A review article about a berry that is good for health - sea buckthorn: where and how it grows, properties, benefits and contraindications, chemical composition, useful recipes. Sea buckthorn is a sunny yellow-orange berry growing on a thorny bush. A shrub is widespread in middle latitudes, and the benefits of its fruits were known even in ancient times. The berries ripen in August-September. Sea buckthorn is difficult to collect, because it is small, very juicy and easily bursts, it grows not in bunches, but directly on the branch. Each branch of the shrub, on which there is simply a huge amount of these small bright fruits, is strewn with sharp thorns. Caution: there is a bone inside the juicy pulp.
Berries can be eaten fresh, frozen, candied in jam or preserves for the winter, you can make healthy wine or oil. In addition to cooking, sea buckthorn fruits (extracts and oil from it) are used in folk medicine. They are good as a remedy for all ailments, and also have cosmetic properties.
The chemical composition of fresh sea buckthorn berries
The berries taste sour-sweet, but they can be eaten just picked from the bush. You won't be able to choose the bones - you will have to spit them out (who can, of course, chew with the pulp and swallow). The eaten berries will cleanse the intestines, fill you with many useful substances and energy.
The calorie content of sea buckthorn per 100 grams is 82 kcal:
- Fats - 5, 5 g
- Carbohydrates - 5, 68 g
- Proteins - 1, 21 g
- Water - 83.2 g
- Saturated Fatty Acids - 2.13 g
- Organic acids - 2.0 g
- Dietary fiber - 2, 11 g
- Mono- and disaccharides - 5, 72 g
- Ash - 0.6 g
Vitamins:
- A (RE) - 249.6 μg
- PP - 0.42 mg
- Beta-carotene - 1.525 g
- B1 thiamine - 0, 028 g
- B2 riboflavin - 0.049 g
- 5 pantothenic - 0.25 g
- B6 peridoxin - 0.78 g
- B9 folic - 9, 2 mcg
- E (TE) - 5, 12 mg
- C - 220 mg
- H biotin - 3, 28 g
- PP - 0.49 g
Micro and macro elements:
- Iron - 1.42 mg
- Calcium - 21, 89 mg
- Magnesium - 29.9 mg
- Potassium - 193.3 mg
- Sodium - 3.9 mg
- Phosphorus - 9.4 mg
The benefits of sea buckthorn for the body
These bright orange sun berries are very rich in vitamins (especially C), micro- and macroelements, and organic acids. More useful than fresh fruits, only sea buckthorn oil, which is a concentrate. So…
Fresh sea buckthorn berries replenish the deficiency of vitamins in the body and support the immune system, it is enough to eat a handful daily. This is an excellent natural antiseptic to help the cold recede - add berries to tea to the patient, or give a few grams of sea buckthorn jam a day: from snot, from sore throat, from cold - not a trace will remain. Sea buckthorn gruel - This is a favorite folk remedy, and official medicine uses it in preparations for burns, for healing wounds, whitening age spots (scars). For example, to treat inflammation of the respiratory tract, sea buckthorn is mixed with honey.
Folk wisdom about sea buckthorn says this: if it is inflamed inside, the sea buckthorn berries are also put inside (be it a decoction, tincture or fresh product), if inflamed outside, they are put on the skin (ointment, gruel or lotion). The broth can be not only from the fruit, but also from the leaves and seeds of sea buckthorn. Leaves, for example, are good at resisting rheumatism or gout, and seeds are an excellent laxative.
Sea buckthorn oil
is a concentrate of all nutrients of the plant. Its properties are much stronger than fruits, although they treat all the same inflammation, burns or skin diseases. Antibacterial (disinfecting), healing, soothing and some other properties of the oil are used in medicine and cosmetology. For example, sea buckthorn oil, when combined with other medications, can treat radiation sickness of the skin, and even cancerous tumors. It is easier to use it for inflammation, and you can quickly heal acute respiratory infections, sore throat and flu: lubricate the throat, instill in the nose. For frostbite use sea buckthorn oil, various ulcers.
Sea buckthorn is able to treat our vision and in particular the eyes: conjunctivitis, corneal defects, lesions and burns.
The beneficial properties of sea buckthorn are also used to maintain beauty. By the way, here the benefits are not only for women … men suffer from baldness more often. Hair masks made from this golden berry "make" the bulbs work better, heal, fill them with micro- and macroelements, vitamins. From this, the hair becomes denser, grows better, becomes shiny and thick.
Due to the large amount of antioxidants, sea buckthorn concentrate is used in creams to eliminate wrinkles and improve skin color.
Sea buckthorn contraindications
The sea buckthorn berry is very rich in biologically active substances, therefore it is necessary to use it carefully. In case of impaired immunity, sea buckthorn should not be consumed at all: a large amount of carotene can cause an allergic reaction.
Sea buckthorn requires caution from people with inflammation of the pancreas and gallbladder, diseases of the liver and duodenum. This is due to the high acid content in the pulp of the berries.
Here, as with most natural products, the rule applies: everything is good in moderation. And the healing properties will manifest themselves only when used correctly.
Sea buckthorn berry recipes
To store all the beneficial properties until the next harvest and feed your body with them for a year, the berry collection can be frozen or preserved. Here are some helpful recipes:
- Jam without cooking. Sea buckthorn berries are washed and dried on a cloth (towel). Then, in a 1: 1 ratio, they are covered with granulated sugar. Can be scrolled in blender. Divide into small jars, close tightly and put in a cool dark place.
- Sea buckthorn juice. The washed fruits are pounded, kneaded. Then pour clean cold water (0.7 liters per kilogram). Mix everything thoroughly and squeeze out the juice. Bottle and sterilize.
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Light sea buckthorn wine, table. It is prepared from the juice of these berries (5 liters will be required). 4 liters of water and 1.5 kg of sugar sand. All ingredients are mixed. Leave for fermentation. Then, bottled, tightly corked. Prepared sea buckthorn wine is placed in a cool dark place and stored for 1 year. Thus, the aged drink has a transparent, golden, pleasant sunny color and sweet and sour refreshing taste. You will also like the aroma - pineapple and honey.
To obtain a drink of greater strength, 1 liter of water and 7.5 liters of juice, sugar 2.5 kg are taken.
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Sea buckthorn oil. This product is sold in the pharmacy, but its beneficial properties cannot be guaranteed. Of course, homemade butter is much healthier. Here's a recipe at home:
We need sea buckthorn juice, which is left in a jar for several hours and is not stirred. During this time, the juice is divided into parts - the upper layer containing oil, and the lower, containing a mass that resembles jelly. The resulting top layer is poured into a clean dark bottle (up to the edge). Close tightly, store in a dark place.
Video about the benefits of sea buckthorn:
