What are the healing properties of hawthorn?

Hawthorn is not only an ornamental plant, the fruits of which are also used for food, but also an excellent medicine: the healing properties of hawthorn were known to ancient healers. The fruits of this plant contain in abundance carotene, sugars, tannins, citric, ascorbic, tartaric and other organic acids, and its seeds and flowers are a real storehouse of essential oils.

In folk medicine, this plant is widely used to treat many gastrointestinal ailments. The healing properties of hawthorn are recognized not only by traditional healers, but also by official medicine. Preparations containing a liquid extract of this plant are used for a variety of malfunctions in the cardiovascular system. In particular, they are especially effective for tachycardia, that is, rapid heartbeat, and arrhythmias, which is a violation of the heart rhythm. This remedy, together with digitalis, is used to combat neuroses and the so-called angina pectoris, in which a person feels an unpleasant and even very painful feeling of squeezing in the chest.

The beneficial properties of this plant are being actively studied, and recently scientists have been able to establish that hawthorn has a positive effect on the thyroid gland, normalizing its activity, contributes to a tangible decrease in the level of harmful cholesterol and even has a rather powerful effect in the treatment of such a serious disease as atherosclerosis. Hawthorn has found wide application in cosmetology: all kinds of masks, infusions and decoctions for the skin are made from its berries.