorbic acid, causes the use of barberry in scurvy, malaria, and infectious diseases. Stimulation of immunity is a property of barberry, useful in ARVI.Decoctions of berries barberry can be used along with broth of wild rose, tea with lemon and other folk remedies for flu and cold.

Barberry juice is useful for poor appetite, due to which it is shown to malnourished children with anorexia and other eating disorders .In addition, the juice helps to get rid of constipation, has an antibacterial and antipyretic effect.

Compresses with decoction of barberry are useful in the control of rashes, acne and other inflammatory skin diseases.The remedy also has a whitening effect - it can help fight freckles.

Harm and contraindications

Because barberry stimulates the musculature of the uterus, it is contraindicated in its use during pregnancy - it can lead to miscarriage or other problems with the fetus .During breastfeeding, you should also not eat berries of barberry, since alkaloids can penetrate into breast milk.

Important! It is forbidden to use barberry for people suffering from cirrhosis and cholelithiasis, as well as children up to 12 years of age.

Damage to barbaris can occur as follows:

• strengthening the effect of sedatives;
• nausea, dizziness, swelling, bleeding and convulsions in case of an overdose;
• reduced blood sugar.

Before using berries, you need to make sure that they are ripe - the unripe fruit of barberry is poisonous.

Tips and tricks

All useful parts of the plant can be dried and stored for the winter.Collect the bark of the bush should be in late April, when the plant most actively allocates juice.The bark is dried at a temperature of about 45 ° C.Leaves are stored during the flowering period of barberry. From berries you can make jam, compote or tincture.

Roots are excavated in autumn, the root should be chopped off at a distance of 10-15 cm from the trunk of the bush, so as not to damage the root system.It is impossible to wash this part of the plant so as not to deprive her of berberine and most of the beneficial properties - enough to shake the ground.The roots, like the bark, are dried and stored in a place protected from moisture.With proper storage, barberry retains its useful properties for three years.