Harm and benefit of sorrel for the body. Horse sorrel: benefit, harm, contraindications for use

The benefit of sorrel is known to the Slavic peoples long ago: who does not like the famous soup seasoned with sour cream? Everyone knows that sorrel is useful, but not everyone will answer what organs it has beneficial effects. When did this plant appear in gourmet dishes and why should it be eaten by all means?

History of the plant

The use of sorrel for the body first became apparent to the French. On the tables of noble bourgeois and even kings, this plant began to appear from the 12th century. Eastern Slavs, on the contrary, for a long time considered this herb unsuitable for food and weeded like a weed.

It is noteworthy that this "weed" really has a high resistance: it grows almost all over the world. Of the 200 species in food, in fact, you can eat only two - horse and sour sorrel.

Culinary specialists quickly adapted themselves and invented not only oxalic soup, but also all sorts of recipes for salads, pancakes, and also learned how to make a stuffing for pies from the plant.

Do not stay away and the master of folk medicine. After long experiments and observations, they established that this plant helps to fight many diseases. Among the people immediately began to spread home-based recipes based on sorrel, which are used for various ailments. Why is sorrel considered such a useful product?

Benefit

The use of sorrel for the body is beyond doubt. First of all, it is a dietary product. It is great for maintaining a protein diet, because in this "weed" really proteins are more than carbohydrates or fats.

The benefit of sorrel is due to its rich vitamin composition, which includes:

• Provitamin A;
• vitamin C;
• Vitamins of group B;
• Vitamin E;
• Vitamin PP.

This vitamin cocktail is also supplemented with useful minerals such as potassium and magnesium. The oxalic leaves contain calcium, iron, phosphorus, sodium. And of course, we can not fail to mention a number of organic acids: coffee, oxalic, citric and apple. This plant is rich in flavonoids, as well as tannins.

All this long list of useful components, of which the oxalic leaves consist, determines many useful properties that they possess.

What diseases heal?

Horse sorrel, the benefit and harm of which are the subject of discussions not only of traditional healers, but also of doctors, is readily used in everyday life as a means of combating many problems:

1. Cholecystitis, impaired liver function. Oxalic leaves, rich in chrysofanoic acid, stimulate the work of the liver, as well as the production of bile.
2. Disorders of bowel function. All the same chryphonic acid allows you to effectively get rid of constipation. But tannins in plants are saved in some cases from diarrhea.
3. Bleeding. The leaves of sorrel perfectly cope with the stop of bleeding. They can be applied from the outside to the wound, and with internal bleeding it is better to take inwards in the form of broths.
4. Furuncles, dermatitis. The unique juice of the plant is suitable for the treatment of skin: it accelerates the healing of ulcers and resorption of boils. Will help with oxalic juice and dermatitis.
5. Menstrual and climacteric syndromes. Persian scientist Avicenna proposed using oxalic broths a few days before the start of menstruation, in order to reduce their soreness and abundance. Such broths are also suitable for the treatment of climacteric syndrome, reducing nervousness and eliminating many unpleasant symptoms of menopause.

Folk recipes

As a cholagogue, as well as a remedy for constipation is good oxalic juice, which must be drunk 3 times a day for a tablespoon. Also for the normalization of the stool you can use a decoction from the rhizome of the plant. The broth is prepared according to a standard recipe: a tablespoon of ground grass should be poured hot water (250 ml) and boil for half an hour; Then insist, strain and drink a quarter cup 3 times a day.

The use of sorrel with menopause and menstrual syndrome becomes evident if the oxalic broth is consumed in higher doses - 100 ml each half an hour before breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Very few people know, but with rhinitis and sinusitis, oxalic juice is also effective. A few drops in each nostril can drip and decoction from the root of sorrel.

Rheumatism will be saved by oxalic alcohol tincture. For its preparation, enough 20 g of oxalic rhizome to pour 10-15 ml of vodka. 10 days it is necessary to insist the mixture in a dark and warm place, and then strain and take 20 drops several times a day a few minutes before meals.

Sorrel is a blood plant

The use of horse sorrel is covered in its ability to purify the blood. This property of the plant will come in handy for any disease, starting with allergies and ending with dysentery. Purified and enriched with vitamins, blood will accelerate the process of recovery from any disease.

Decoction for cleaning the blood is prepared quite simply: just 1 tablespoon of the ground plant pour 2 cups of hot water, and then boil over low heat for 10 minutes. The broth is infused for an hour, while the vessel in which it will stand should be covered with a towel. Before use, you need to strain the infusion.

To drink an oxalic broth it is necessary for 15 minutes before meal, it is desirable 4 times a day, on a quarter of a glass.

Sorrel: benefit and harm. Contraindications

To the use of each, even the most useful product, there are always contraindications. So is sorrel: benefit and harm, there are contraindications to this plant.

In spring, when the first leaves appear on the beds, the level of oxalic acid in them is low. Therefore, the plant is not harmful to the kidneys. But the older the leaves, the more oxalic acid there is. Being in large quantities in the human body, it comes into a chemical reaction with calcium and is deposited in the kidneys in the form of stones and sand.

Also the high content of acids in this plant makes it necessary to exclude sorrel from the diet of all those people who are sick with gastritis, ulcers or suffer from increased acidity of the stomach. It is not recommended to eat for pregnant women.

Nutritionists tend to assume that oxalic acid, subjected to heat treatment, is difficult to process by the body. Therefore, sorrel is more useful after all in a fresh form.

Interesting Facts

Horse sorrel, the benefits and harms of which are discussed by nutritionists, has been consumed since ancient times not only by the French. Greeks, Dutch, Germans, Bulgarians, too, addicted to the plant with sourness.

In Russia, the plant began to add to dishes only in the 16th century. And people did not call him sorrel: following the example of their ancestors, the Eastern Slavs continued to mention the plant as "wild beet" or "meadow apple" in the speech.

Due to the fact that its leaves resemble a spear, the plant is called Latin Rumex .

Sorrel, the benefits and contraindications to the application of which has not yet been fully studied, still remains a regular on our dining table. You need to consume it in any case, but it is desirable in a fresh form, while observing the norm.