Blackcurrant is one of the favorite berries of many people. In addition to excellent taste, it perfectly affects human health. Due to its strong healing properties, this berry is often used for preventive and therapeutic purposes in folk medicine.
An amazing plant is black currant. The beneficial properties that it possesses are needed by people throughout the year. Because of the berries make jams, compotes or just freeze for the winter. However, the excellent taste of this plant is very good, so it is used with great pleasure in cooking, adding to wine, pastries, desserts, marinades for fish and meat.
Blackcurrant externally is a low shrub belonging to the gooseberry family. It reaches a maximum height of 2 meters. Berries usually ripen on it in July-August, and the plant begins to bear fruit 2-3 years after the initial planting. Early, mid-ripening and late-ripening currants are isolated. She ripens the fruits of an even round shape, dark black. Berries are harvested only fully ripened.
Blackcurrant: useful properties
So, what is the use of blackcurrant? In many ways, all its benefits are determined by its unique composition. It is no accident that people consider this particular berry to be a valuable storehouse of various useful substances. After all, it contains useful vitamins of group B, vitamins E, A, C, P, pectins, sugars, essential oils, phosphoric acid, iron, potassium, tannins. And there is so much vitamin C in the berry that it can provide the body with a daily norm of the necessary ascorbic acid of only 15-20 berries.
Blackcurrant surpasses all berries in a huge amount of minerals, vitamins and other useful substances contained in it. Studies have shown that these berries have the ability to prevent the dangerous onset of diabetes. Yes, it is these important properties that have influenced the fact that it is often an additive for functional nutrition products intended for healing and strengthening the body during a variety of diseases.
Blackcurrant also has beneficial properties in the treatment of many chronic diseases: malignant tumors, cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer's disease. If you regularly use these wonderful berries, then immunity will be strengthened, the onset of diabetes will be prevented, vision problems will be prevented, and intellectual capabilities in the elderly will be maintained.
The berry helps to cope with ARVI remarkably: anthocyanidins and vitamin C have a powerful and rapid anti-inflammatory effect. A juice from blackcurrant actively promotes rapid recovery after surgery, a decoction treats hypertension, stomach ulcers, gastritis, anemia, bleeding gums. It has a therapeutic effect with pharyngitis and tonsillitis: berry juice, which is diluted with water, you need to rinse.
The huge content of vitamins certainly releases currants as a healthy food product. It is quite difficult to find at least one berry more useful for your figure than blackcurrant. If it is sugar free, then the berry speeds up the metabolism and helps the body get rid of the toxins accumulated in it.
Blackcurrant leaves: useful properties
Shrub leaves are no less valuable. They contain even more than berries, vitamin C, essential oils, phytoncides, as well as magnesium, silver, manganese, copper, lead, sulfur.
They have a beneficial effect in case of problems with the cardiovascular system, with gastritis and even with gout. Blackcurrant leaves tone, have anti-inflammatory and antiseptic effect, cleansing and diuretic effect.
For medicinal purposes, infusions from leaflets are often used, and for a general, reliable strengthening of the body, they are brewed like ordinary tea. You can use fresh or dried leaves for this. An excellent vitamin drink will be an infusion of young leaves mixed with any sweet and sour fresh juice. You can add sugar to such a cocktail and drink ½ cup per day.
Oddly enough, the leaves of the blackcurrant bush have a pleasant strong aroma, therefore, when pickling and canning vegetables, they are often put as a spice.
Here is such a wonderful berry - blackcurrant. She gives beneficial properties to everyone who eats it.