Hawthorn

Hawthorn

Latin Name: Crataegus oxyacanthoides
Family: Rosaceae

Part used: Dried flowers, leaves and berries
Energetics: Slightly sweet & bitter & astringent.
Iris: All types
Interactions: Please check with your Healthcare Provider.

Safe alongside Herb
  • Acetylsalicylic acid
  • Digoxin
  • Simvastatin
Unsure alongside Herb

Warfarin

CONTRA-INDICATIONS

  • Those on Digoxin*
  • Pregnancy
  • Breast-feeding
  • Ulcers
  • Colitis
  • Do not eat the hawthorn seeds, they are poisonous and contain amygdalin, which bonds with sugar and turns to hydrogen cyanide in the small intestine.

ACTIONS

  • Coronary vasodilator
  • Amphoteric to CV System
  • Astringent
  • Anti-arrhythmia
  • Action lacks the toxic effects of digitalis
  • Anti-hypertensive
  • Adaptogen
  • Antispasmodic
  • Antioxidant
  • Diuretic
  • Sedative to the nervous system
  • Antilithic
  • Cholesterol & Mineral solvent

Main Constituents

  • Anthocyanins
  • Volatile oil
  • Quercetin
  • Rutin
  • Flavonoid glycosides
  • Phenolic acid
  • Tannins
  • Amines
  • Saponins
  • Bioflavonoids
  • Acetylcholine
  • Vitamins: C, B, E, Carotene
  • Minerals: Ca, Ch, Fe, Mn, K, S, Zn.

Main Uses

All types of Cardiovascular health
Circulatory: To increase blood flow through the heart, Strengthens heart muscle without increasing the beat or raising blood pressure, Enhances exercise duration, Myocarditis, Improves circulation in coronary arteries, Arteriosclerosis, Atheroma, Thrombosis, Rapid heartbeat (Tachycardia), Slow heartbeat (Bradycardia), Palpitations, Fatty deposits, Angina, Enlargement of the heart from over-work,/over-exercise/ mental tension, Intermittent claudication, Risk of infarction, Dizziness, Hypertension.
Urinary System: Kidney stones, Kidney gravel, Fluid retenetion.
Nervous system: Insomnia
Skin: Boils, Skin sores
Mental/Emotional: Anxiety

More About Hawthorn

Traditionally, as Spring arrived, children would nibble on the young Hawthorn leaves, which were known as ‘bread and cheese’.
Hawthorn is widely regarded in Europe as a safe and effective treatment for the early stages of heart disease and is endorsed by Commission E- the branch of the German government that studies and approves herbal treatments.
It is used to promote the health of the circulatory system and has been found useful in treating angina, high blood pressure, congestive heart failure and cardiac arrhythmia. It has been found to slow and strengthen the heart through vagal stimulation and can even help to relieve ‘emotional heartache’.
Native Americans dry the fruits, and grind them into a flour, mix with deer meat/ fat, and create a food known as ‘pemmican’. In Russia and China the fruits are candied. In Cyprus a delicious jam is made out of the berries. In Lebanon the fruits are made into a delicious pie. The very young leaves, eaten raw, have a pleasant nutty taste and go well with beetroot.
The delicate white flowers make an exquisite syrup. Traditionally used to flavour milk desserts like panna cotta, rice pudding and custard.
Combines well with nervines such as Valerian, Skullcap or Lavender for high blood pressure or ‘nervous heart’; with Cayenne for a circulatory stimulant. The nervine effect can relieve anxiety and stress and promote sleep.
Hawthorn can reduce fluid retention and dissolve kidney stones and gravel.
Hawthorn can promote libido and fertility, improve microcirculation and is a fantastic adaptogen!
Its antioxidant effect can help in joint and tissue disorders, as well as degenerative eye problems, especially when due to poor circulation.

Recipes:


Hawthorn Berry Syrup

Ingredients:

  • Part 1
    750 ml. brandy (about 3 cups)
    708g of dried Hawthorn Berries (or 944g of fresh Hawthorn Berries)
  • Part 2
    944 ml of filtered water
    472g of honey
  • Part 3
    31g of tincture from part 1, for every cup of syrup
    Syrup from part 2

Instructions:

  • Step 1:
    Add the hawthorn berries to a sanitised wide mouth quart jar.
    Pour the brandy over the berries, so that all the berries are covered with brandy.
    Infuse the hawthorn berries in the alcohol for 4 weeks.
    Check the alcohol level over the next 5 days and top up the jar with brandy to keep the berries submerged in the alcohol.
    Shake the jar once a day, or as often as you remember.
    After four weeks, strain the berries from the alcohol. The alcohol is your hawthorn tincture. But don’t discard the berries. You’ll need them for the next step
    Separate 1 cup of the hawthorn tincture and bottle the rest to use as tincture. Label and date it. It will keep indefinitely at room temperature in a cool place, protected from light.
  • Step 2:
    Add the strained berries to a 1 ½ litre stainless steel pot.
    Pour the water over the berries and simmer gently for 1 hour. At first the water will boil rapidly as the alcohol is evaporated from the berries. Then it will simmer normally. Stir the decoction frequently to prevent it from scorching.
    After one hour, strain out the berries. Squeeze them through potato ricer or a jelly bag to get the most juice. The berries can be composted.
    Return the decoction to the pot. Simmer until the decoction is just 472ml, and is reduced by half.
    Add 472g of honey to the decoction. Heat gently, keeping the temperature to just below boiling, in order to fully dissolve the honey. Remove from heat as soon as the honey is fully melted.
  • Step 3:
    Measure the syrup. Add 31g of hawthorn berry tincture for every cup of the prepared syrup.
    Store in sterilised bottles. Label and date the bottles.

Notes:
This syrup is preserved both by the alcohol and the honey in the recipe. For short term storage, place the bottles in the fridge. For long term storage, dip the cap and neck of the bottles into beeswax to make a wax seal. Sterilised and sealed bottles will last 1 year if kept in a cool place, and protected from light. Open bottles should last 3 months in the fridge.

References


Cardiotonic

Phytochemical and Pharmacological Activity Profile of Crataegus oxyacantha L. (Hawthorn) - A Cardiotonic Herb.
C. oxyacantha has been reported to exert several other pharmacological activities such as hypotensive, antihyperlipidemic, antihyperglycemic, anxiolytic, immunomodulatory, and antimutagenic. Numerous experiments and clinical studies have underlined cardiovascular efficacy of the plant through various mechanisms including positive inotropic and negative chronotropic effects, escalation in coronary blood flow and exercise tolerance, inhibition of the enzymes such as angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and phosphodiesterase, anti-inflammatory and antihyperlipidemic effects, improving status of antioxidant enzymes, etc., which support its cardioactive efficacy.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27655074/

Hypertension

Promising hypotensive effect of hawthorn extract: a randomized double-blind pilot study of mild, essential hypertension.
However, factorial contrast analysis in ANOVA showed a promising reduction (p = 0.081) in the resting diastolic blood pressure at week 10 in the 19 subjects who were assigned to the hawthorn extract, compared with the other groups. Furthermore, a trend towards a reduction in anxiety (p = 0.094) was also observed in those taking hawthorn compared with the other groups. These findings warrant further study, particularly in view of the low dose of hawthorn extract used.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11807965/

Congestive Heart Failure

A randomised double blind placebo controlled clinical trial of a standardised extract of fresh Crataegus berries (Crataegisan) in the treatment of patients with congestive heart failure NYHA II.
The significant improvement, due to the fact that dyspnoea and fatigue do not occur until a significantly higher wattage has been reached in the bicycle exercise testing allows the conclusion that the recruited NYHA II patients may expect an improvement in their heart failure condition under long term therapy with the standardised extract of fresh Crataegus berries.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12833999/

Chronic Heart Failure

Hawthorn extract for treating chronic heart failure
Exercise tolerance were significantly increased by hawthorn extract (WMD (Watt x min) 122.76, 95% CI 32.74 to 212.78, n = 98). The pressure-heart rate product, an index of cardiac oxygen consumption, also showed a beneficial decrease with hawthorn treatment (WMD (mmHg/min) -19.22, 95% CI -30.46 to -7.98, n = 264). Symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue improved significantly with hawthorn treatment as compared with placebo.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18254076/

Heart Health

Health effects of hawthorn
Other studies of hawthorn in patients with heart failure have revealed improvement in clinical symptoms, pressure-heart rate product, left ventricular ejection fraction, and patients' subjective sense of well-being.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20148500/

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