Hawthorn tincture at home

Hawthorn is a bush or a small (up to 5 meters) tree of the Rosaceae family, with thick spines, small white flowers and bright red fruits, resembling briars. For medicinal purposes use flowers and fruits of hawthorn, less often - leaves.

Procurement of raw materials

Both flowers and fruits of this plant can be bought at the pharmacy, but you can also prepare it yourself.

Blossoms hawthorn in late May - early June, and it fades quickly enough, in hot weather in general for 2-3 days. The flowers are collected at the very beginning of flowering, when they have not all been opened, and necessarily in dry weather. If you collect them after rain or dew, then when drying the flowers will darken. Dry in a well ventilated room, which can be closed for the night, because the raw material absorbs moisture well.

Raw materials for drying should be decomposed no later than 1-2 hours after collection. In the same time interval, it is recommended to recycle flowers if it is planned to use them fresh.

Berries can be harvested, from the period of their ripening in the end of September and before the start of frost. Dry the same way, spreading a thin layer in a ventilated room, or at a temperature of about 50 degrees in a special dryer.

How to make tincture from hawthorn?

Cooking tincture of hawthorn in the home is easy:

1. The remedy closest to that sold in pharmacies can be obtained if you pour 100 grams of crushed dried fruit with 70% alcohol. If there is no alcohol, you can use good vodka without any impurities. Tincture put in a dark place for 20 days. The finished product is filtered. The result is a clear reddish liquid, which is taken three times a day for 20-30 drops.
2. Another common version of the preparation of tinctures of hawthorn from fresh fruits. A glass of mashed fresh berries is poured with 200 grams of alcohol and further insists on the same scheme as in the first version.
3. It is possible to quickly produce hawthorn tincture, which is used as a tonic. To do this, 5 tablespoons of dried fruit pour a glass of vodka, close the container and heat up to 50 degrees, then cool. After cooling, the fruit should be squeezed, and the resulting tincture should be drunk one teaspoon for half an hour before meals 2-3 times a day.

It is also possible to prepare a tincture of hawthorn flowers at home, which, with tachycardia and a number of other diseases, is considered more effective than tincture of fruits:

1. Fresh flowers are poured with alcohol (or vodka) in a 1: 1 ratio and insist 10 days in a dark place, then filter and take 20-25 drops three times a day.
2. Another way of preparing tinctures from hawthorn flowers, when they are pre-squeezed juice, which is bred with alcohol (for 1 part of juice, two parts of alcohol) and insisted for two weeks. Before use, this tincture should be shaken carefully.
3. To prepare a remedy for rheumatism dry flowers of hawthorn are poured with alcohol in a proportion of 1: 5 and insist a week in a dark place, after which they drink 40 drops for half an hour before meals.
4. In pharmacies, tinctures are sold only from one component, whereas at home you can make a tincture of hawthorn flowers along with the leaves.

Such a remedy is considered more effective in a number of diseases. For 10 grams of a dry mixture of flowers and leaves add 100 grams of alcohol and insist for 12 days, then filter and drink three times a day for a month, spreading 25-30 drops in a tablespoon of water.

Precautionary measures

Specific contraindications, except for an individual allergic reaction, tincture of hawthorn does not. But since it helps reduce blood pressure, people prone to hypotension should take it with caution.

Also, it is not recommended to drink cold drink immediately after taking the tincture, as this can provoke intestinal colic.