Modern medicine has proven that hawthorn contains citric acid, malic acid, ascorbic acid, sugars, proteins, and carbohydrates. It has the effect of lowering blood pressure and promoting gastrointestinal digestion. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that hawthorn can strengthen the spleen and eliminate food stagnation, which is beneficial for weight loss. It can be used as an adjunctive treatment for secondary obesity.
Hawthorn is also known as red fruit, mountain hawthorn, and Indian plum. It has been cultivated in China for more than 3,000 years. According to the latest measurements by the National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, hawthorn is rich in various nutrients. For example, per 100 grams of hawthorn pulp: it contains 53 mg of VC, second only to fresh jujubes and kiwis among fruits; it contains 7.32 mg of VE, ranking first among fruits; it contains 100 micrograms of carotene, ranking among the best in Rosaceae fruits. VC, VE, and carotene are antioxidants that can improve the body's immunity and enhance physical fitness. Regular consumption of hawthorn has certain effects on anti-aging, beauty, cancer prevention, and preventing atherosclerosis.
Hawthorn can lower cholesterol and lipids in the human blood and has a weight loss effect. However, using hawthorn water to lower blood lipids is a very slow process. It must be consumed daily consistently for a long period of treatment to achieve the effects of lowering blood lipids and softening blood vessels.
Hawthorn itself is a rare health food. Hawthorn is rich in carbohydrates, dietary fiber, vitamin C, and mineral elements such as calcium, iron, and potassium. Hawthorn acid in hawthorn has multiple effects such as anti-tumor, anti-HIV, anti-inflammatory, anti-parasitic, anti-bacterial, promoting the digestion of meat, and weight loss and beauty. The flavonoids in hawthorn also have the function of preventing and treating cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
And the most significant medicinal effect of hawthorn lies in its ability to aid digestion. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that malt is used for digesting excessive flour, rice germ for digesting excessive rice, and hawthorn for digesting excessive meat. When a person consumes too much meat at once, eating hawthorn has a good effect on digestion.
However, it should be noted that the principle of hawthorn promoting digestion is not that it can strengthen the spleen and stomach, but only that it can promote the secretion of digestive fluids. In this process, it also stimulates the gastrointestinal tract to a certain extent. Therefore, people with stomach problems must not drink hawthorn water or eat hawthorn on an empty stomach. This is especially true for patients with gastritis, hyperacidity, gastric ulcers, reflux gastritis, and esophagitis, as it will aggravate the condition. Normal people should also pay attention to eating hawthorn in moderation. If consumed in excessive amounts at once, it not only fails to lower lipids and lose weight but can also cause chronic gastrointestinal diseases. When drinking hawthorn water, it is not easy to control the amount. Drinking hawthorn water all day is obviously not good for the stomach. Therefore, when drinking hawthorn water, attention must be paid to the amount, and it should not be excessive. Otherwise, it will fail to lower lipids and instead easily cause gastrointestinal diseases, which is得不偿失 (not worth the loss).
The primary effect of hawthorn is digestion. In folk tradition, there has always been a practice of using hawthorn to eliminate indigestion and promote digestion. Traditional Chinese medical theory holds that malt is used for digesting excessive flour, rice germ for digesting excessive rice, and hawthorn for digesting excessive meat. Hawthorn has a strong digestive function, so people with stomach problems generally should not drink hawthorn tea on an empty stomach. Especially, patients with hyperacidity, gastritis, gastric ulcers, reflux gastritis, and reflux esophagitis are not suitable for drinking it.
One must persist in drinking hawthorn tea daily to achieve the effects of lowering blood lipids and softening blood vessels over time. Experts recommend a daily dose of 25 grams of hawthorn. If the hawthorn tea is blended with Cassia seed, which can lower blood pressure, and Fo-ti root, which is an antioxidant, the effect will be better.