Ivy: medicinal properties and contraindications

Evergreen lashes with luxurious glossy foliage very confidently entered the landscaping of facades and occupied their niche for a long time as an irreplaceable decoration.

But in addition to its external attractiveness, ordinary ivy is also valued for its medicinal properties.

What and how can be cured by this plant, where to find it and how to prepare medicinal raw materials - we will tell about all this later in the article.

Chemical composition

On the forums in discussions of the therapeutic characteristics of ivy, many express their concerns about its toxicity. This fact is scientifically confirmed, but in order to understand how useful or dangerous a plant is for human health, it is important to find out what its roots, stems, foliage, and fruits consist of.

Biologists say that the main building blocks of ivy plant fiber ordinary are:

• gum;
• galactose;
• fructose;
• glucose;
• raffinose;
• stachyose;
• coumarins;
• gederin;
• saponins;
• essential oils;
• scopolines;
• carotene;
• flavonoids;
• inositol;
• organic acids (malic, chlorogenic and formic);
• iodine;
• steroids;
• resins;
• pectins;
• tocopherol;
• triterpenoids;
• tannins.

The benefits and harms of ivy are due precisely to the above list. Resinous and gummy substances predominate in the stems of the plant; therefore, herbalists consider the leathery foliage to be the most valuable part of it and do not recommend fruit to be consumed.

Medicinal properties

To be afraid of this beautiful creeper, that the small roots on the stem can reliably cling to even the metal, is absolutely not worth it. Official medicine has long confirmed the healing properties of ivy, pharmacists offer a wide range of products based on it, and beekeepers attributed the plant to productive honey plants.

Doctors say that due to the components of high-molecular carbohydrates, the plant has sorption effect. The inherent saponin glycosides contribute to the antibacterial, expectorant and anti-fungal effects. In addition, in tandem with other components, they promote healing of wounds, dilution and discharge of sputum, stimulate bronchial peristalsis, facilitate breathing. As a result, the chain of complex physico-chemical reactions of all components of the plant relieves inflammation and heals wounds. Tannins provide it with a knitting effect, and the inherent tocopherol takes care of the normalization of metabolic processes and contributes to the absorption of carotene.

Herbalists advise cough extract ivy, to improve immunity, vascular dilation. Cold infusions are recommended for liver, gallbladder, gout, rheumatism, and chronic bronchitis.Broths are indicated for women with heavy and painful menstruation.

Folk healers practice the removal of warts, corns, polyps, as well as the treatment of furunculosis, purulent wounds and burns prepared with ivy drug. In addition, an infusion of vines can trigger the awakening of hair follicles with baldness. Has useful properties ivy honey. Experts talk about its ability to normalize metabolic processes in the human body, as well as about the beneficial effects of viral infections, colds, diseases of the lungs and bronchi. Moreover, the delicacy has a stimulating effect on the mental performance of a person and relieves psycho-emotional stress.

Preparation of raw materials for medical purposes

In tropical and subtropical latitudes, the plant can be seen on the fences, altars and walls of houses, as well as in its wild form, these vines are found in the oak and beech forests of Europe, the foothills of Asia. In Ukrainian areas this is the only creeping culture of Podolia. Her whips can be pulled to a height of 30 meters.

Common ivy is characterized by slow development and late flowering. Usually, the first buds on elastic stems appear in autumn, when the plant turns 8-10 years old, and the black fruits ripen by spring. For therapeutic purposes, herbalists recommend collecting leaves, wood and roots. It is characteristic that leathery leaf plates from vines can be picked at any time of the year, as well as digging up their roots. This raw material does not lose its properties at low temperatures, but is most useful in the last 2 weeks of August.But the wood harvesting is better to do in the spring, after the start of sap flow. To do this, first you need to remove the bark from the stems, and then chop them.

Drying of all parts of the plant is recommended to be carried out in a natural way on a cloth or sheet of cardboard. The best place for this is a well ventilated attic, where it is dry and there is no direct sunlight. In cases where the raw material was harvested during the cold season, it can be dried in an electric dryer or oven. To do this, it is enough to set the temperature controller to 50 ° C.

After the material is brought to the desired condition and cool, it is Packed in paper bags. Ivy can be stored for up to 4 years. The main thing is that this should happen in a dry and dark place.

Use in traditional medicine: recipes

Today, in every pharmacy there are various syrups, drops and effervescent tablets, made on the basis of ivy extracts. Along with a wide range of pharmaceutical companies, folk healers offermany equally effective home remedies for the same diseases. Consider the most popular ones.

With bronchitis and dry cough

For treatment, you need to prepare a decoction. It is recommended to add equal portions of chopped wood and foliage. Often take half a glass of raw materials, add the same amount of cold water to it and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes. Then the liquid is passed through a sieve and diluted with boiling water to bring the volume of the product to 200 ml. Ready potion drink 30 g, breaking into 3-4 doses.

In case of complicated and acute forms of diseases, folk healers advise to insist 100 g of crushed ivy leaves in a glass of boiling water and take cough during meals. And at the time you need to drink 1-2 cups of liquid.

With rheumatism

In the complex treatment to get rid of this disease will help cold extract from ivy foliage. It is prepared in this proportion: 200 ml of drinking water and a quarter of a teaspoon of dry sheet material. When all components are combined, the mixture is left to infuse for 8 hours. After that filter and one-time accept inside.

In diseases of the kidneys and urinary tract

Dry ground ivy is used to cooking broth. To do this, you need half a liter of boiling water and 5-6 dry large leaves. All the ingredients are mixed, then brought to a boil, and still roasted on the fire for about 10 minutes. Then wrapped and set aside to insist for half an hour. Then the liquid can be passed through cheesecloth and taken orally before eating. A single dose is half a cup.

With purulent inflammation of the skin

For skin therapy, folk healers advise washing the affected areas of the epidermis with classical decoctions and tinctures of leaves ivy. In warm liquid moisten gauze bandages and apply them to the wound.

Fresh leaves also give a good effect, and after thorough washing they tie a bandage to a sore spot.

If desired, a special balsam can be prepared for home treatment. To do this, you need to grind to dry the dry foliage of the vine, add to it the same part of animal fat, mix thoroughly. If you have honey, you can take it (a third of a teaspoon). Keep the product in the refrigerator and allow it to warm to room temperature before use.

From boils, burns and streptoderma

In such cases, the treatment gives successful results. decoction of bark or ivy. 30 g of the crushed drug is poured with a glass of boiling water and kept on the fire for about half an hour. Then give 10 minutes to infuse, pass through a sieve and diluted with boiled water to bring to the initial volume. Take the means you need inside of 1 tablespoon each time before eating.In parallel, it is recommended to wash the affected areas with the prepared agent.

From corns and natoptyshy

A real salvation for such problems, as well as for fats, is the gruel from the fresh leaves of the plant. To obtain it, you need to pass the washed raw material through a meat grinder, and then through a juicer. The resulting slurry is applied to the desired areas and fixed with a bandage.

Application in cosmetology

With home care for the skin of the face and body are shown daily morning wash decoction of leaves and ivy wood. According to experts, this procedure contributes to the removal of fatigue, stimulation of metabolic processes and cell regeneration. To enhance the effect, the liquid can be frozen in cubes. Women who regularly use such a tool, have a toned and elastic skin. Such procedures are especially appropriate for people with a bold type of epidermis, since they promote cleansing and narrowing of pores.

Ivy broths are recommended for owners of luxurious curls.If every time you wash your hair, rinse it with the liquid you mentioned, dandruff and oily seborrhea will disappear, and the hair follicles will be strengthened and the hair will no longer crumble.

There are many anti-cellulite cosmetics purchased based on ivy leaf extract. They can be cooked at home. To do this, it will be necessary to make a mush from fresh raw materials and add an equal part of honey to it. The ready remedy needs to be rubbed into the problem areas with massage movements until it turns white. Then rinse with water. With swelling of the face and "bags" under the eyes will help wipe moistened with ivy broth napkin. Also, a good effect is given by a mask from half a cup of gruel of a fresh plant, 10 drops of aloe juice and 1 tablespoon of rye bread soaked in cream.

Contraindications and side effects

Taking into account the toxic components of vines should be very serious about this kind of herbal medicine. Children up to the age of twelve, as well as pregnant and lactating women in general should abandon the venture. And all other categories of people need to get advice from a qualified specialist.

Be sure to follow the dosages of the components when cooking and taking the medicine. In no case should ivy be taken into the drug, since poisonous saponins predominate in their composition.

An overdose causes a small rash on the legs that quickly spreads to other parts of the body. Allergic reactions may also occur. Therefore, before applying, make sure that ivy will not harm you. As you can see, ordinary ivy is not just useless decoration in the yard, but a very effective therapeutic and cosmetological agent. In addition, its lush vines purify the air from benzene, xylene and formaldehyde, and the leaves are the only green fodder for livestock in the winter.