The blueberry is a small shrub up to 1 meter tall with smooth curved branches of gray color. Leaves up to 3 cm. Small flowers, pentadentes, white or pink. The fruits are blue with a gray bloom, juicy edible berries up to 1.2 cm long. Sometimes, a cranberry is called a drunk or a dog-dog for supposedly intoxicating and for driving pain to the head. But, in fact, the culprit of these phenomena is wild rosemary, which often grows next to cranberries. The berries are harvested for consumption in raw and processed form. They make jam, and they are also used to make wine.
Cranberries are a source of vitamins and valuable medicinal plants. It is difficult to assemble without damaging, and even harder to store. In the north, blueberries are traditionally stored in boxes of birch bark, bay fish oil and buried in moss. In general, blueberries are eaten fresh, because it is in fresh berries that the concentration of nutrients is higher.
Blueberry berries have a number of unique properties: they protect against the effects of radioactive radiation, strengthen the walls of blood vessels, normalize the functioning of the heart, favor the health of the intestine and the pancreas, reduce the aging of nerve cells and, therefore, the brain. In addition, blueberries have anti-scorching, choleretic, antisclerotic, cardiotonic, hypotensive and anti-inflammatory effects. Effective with atherosclerosis, hypertension, capillary toxicosis, rheumatism, sore throat and other diseases associated with inadequate blood capillaries. Cranberry berries are recommended for diabetics, because they promote tissue repair, improve the effect of medications that lower blood sugar levels and increase metabolism.
Dried cranberries are sometimes made as an antidisenergic remedy (prepare 1 tablespoon of berries for 15 minutes in a glass of boiling water). Blueberry leaves also contain nutrients, but in slightly smaller amounts. In folk medicine, a decoction of branches with leaves is drunk for heart disease, a decoction of leaves is like a mild laxative. With the regular use of berries, it relieves eye fatigue and contributes to the restoration of vision. Cranberry juice is administered during fever, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, as well as to increase the secretion of gastric juice. Cranberry berries are recommended for people who work in dangerous conditions, since pectic substances can bind and remove radioactive metals from the body. It has been found that cranberry contains a significant amount of philohionin (vitamin K1), which is involved in the blood clotting system.
As well as high blueberry berries are useful especially for the elderly to maintain (activate) vitality. There is evidence that cranberry prevents the formation of cancer cells, since it contains a large amount of highly active antioxidants.
Store the berries at temperatures of 0 to + 4 ° C at 2 weeks; At -15 ° C and lower during the year. It is important to seal the container with berries to protect it from foreign odors.
It is important to use blueberries in moderation, since there is a high content of antioxidants, which in large quantities can alter muscle function, since they prevent oxygen from entering the muscles. It is necessary to use blueberries with care for pregnant and lactating women, as it contains substances that cause intoxication and allergies in the child. Cranberries are also contraindicated in biliary dyskinesia, since their excessive use in this case can lead to an exacerbation of the disease.
