Red mountain ash - useful properties and contraindications

Mountain ash belongs to the most popular plants, which are famous for their valuable qualities. Red berries are famous for their antioxidant and immunostimulating properties. Often tinctures and decoctions are prepared on the fruits, which are subsequently used for medical purposes. Also, the product is in demand in cosmetology, cooking, nutrition. But, consider all the nuances in order.

Features of mountain ash, collection, harvesting

1. Perennial shrubs can reach a height of about 15 meters, which affects the number of fruits. In common people, mountain ash is also called a pebble.
2. Mountain ash differs from other similar shrubs in fluffy branches, oblong and thin leaves, a grayish-colored bark. During flowering, a pleasant aroma is produced from the plant, even despite the small size of the inflorescences.
3. The taste of rowan fruits is tart, with a slight bitterness. The berry is juicy, round, moderately large. The flowering period occurs at the end of spring, the fruits appear in early autumn.
4. Since mountain ash is resistant to temperature extremes, the fruits remain on the branches until the first frost. Due to its unpretentious growth, the bush is found everywhere, whether it be mixed forests, coniferous undergrowths, clearings, the shore of water sources or the outskirts of the route.
5. Everyone knows the healing properties of the berry. But not everyone knows that folk healers use all parts of the plant for the preparation of medicinal products. The fruits, leaves, inflorescences and even bark with twigs are used.
6. Only ripe fruits are suitable for harvesting; unripe or overripe ones are not suitable. They do not have a complete chemical list of substances, which means that they will not be able to extract all the benefits from raw materials. The collection is best carried out in September, so take your time, wait for full ripeness.
7. It is extremely important to harvest mountain ash before the onset of cold weather, because when exposed to negative temperatures, half of the nutrients evaporate.
8. Cut rowan berries in clusters, then remove the berries from the twigs and leave them to dry a little in the sun. Then put a thin layer on polyethylene or parchment, dry the raw materials.
9. You can dry with an oven, dryer or oven. If the procedure is performed correctly, the berry will give sourness with bitterness and smell peculiar.
10. After preparation, store the composition in cloth bags, the room should be well ventilated. The shelf life is 1 year. If we talk about the collection process and the subsequent preparation of foliage, inflorescences, bark and branches, the procedure should be carried out at the height of the flowering shrub.

Rowan Composition

1. The plant boasts an impressive list of nutrients. The place of honor is given to ascorbic acid, it is in the berry more than in the notorious currants, citruses or cornel.
2. The bush is not deprived of quercetin, catechins, flavonoids, carotene, carotenoids, anthocyanins, phenolic compounds, tannins.
3. Natural saccharides such as fructose, sorbose, glucose, and sucrose occupy an honorable place. Vitamins are represented by group B, K, tocopherol, retinol.
4. Organic acids are also found in red-fruited mountain ash. Among them are apple, wine, amber, sorrel, lemon. Of the minerals, it is worth highlighting calcium, iron, aluminum, magnesium, manganese, iodine, potassium, sodium.

Rowan properties

1. The shrub is famous for its valuable properties, which are caused by the accumulation of the above substances.Valuable actions are manifested in the ability of the berry to anesthetize, stop bleeding, weaken, strengthen capillaries, kill bacteria, and remove inflammatory processes.
2. Mountain ash also removes toxic substances due to its absorbent properties. It heals abrasions, lowers temperature by accelerating sweating, strengthens the walls of the blood channels.
3. The berry anesthetizes, accelerates the outflow of bile, reduces fever, kills the fungus, removes excess sugar from the blood, acts as a natural diuretic and a remedy for dysentery.
4. All of these properties are transferred to funds that are made from red mountain ash. It treats ailments of the gastrointestinal tract, heart muscle, circulatory system, liver, urinary and reproductive systems.
5. The effectiveness of treatment has been proven repeatedly. Berries have a healing directed action in the fight against colds, gout, scurvy, hemorrhoids, glaucoma, anemia, atherosclerosis, rheumatism, diarrhea, hypertension, gastritis.

Folk remedies with mountain ash

1. Decoction. A vitamin remedy that will allow you to maintain the immune system in good shape with vitamin deficiency, the spread of viral infections, during business trips. To prepare, mix a handful of dried or fresh mountain ash with 500 ml. water. You can additionally introduce as much dry rosehip and double the volume of fluid. Put the ingredients on the stove, cook until the first bubbles. Turn off, insist to room temperature. After about 4 hours, the broth will be ready. Filter, consume 150 ml. twice a day before meals.
2. Tea. The drug fights against diarrhea, normalizes stool, accelerates metabolic processes and helps get rid of excess water in the body. This eliminates edema, lowers blood pressure (relevant for people with hypertension). Tea is made from half a handful of mountain ash and 10 dried leaves of the bush. The contents are poured 300 ml. boiling water and infused for a third of an hour. After the specified time, tea should be filtered and taken in a quarter cup 2 times a day.
3. Tincture of vodka. Take a glass jar with a volume of 1 liter. Pour in so many dried or fresh fruits so that they reach the middle. Pour vodka to the brim, leave the raw materials to infuse for about 4 days. The place should be cool and darkened. You can understand that the tincture is ready by its shade. The composition will acquire a brownish color, after which it is necessary to filter it. Eat half a teaspoon three times a day before main meals. Without fail, the composition must be diluted with a glass of water. It is useful to drink the infusion to categories of people who have identified atherosclerosis.
4. Infusion on the water. The composition effectively copes with problems of a dermatological nature, large abrasions or wounds. In it, several layers of gauze are moistened and applied to the damaged area. The same tincture is consumed with tuberculosis. For its preparation, take a handful of young branches of a bush, chop, combine with 500 ml. hot water. Cook for 10 minutes, turn off the burner, wait a couple more hours. After filtering, take 60 ml. 4 times a day before meals.
5. Powder. This product is used to treat diabetes. The composition has the ability to lower the concentration of glucose in the blood and make receptors on the cells more susceptible to insulin. The powder is prepared from inflorescences, leaves, and shrubs. First, all components must be dried, then grind into dust. Take this drug in a teaspoon 2 times a day during a meal.
6. Juice. On the basis of fresh berries, juice is prepared, which, when consumed, must be diluted with water. Perhaps this is the best remedy for colds, flu, vitamin deficiency, and other diseases. Wash the berries, dry them from the water, send them to a blender or combine. Transfer to 3 layers of gauze, squeeze the juice.Take it in a teaspoon, mixing with half a glass of water, 3 times a day.

Red mountain ash in cosmetology

Ripe and frozen fruits in folk medicine are often part of homemade masks and body care products. The unique, balanced composition of berries is beneficial for the body.

Composition from warts
If you are faced with the problem of the formation of a wart, you can easily get rid of trouble yourself. Take two fresh berries and squeeze juice out of them.

Treat the affected area with liquid. Perform the procedure every day, devote at least a quarter of an hour to the process.

Rejuvenation Mask
Mountain ash showed itself perfectly when caring for the skin. A negative effect from the fruits will only be if you suffer from individual intolerance to the components. Turn into a slurry 40 gr. raw materials in a mortar. Stir in a mass of 12 g. flower honey.

If the product turned out to be rather dry, it is allowed to introduce 30 ml. warm water. Distribute the finished mask in a dense layer on the face and neck. Wait about 35 minutes, then wash with water at room temperature. Perform the procedure daily for 10 days.

Nourishing mask
Combine in a common cup in equal amounts the gruel from the fresh fruits of the plant and the village sour cream. Stir the ingredients until a homogeneous pasty mass is formed.

Spread the product over your face with a cosmetic spatula and wait about a third of an hour. Wash with warm water. The mask perfectly nourishes the skin and smoothes it. Active ingredients resist premature cell aging.

The use of mountain ash tea

1. It is recommended to take a hot drink regularly so as not to run into the problem of vitamin deficiency. The healing composition will protect the body from the flu and various colds. The unique properties of the plant are fully preserved in tea.
2. The drink well prevents and eliminates various pathologies and infectious diseases. The tool can affect the human body in different ways. It all depends on the composition from which tea is prepared.
3. A drink based on rowan leaves has a pronounced diuretic, choleretic and decongestant effects. To prepare the product you will need 300 gr. fresh leaves and 1 liter. boiling water. Insist the product for half an hour, after which take 150 ml. thrice a day.
4. To prevent colds, you should prepare an effective remedy from the fruits of mountain ash and rose hips. Components should be taken in equal proportions of 30 g. Send the berries in a thermos and pour 0.5 liters. boiling water. Insist remedy all night. To enhance the action, add a small amount of honey and grated ginger. Drink a composition of 160 ml. 3 times a day.
5. If you suffer from diarrhea, it is worth preparing a composition based on the dried fruits of the plant. Combine in a heat-resistant container 15 gr. raw materials and 240 ml. boiling water. Boil the ingredients for a quarter of an hour and leave to infuse for 2 hours. Take a medicinal product at bedtime and after waking up to 60 ml.
6. To strengthen the protective functions of the body, a more complex drink should be prepared. Take equal amounts of blackcurrant berries, raspberries, aronia and ordinary mountain ash. Prepare a decoction from raw materials according to the classical technology. Mix the product with any kind of tea, drink a decoction with honey, lemon and raspberry jam.

Keep in mind that when preparing decoctions and infusions, the procedure should be carried out in a thermos, and not in a classic tea ware. Such a move will allow the mountain ash to a large extent to give all the useful substances that are in its composition.

Rowan contraindications

1. Any plant product will always have a list of contraindications, mountain ash in this case was no exception.In order not to encounter problems or not aggravate the course of the disease, it is important to familiarize yourself with the list.
2. Mountain ash is strictly prohibited if you have been diagnosed with poor blood coagulation. Also, the fruits are contraindicated in cases of low blood pressure, high acidity in the stomach, individual intolerance and with cardiac ischemia. It is especially worth being careful of individuals who have suffered a heart attack or stroke.

Ordinary red mountain ash is the basis of many means of folk healing. Recipes are not difficult, so you can translate them into reality on your own. But before use, study the beneficial qualities and contraindications of the berry.

Video: healing properties of red mountain ash