Jam is an old Russian word that means "cooked treat". In Russia, he was considered the most delicious and healthy dessert, which was only on the table of wealthy people. In those days, jam was prepared on honey or molasses, so the harm from such a product was minimal. The benefit of jam is due to the plant-based vitamin component, and sugar acts as a preservative. Today we have prepared for you a selection of interesting and unusual recipes, let's talk about the benefits and dangers of jam.
How to make jam healthy
Long-term heat treatment of raw materials contributes to the destruction of nutrients, thereby reducing the value of the finished product. There are several ways to prepare your favorite dessert in such a way as to minimize the harm of sugar and maximize the usefulness of fruits and berries.
If you replace sugar with fructose when making jam, you can reduce the damage to the product for the pancreas: it is less critical for fructose. But thereby we only reduce the harm from sugar, the benefits of berries and other plant components with this preparation will not be lost. A treat on fructose is more sugary than on sugar. The disadvantages include the following factors:
- with insufficient fructose in berries, jam can ferment;
- the price of fructose is higher than the cost of sugar.
The jam that is popular in our country is “five minutes”. It is not customary to cook for hours until the correct density is obtained. The jam is brought to a boil, cooked for literally two minutes, cooled and boiled again for a couple of minutes. Such a cycle should be repeated at least three to four times. Note that the loss of vitamins is not so intense, because pieces of fruit and berries do not lose shape. Please note: less sugar is added to this jam than to the classic one.
"Five minutes" should be stored in the refrigerator, otherwise the risk of damage is high. As for the benefits and harms of jam, cooked in this way, we can say the following: it is more useful than classic. However, a greater amount of vitamins is also not stored in it, for example, ascorbic acid is destroyed even at a temperature of 98 ° C.
It is believed that the best option for jam - berries, grated with sugar. From the point of view of the Russian language, such a dessert is not a jam at all, since it is not cooked. But it contains more vitamins. However, such jam should not be used too often, enriching ourselves with vitamins, we saturate our body with fast carbohydrates and empty calories.
Pine cone jam: benefits and harms
One of the most useful species of wood in our country is considered pine. She gives people valuable and useful resin, cones, kidneys, needles. Cook from its "fruits" and jam. In order for it to be useful, cones must be learned to properly assemble and prepare.
Harvesting raw materials
In Russia, raw materials are collected from June 21 to 25, depending on the climatic zone. Jam can be cooked only from those cones that can be cut with a knife or pierced with a fingernail, their length should be from 1 to 4 cm. Others are unsuitable. Pay attention to their appearance: it is important that they are healthy, beautiful and even. Cones are not taken from diseased trees.
Healing properties
What effect does pine jam have on the body - good or bad? This raw material is widely used in traditional medicine, it is recommended to take it with the following diseases:
- colds and flu;
- avitaminosis;
- ARI and ARVI;
- diseases of the upper respiratory tract;
- pulmonary tuberculosis;
- pleurisy;
- bronchial asthma and bronchitis;
- polyarthritis;
- pneumonia;
- low hemoglobin;
- throat and gum disease.
This jam gives a positive effect in the treatment of cough. Children do not resist its use, and with pleasure take a sweet and tasty medicine. It has expectorant properties, has an immunomodulatory and diaphoretic effect on the body. Jam is a good antitumor agent, a strong antioxidant, protects the body from the negative effects of free radicals.
Contraindications
Speaking about the benefits of jam from cones, we also consider it necessary to mention the dangers. With caution, you need to approach the use of jam for kidney diseases, you can not take this treat in acute hepatitis. People aged 60 years and pregnant women can enter it into the diet, but very carefully. Despite the fact that such a treat is very popular with children, it can cause them allergic reactions. This is especially true for children aged 3 to 7 years.
Before including such jam in the child’s menu, you need to conduct a kind of allergy test: give him a small amount of dessert. If after that there are no rashes on the child’s skin, then gradually the daily dose can be increased to a couple of teaspoons per day, no more!
Do not forget that all preparations based on pine can cause severe headaches and inflammation of the stomach, and pine jam is no exception.
Recipe
After we figured out all the intricacies of eating jam from cones, the benefits and harms, it's time to start publishing the recipe for this unusually tasty and fragrant treat. In preparation for the jam cooking process, all the specified norms of the ingredients must be observed.
Amber Jam
We prepare 1 kg of young cones, thoroughly wash, cut into four parts. We will prepare syrup, the proportions are as follows: we need 1.5 kg of sugar for every two glasses of water. Ready syrup pour the cones, leave for 4 hours. After that, put the container with the ingredients on the fire and bring to a boil, but you can not boil! Remove from heat and let cool. This procedure must be repeated again.
We place the jam for the third time on fire, let it boil, and then boil for another 50 minutes on low heat. Thanks to this method of preparation, it will bring no harm, but benefit. The jam will be ready when the pine cones become soft, and the syrup acquires a tart taste and amber color. The calorie content of such a treat is 140-180 kcal per 100 g.
Dandelion dessert
At present, the delicacy of this sunny flower is almost forgotten, although it has extraordinary benefits. It resembles honey in taste, the sun is bright in color, and the benefit will help you easily survive even the coldest winter without colds and depressions. Let's find out about the calorie content, the composition of the product and what effect dandelion jam has on the body: benefit or harm.
Calorie content and composition
In jam prepared by all technologies, calorie content is 192 kcal / 100 g of product, it contains about 1 g of protein, 49 g of carbohydrates, not more than 0.15 g of fat. In one such serving, about 3 g of dietary fiber is present, which is necessary for normal bowel function. The mineral composition of the dessert is very diverse:
- potassium (231 mg);
- iron (1.7 mg);
- phosphorus (41 mg);
- manganese (0.22 mg);
- calcium (139 mg);
- zinc (0.27 mg).
In addition to these trace elements, it contains selenium, copper, iodine, etc.
Beneficial features
Please note: even when taking into account a large amount of sugar contained in the jam, its benefits are very substantial. We will present only some of the characteristics that this fragrant dessert has. Is he:
- stimulates the nervous system;
- tones up;
- improves metabolic processes;
- helps with joint ailments;
- normalizes appetite;
- cleanses the body of toxins;
- stops inflammatory processes;
- improves skin condition;
- has choleretic properties;
- gives a delicate laxative effect;
- helps get rid of parasites;
- It effectively treats hemorrhoids and constipation.
Advantages and disadvantages
If you are planning to make this jam, remember that the flowers should be picked in advance and only in an ecologically clean area. If you do not comply with this condition, then all the harmful substances that are in the flowers will go into a treat, in which case you will not benefit from the jam, but harm. The disadvantages of such a dessert include the following factors:
- With increased sensitivity to iodine, you should refrain from eating sweets from dandelions.
- You can not abuse the dessert with gallstone disease, exacerbation of gastritis, a tendency to nausea and diarrhea.
- Such jam should be eaten in reasonable quantities: no more than a few spoons with tea, so as not to harm yourself.
How to collect dandelions
In order to get not harm, but the benefit of jam, you need to properly collect raw materials for it. Please note: biennial plants have healing properties. Recognizing them is not difficult - they have a more massive rhizome and the flowers themselves. For jam, you should choose the largest inflorescences. Pay special attention to the flowers themselves: choose only a golden color without any darkening on the petals. Inflorescences are cut to the very hat.
We offer you a video that details how to make dandelion jam.
Jam from nuts: benefits and harms
An unusually delicious dessert, a fragrant tea supplement, a means to improve memory, a way to rejuvenate cells - it's all about nuts jam. With this method of processing, the walnut kernels become soft, soaked in tasty sweet syrup and give an amazing taste and aroma.
For the preparation of jam, you should take young fruits with an uncoated shell. The degree of maturity of a walnut can be checked quite easily: you should pierce the shell with a large needle (toothpick). In the event that it went through, you can start cooking walnut jam, the benefits and dangers of which you will learn right now.
Benefit
What are the positive characteristics of this jam? It is useful for urological diseases, problems associated with diseases of the heart and liver. It should be noted that in the cooking process, some of the beneficial components that fresh fruits possess are lost. But even the remaining amount of nutrients is enough to cover the need for vitamins, macro- and micronutrients.
Of particular benefit to the body are oleic and linoleic acids, which are found in large quantities in walnuts. The combination of acids and trace elements has a beneficial effect on the central nervous system and brain function. In folk medicine, nut dishes, which include jam from them, are used as an anti-sclerotic agent. This dessert contains a large amount of iodine, vitamin C and PP.
Possible harm
Any nuts, including walnuts, are strong allergens. For this reason, it should not be given to children under 3 years old. Pregnant women are advised to refrain from using nut jam due to the fact that this can cause allergies in the unborn baby.
This jam is contraindicated for people with diabetes, and because of the high calorie content (280 kcal / 100 g), it should be eaten in limited quantities for those who are overweight.
Emerald jam
We want to tell you about the benefits and dangers of gooseberry jam. Note that in its berries are concentrated very important and useful substances for the human body: trace elements, minerals, vitamins, organic acids.
Many skeptics claim that in the finished gooseberry jam there are almost no vitamins and minerals, because they are destroyed by heat treatment. Is it really beneficial or harmful to gooseberry jam?
All the most useful qualities are stored in cold (raw) jam. The recipe for its preparation is quite simple: clean washed berries are passed through a meat grinder or grind in a blender, add a little sugar, and even better honey. Cover with lids and store in a cold place.
Note that when cooking “Tsar's” jam, which does not provide for long-term heat treatment, vitamin C is retained by almost 80% and, most importantly, vitamin P. These vitamins have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the liver, heart, and the state of blood vessels. This jam is of great benefit in early spring, during the period of vitamin starvation.
It should be said that people suffering from gastritis with high acidity, diabetics, allergies should abandon the use of gooseberry jam. It is not recommended for people with large overweight. The average calorie content of such a product is 211.99 kcal per 100 g of product.
Rhubarb Jam
Rhubarb jam has an unusually pleasant taste and aroma, about the benefits and dangers of which we want to tell. For a long time, housewives used rhubarb for making jam. It has an apple flavor, with a slight acidity, pleasant aroma. The jam has an amber-brown color with a greenish tint. The consistency of the goodies has some similarities with apple jam. The calorific value of such a product is very high and amounts to 314 kcal / 100 g. For rhubarb, they begin to collect rhubarb in early summer, when young stems contain a huge amount of useful substances, which become smaller over time.
Jam contains a huge amount of vitamins: A, E, C, K, P, carotene, minerals (phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iron). The product is a source of fiber, pectin, various organic acids. It has a beneficial effect on the body:
- promotes the breakdown of fats;
- improves bowel function;
- boosts immunity;
- benefits vessels and heart;
- has a choleretic effect;
- improves blood composition.
Despite such a rich composition, it is not recommended for people with diseases of the genitourinary system and kidneys. Due to the fact that jam contains a lot of sugar, it has a negative effect on tooth enamel.