White currant: useful properties and contraindications for human he alth

Deciduous shrub with colorless transparent berries is much less common in suburban areas than its closest relatives. The plant has powerful roots, the height of the shoots, covered with leaves with jagged edges, reaches 2 meters. In place of small flowers with yellow petals, hanging clusters of berries appear, acquiring a sweet and sour taste when ripe. For some reason, they do not attach much importance to the beneficial properties and contraindications of white currant, and the shrub is not as in demand as other plants from the Gooseberry family.

Chemical composition

Many summer residents and gardeners prefer crops with larger and sweeter fruits, because they do not know and are not interested in what vitamins are present in white currants, and there are many of them:

1. Ascorbic acid strengthens the immune system, fights microbes, improves the endocrine system.
2. Tocopherol acts as an antioxidant, speeds up blood circulation, prevents cell destruction by free radicals.
3. Vitamin P maintains normal blood pressure levels.
4. Rutin reduces vascular fragility, increases the content of collagen in tissues, promotes the processing of fats.

The berries of the plant are rich in pectin. Thanks to this polysaccharide, toxic and poisonous substances are removed from the body, and the microflora in the stomach is restored. Folic acid is involved in DNA synthesis, prevents the formation of cancerous tumors. Vitamin B4 restores nerves, improves the processing of fats.Oxycoumarins have a beneficial effect on the heart, thin the blood.

White berries contain phosphorus and potassium, sodium and iron, dietary fiber, fructose, and other monosaccharides.

The highest ratio of useful components in the currant is observed at the time of ripening. Green and overripe berries have a lot of water and less minerals.

Nutritional value

When choosing foods for a diet, people are interested in how many calories are present in them. All types of currants contain carbohydrates, almost no fats, but there are vegetable proteins. When eating 100 g of white berries, the human body receives 42 kcal, black - 44, at a rate of about 2 thousand per day.

Currant will not harm people prone to rapid weight gain, it is given to babies without fear of allergies.

What can be consumed

Not only the fruits of the shrub have healing properties, nature has not deprived the leaves and shoots of the plant of useful components.

Berries

White currants are put in compotes, jelly along with other fruits, eaten fresh, which allows you to boost immunity by being saturated with ascorbic acid. Drink a decoction of berries:

• in extreme heat;
• for anemia;
• for coughs and colds.

Juice squeezed from currant fruits improves appetite, restores the functions of the digestive organs, normalizes blood composition, helps reduce bad cholesterol.

Benefits and rules for the use of leaves

Even seeds located in berries have healing properties. They are rich in essential oils, which are added to cosmetic creams and lotions.

How to use blackcurrant, every housewife who rolls cucumbers or tomatoes for the winter knows. So that the jars do not swell, the brine does not ferment, leaves are placed along with umbrellas, the entire aerial part of the whitecurrant bush has the same bactericidal effect.

Crushed greens along with nourishing masks and anti-aging scrubs are applied to the skin of the face. Decoctions from them saturate the body with vitamin C, contribute to the removal of radionuclides, acids and toxins, and prevent the occurrence of cystitis.

Useful properties of currant branches, rich in essential oils, flavonoids, have been used in the preparation of tinctures, extracts and tea for the treatment of dermatitis, scurvy, kidney disease, conjunctivitis, diathesis.

Norms and features of eating

To protect the body from the formation of cancerous tumors, the development of diabetes and cataracts, an adult and a child over 4 years old should eat at least 100 g of fruits and the same number of berries every day. Not everyone can consume white currants in such quantities, then compote or jelly is cooked from it, and the rate increases to 0.5 kg. Elderly people, as well as workers in hazardous workshops, must definitely eat at least 20 or 30 pieces of fresh or frozen berries.

He alth benefits and harms

In addition to vitamins and minerals, white currant is rich in organic acids, which contribute to the normalization of vision, have a positive effect on the reproductive system, enhance the human body's resistance to microbes and viruses.

Male

Currant berries wash the bladder, fight infection in the genital tract, improve kidney function, increase blood flow, which ultimately leads to increased potency, maintaining men's he alth.

Female

Whitecurrant is added to masks and scrubs that the fair half applies to the skin of the face to restore its elasticity, slow down fading, get rid of spots and acne. Women who dream of losing weight include low-calorie berries in their diet.Currant fruits contribute to the removal of s alts, excess fluid, and with them a few kilograms go away.

For kids

Strawberries and other colorful fruits cause allergies or diathesis in many babies. There are no dyes in the composition of white currants; fresh berries can be fed to children under one year old. Natural vitamins are necessary for a fragile body.

Nuances of use during pregnancy and lactation

Both berries and fruits should be present in the diet of a future and nursing mother, but they should be consumed in moderation, starting with a few pieces. Although whitecurrant does not cause allergies, it is easily digestible, it is not known what kind of reaction a baby’s body may have to an excess of vitamin C. It is necessary to accustom a child to new foods gradually.

For what diseases it is recommended to use

Although the best useful components are absorbed from fresh berries, the medicinal properties are preserved during heat treatment and after freezing. Whitecurrant helps to eliminate beriberi, cure colds, restore the functioning of the nervous and endocrine systems.

In what form

Jellies, marmalades and jams are made from white currants, which quickly harden due to the presence of pectin. Compotes are prepared from berries, preserved for the winter, rubbing with sugar. Decoctions from dried fruits are useful for people suffering from hypertension, fresh currants are recommended for anemia, rheumatism, after a serious illness.

Juice and fruit drink

The acids present in berries kill bacteria that cause intestinal pathologies. For problems with the stomach, liver, with a decrease in immunity, it is useful to drink juice or fruit drink, where both vitamins and organic acids are stored. Such drinks stimulate the intestines, reduce cholesterol, improve appetite, and quench thirst.

Fresh berries

Currant fruits, freshly plucked from the bush, treat colds, coughs, anemia. Doctors advise including them in the diet of diabetics, people with heart pathologies.

White currant is useful for residents of megacities, as it cleanses the body of exhaust gases, cigarette smoke.

The pulp from fresh berries restores the skin, restores its elasticity, accelerates cell regeneration. Currants are made into puree, which is applied to the face area for 15 or 20 minutes. To remove acne, fruit pulp is mixed with blue clay.

Is it possible to freeze and dry berries for the winter

When processing white currants into jams and jams, not all useful components are preserved, fresh fruits do not last until spring, so summer residents dry the berries in the oven or in the air. Compotes and decoctions are prepared from them in winter. Currants can be washed and frozen. In this form, both vitamins and organic acids are preserved.

Healing recipes

Not everyone likes the fruits of the bush, but they go well with different products, and many housewives believe that it is better to make a dietary but tasty dish from berries and vegetables.

White currant and turnip salad

Unusual light dessert will appeal to adults and kids, will not spoil the figure, although it will improve appetite, saturate the body with useful substances. To prepare currant salad, you need to take:

• 200g turnip;
• 1 tbsp l. honey;
• 2 spoons of sour cream and lemon juice each;
• 80 grams of berries.

The washed and peeled root crop is cut into strips, pour a little s alt and mix gently. Put sour cream in a bowl and combine it with juice. The currants are sorted, separated from the twigs and added to the turnip, dressing and honey are poured. The salad is garnished with berries and fresh mint to make it fragrant.

White currant and grapefruit jam

From berries in less than an hour you can prepare a real delicacy for the winter with a pleasant sweet and sour taste with a delicate aroma and a slight bitterness. The process consists of several steps:

1. Two cups of white currants are de-stemmed and washed. Dried berries are rubbed with a spoon to become softer.
2. The peel is removed from the grapefruit, the fruit is divided into slices.
3. Both ingredients are combined and mixed with 2 cups of fine sugar.
4. Put on the stove and boil for 45 minutes until the mass thickens, making sure that it does not stick to the bowl and burn.

Dessert needs to be decomposed into sterilized jars. The treat keeps well even at room temperature.

Boiled jelly

Any variety of white currant is preserved by rubbing with sugar. In this form, the berry does not lose pectin. The preparation has a thick consistency. Compotes are made from it, marmalade is made, put into the dough as a filling for pies.

For jelly take:

• berries - 1 kg;
• water - 1 cup;
• sugar - 300g

Pour currants into a saucepan, grind by hand to get a homogeneous mass. It is combined with water and put on fire. After the composition boils, the workpiece is mixed with sugar, boiled for about a quarter of an hour. When the product takes the form of jelly, they are packaged in jars.

When should you give up white currants

Although the berries of the shrub are used to treat diseases, strengthen immunity, and rejuvenate the skin, they are not suitable for everyone and can harm.

White currants should not be consumed if any of the components are intolerant, and the composition of the product is diverse.

Vitamin K, present in berries, accelerates blood clotting when veins are affected by thrombophlebitis. When using currants, the level of acidity in the stomach increases; with gastritis and ulcers, it is better to refuse such a product. Do not get carried away with berries for patients with hemophilia and hepatitis A.

For he althy people, doctors advise eating the fruits of the shrub in small portions so as not to provoke irritation of the gastric mucosa. You can not eat berries for people who have suffered a brain hemorrhage. Do not feed them to babies under 8 months old. A high concentration of vitamins can harm a child's body.

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