The use of common barberry in medicine
A thorny shrub up to three meters in height grows wild in the southern regions of the country. How garden culture is used for hedges... Fruits in the form of oblong berries are used in cooking. All parts of the common barberry are used in medicine. It is this plant that has a wide range of uses, but there are also many contraindications.
Plant pharmacology
- vitamins, mainly C, beta-carotene, vitamin K;
- macro and microelements;
- tannins;
- pectins and organic acids.
Berries are used in cooking, for medicinal purposes to reduce blood pressure and strengthen the immune system. Store them dry or frozen.
Unripe berries of barberry are poisonous. They contain the alkaloid berberine, which is only obtained for medicinal purposes. Berberine can cause severe toxicity when used uncontrolled.
Berberine is the main drug that is isolated from leaves, shrubs. The leaves are harvested in the spring, after the plant has bloomed. The thorny bush is picked only in special mittens. The leaves contain the alkaloid berberine, which has not been learned to synthesize. The rest of the parts contain other essential alkaloids, including berbamine, oxyacanthine.
Medicines are made from all parts of the plant:
- berberine biosulfate;
- cholelithin;
- tincture of barberry.
The healing properties of barberry make it possible to use it in official and folk medicine. The list of its effects on the human body has led to the use of different forms for treatment:
- digestive system;
- liver and bile ducts;
- genitourinary system;
- respiratory organs;
- female reproductive system with bleeding;
- antitumor and antileukemic action.
The list is far from complete, barberry is used for toxicosis in pregnant women, for hemorrhoids, dysentery and in other cases.
Contraindications to the use of barberry
The benefits and harms of barberry depend on the patient's condition. The hemostatic property of berberine is used in the treatment of female diseases. But it does not apply when cleansing processes take place in a woman's body and postpartum residues are excreted in the blood. Where vasoconstriction and high blood clotting can be harmful, barberry and preparations from it cannot be used.
You can not eat berries for gastritis with high acidity, those who have thrombophlebitis or problems with cardiovascular failure. You can not use berries for those who have low blood pressure, and with cirrhosis of the liver. There is an individual intolerance to barberry, you should be aware of this.
For children under 12 years of age, only a doctor can prescribe treatment with barberry preparations. Adults will benefit from prior consultation with doctors. You need to start taking the drug with small doses.
Tincture of barberry on vodka and its use
The vodka tincture is made from leaves that can be used fresh or dried. Infusion in a ratio of 1: 5 is kept in a dark place for 15 days. This tincture is used in the postpartum period and only as directed by the gynecologist.Barberry tincture on vodka is used in courses, as prescribed by the doctor. The goal is to stop the bleeding.
Berberine, previously isolated in the pharmaceutical industry in powder form, is diluted with medical alcohol, then the composition is used as a choleretic. Only bark and roots are used in this case. At home, a tincture of barberry roots is prepared for 10 days with 75% alcohol at a dilution of 1: 5. The tincture is included in "Choleletin", used for stones in the gallbladder. The same tincture is included in Zdrenko's potion. It is used to treat gastritis and the bladder.
Tincture of fruits common barberry it is used as a bactericidal composition, lowers blood pressure, in Bulgaria and Azerbaijan it is used to treat diabetes.
Decoctions, infusions, honey
Barberry roots are used in folk medicine as decoctions. A decoction of the bark and roots is used to alleviate the patient's condition with malignant tumors of internal organs, with tuberculosis, and internal bleeding. Decoctions are prepared by boiling 20 grams of dry composition in 400 ml of water. After 15 minutes of boiling, the broth is infused for 4 hours and used for treatment. In this case, a decoction of the leaves is used to treat the liver, and the bark and roots to stop bleeding.
The infusion is prepared without boiling. A certain amount of dry matter and water is heated to a boil. Within 15 minutes in a water bath, nutrients pass into the water. After 4 hours, the solution is ready for a patient with liver and gallbladder problems. The infusion is taken several times a day in courses with a break.
Barberry juice is stored in glass containers without preservatives and fruit drinks made from it are useful. It is used as an antipyretic for colds. The action is based on the presence of vitamin C, as in lingonberries. Tea made from dried barberry leaves also helps in this case.
In folk medicine, barberry honey is highly valued, which is a product of processing flower pollen. The range of application of this medicinal product is wide. It is used even for gastritis with high acidity in a mixture with potato juice. It is because of the increased acidity of gastric juice that treatment with preparations of pure barberry and other plants is often impossible.
As a part of eggs, butter and other natural additives, barberry honey is used to heal stomach ulcers. In the composition with nettle, honey can even cure thrombophlebitis. True, it should be noted right away that treatment with folk remedies is long-term, since the effect on the body is carried out gently. But simultaneously with the solution of the main problem, the immune system is strengthened, and other internal organs are also supported.