Hawthorn Berries?

[farmerdrea]

I take hawthorn in capsule form, as one of the natural supplements I take for my high BP. With this past summer's drought, the hawthorn trees in all the hedgerows have gone mad with berry-making, and I wondered if anyone knows how I can use the herbal in a natural form, instead of the very expensive capsule form.

Cheers
Andrea
NZ

[possum]

I don't have the answer, but why do you take it? I have heard of hawthorn tea.

[farmerdrea]

I take it for cardio support. Earlier in the year I weaned myself off high BP pills which had been making me quite ill (I'd tried numerous ones, and had very unpleasant reactions to them, and this last one was the worst). I take valerian, hawthorn and garlic now, and my BP has gone from 190/96 to 140/70 on average (I take my BP daily) on just the herbals. On the meds it was around 130/80.

But, the standardised hawthorn capsules are quite expensive, and I was wondering if it'd be helpful enough to use hawthorn berry tea or infusion in place of the of capsules. I will probably consult the medical herbalist in town.

Andrea
NZ

[Hedgehogpie]

I think it's quite commonly used in Chinese herbal medicine.

I'll have a look through my herbal encyclopedia and see what it suggests. I've got stacks of recipes for using the haws, but I'm uncertain if they would have any medicinal benefits!

[MKG]

I'm another one who doesn't really know, but I would have thought that it would be easy to convert a rose-hip syrup recipe to hawthorn berries. The Vit. C content is preserved in rosehip, so maybe the active constituents of hawthorn would survive too.

[possum]

I am very interested to hear that it could lower blood pressure, now off on search , my blood pressure curretly is on the high end of normal, but it would be great to know that perhaps a hawthorn tea may help.

[Mullein]

If you're going to make them into a tea you'll have to decoct them - boil them for 15-20min - rather than infuse them.

If you want to preserve them you can pack them into some vodka (or alcohol of choice) or a syrup would work too.

Ray Mears does a great thing where he squishes all the berries through his fingers (adding a drip of water if they're quite dry - which they might be if you've had a drought) then he leaves this to set in a bowl. Because of all the pectin it sets like a jelly. Then he slices this very thinly and lays them out to dry like sweetie bars. I tried this last year. I didn't take too many so's they wouldn't be wasted if was mingin' but it was actually really nice. Because i didn't have so many I didn't do the set-in-the-bowl stage. I just spread it thinly on some cling film then, when it was nearly dry, I rolled it up into wee fruit gum type sweeties. A nice, slightly tart, appley flavour. I'm going to make a big batch this year.

Seeing your local herbalist is probably a good idea - you don't want to mess about with your heart. They might be able to supply you with a tincture that's cheaper than the tablets - or even just give you advice on dose for the tea or something.

However, I also think collecting your own berries is a great idea too. It really connects you with the whole healing process. Even if you don't use it medicinally, just make some hawthorn jelly or something, physically connecting with the plant you're necking back in tincture form makes sense to me.

Happy Harvesting

[mrsflibble]

right. tuesday is my only free day this week and I'll be spending it in the nature reserve.

[MKG]

Eh? 'Ello - Flibble's on the vodka again ...

[Hedgehogpie]

In that case, I'll have what she's having

[The Riff-Raff Element]

I've heard of hawthorn being used as a tonic for the heart, but I thought it was an infustion or tincture made from the bark that had the desirable effect, not the berries. A good herbalist should be able to advise, but I can't myself see why a little self-supported treatment shouldn't help.

[farmerdrea]

Excellent - those jelly type bars sound really nice! I'm going to try that this week (moving goats this weekend, no time or energy for much else!).

It was a naturopath who recommended the hawthorn in the first place, and it's indeed the berries that are used in the capsules I've been taking. They are just bloody expensive, and I know the berries keep well when dried, so I could get heaps of them now and store for future use. But I didn't know in which way to use the berries which are so abundant now (the trees are bare of leaves, but bright with berries, they're so laden!).

And yes, they are quite dry - I have picked them every autumn in the past, to feed to the goats as an autumn treat - quite powdery almost.

Cheers
Andrea
NZ

[marshlander]

I found some info on this site http://www.alternative-healthzine.com/html/0105_2.html

Here's an extract;-

It is believed to regulate and support these systems and be beneficial to use in the following conditions:

Angina - Believed to give relief from cramp-like symptoms.
Mild congestive heart failure - Believed to increase cardiac output and increase the flow of blood through the coronary arteries.
Arrhythmia (irregular heart beat) - Thought to counteract rhythm disturbances.
High blood pressure - Believed to cause vasodilatation of peripheral blood vessels and lower blood pressure.
Nervous Heart Disorders (palpitations) - Believed to have a sedative effect on the nervous system which may render it useful in heart conditions where the nerves are involved.
Heart Weakness - as caused by infectious diseases e.g. pneumonia, scarlet fever and diphtheria. Is believed to restore and support heart function.

It is also believed to encourage concentration and memory function as it improves circulation of blood and oxygen to the brain!

Dosage of Hawthorn
Tea: It is preferable to use a mixture of flowers and leaves. If berries are used it is better to decoct than diffuse. Use 2 teaspoons of herb per cup of boiling water. Infuse for 20mins. Drink 2-3 cups daily.

[possum]

And yes, they are quite dry - I have picked them every autumn in the past, to feed to the goats as an autumn treat - quite powdery almost.

you can feed them to goats??? guess what I am going to be up to this week then?
Odd thing, as a child I was alway told not to eat hawthorn berries as they were poisonous

[snapdragon]

wooo my herbal tells me that soaking the haws in brandy makes a good liqueur

and / or made into jelly with crab apples

young leaves in sandwiches and salads

aaand an infusion of haws to draw out splinters or thorns

Odd thing, as a child I was alway told not to eat hawthorn berries as they were poisonous

nod nod me too - our fave hiding place as children was an ancient hawthorn hedge grown tall enough to climb up into - if I thought I could eat the leaves and haws I wouldn't have had to go home for tea