Cowberry: useful and harmful properties

Cowberry is an evergreen shrub with small red berries, which are collected in the autumn season.Long ago these berries were called magical, miraculous, and all thanks to a rich chemical composition.

Cowberry can give not only gastronomic pleasure, but also provide real health benefits - berries are used to treat many diseases.

Chemical composition and caloric content

Nutritional information 100 g:

• Caloric value: 46 kcal
• Proteins: 0,7 gr
• Fat: 0,5 gr
• Carbohydrates: 8.2 g

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This berry can be enjoyed by anyA person, regardless of body weight - the caloric content of cowberry is only 46 kcal per 100 grams, which is extremely low for fatty deposits.

But its chemical composition is very rich, moreover - all components are so competently arranged by nature itself that they represent a real medical complex.Here are just some elements: starch, vitamins P, B, A, C, E, organic acids, iron, monosaccharides, manganese, disaccharides, dietary fibers.

Useful properties of cranberries

It is believed that the most useful part of the bush under consideration are leaves - they have long been used in folk medicine, they contain the bulk of all useful components. For example, leaves of cranberries, and in part its berries, have the following actions :

• restorative;
• disinfectant;
• is antipyretic;
• is a diuretic;
• toning;
• vitamin;
• wound healing;
• anthelmintic;
• is a diuretic;
• choleretic;
• antisclerotic and others.

If we consider cranberries as a medicinal product, then it is used to treat many diseases. The most commonly used shrub is used with :

• gastritis with reduced acidity of gastric juice;
• rheumatism;
• increased arterial pressure;
• arthritis;
• vitamin deficiencies;
• deposition of salts;
• neuroses and depressions;
• ischemic heart disease;
• tumors of benign and / or malignant nature;
• diabetes mellitus;
• obesity;
• internal bleeding of different etiologies;
• urological pathologies.

If previously used parts of the plant in question only in folk medicine, now you can buy homeopathic remedies, medicines, cosmetic products made on the basis of leaves and berries cranberries.

Harmful properties of cranberries

First, you need to know for sure that there is no allergy to bilberries( berries and leaves).To clarify this point is simple enough: you need to stretch one berry and carefully lubricate the resulting mass with the skin on the elbow( inner side), after half an hour there will be a result - if the skin has not changed, then you can safely consume cranberries for food and use as a remedy.Otherwise, you need to abandon this plant.

Secondly, the chemical content of cowberry organic acids causes a contraindication to the use of this plant for people diagnosed with :

• gastritis with increased acidity of gastric juice;
• with reduced arterial pressure;
• peptic ulcer of the stomach and / or duodenum;
• with urolithiasis.

Please note: with the listed diseases is strictly prohibited to use fresh berries of red bilberry.In occasion of expediency of application of various medical products on the basis of a plant it is necessary to consult with the attending physician.

How to properly use cranberries

To get the desired curative effect, it is advisable to understand the rules of using the plant in advance. Here are some recommendations from specialists:

1. Cowberry juice helps to normalize and stabilize the psycho-emotional background, improve the work of the central nervous system, get rid of headache and general weakness.
2. Fresh berries reduce the amount of "bad" cholesterol in the blood, they can be eaten for the prevention of atherosclerosis, in the treatment of coronary heart disease and high blood pressure.
3. Juice from cranberry berries has a beneficial effect on the work of the intestine - in particular, it improves its peristalsis, relieves chronic constipation, normalizes the microflora.
4. Cowberry extract from leaves helps to cope with diseases of the kidneys and liver, gall bladder - it should be one of the components in complex therapy.

1. A mixture of berries of cowberry and honey is useful in tuberculosis, pneumonia, bronchitis of chronic and acute form of the flow, when coughing with blood.
2. Cowberry berries significantly increase the effect of antibacterial drugs and sulfonamides - this product is recommended by doctors and used by people who are in the recovery period after severe pathologies and / or surgical interventions.
3. Decoction of cowberry leaves will be useful for gout, chronic fatigue, reduced immunity, treatment of skin diseases.Such decoctions will save a pregnant woman from swelling in the second half of pregnancy, will help to cure diseases of the oral cavity( stomatitis, gingivitis).

Cowberry is not only a delicious berry, which is used for making mors, pies, jams and compotes.This small shrub can bring tangible benefits to human health - even if there is no need to conduct therapy with cranberries, then to strengthen immunity, to remove chronic fatigue and improve the psycho-emotional background will never be superfluous.