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Schisandra chinensis: medicinal beneficial properties and contraindications

There are plants designed by nature to help people with strong nervous and physical stress. They are called adaptogens. Schizandra chinensis also belongs to such, about contraindications and medicinal properties of which we will talk.

Material Content:

1 Chinese magnolia vine - healing and beneficial properties
- 1.1 Chemical composition
2 Plant application
3 Instructions for use of Chinese magnolia vine
4 Possible side effects and contraindications

Chinese magnolia vine - healing and beneficial properties

In nature, Chinese schisandra, also called Far Eastern, Manchurian, schizandra, is a powerful liana capable of climbing up to a height of 12 m, encircling with its flexible trunk up to 2 cm thick, nearby trees. In spring, this plant blooms with small white flowers with a delicious lemon scent. In autumn, complex berries ripen, similar to small ears of red tight-fitting berries. Each berry contains only one seed.

In wildlife, lemongrass is found in China and Japan, the Far East and Korea. It is also grown in central Russia in ordinary gardens, where it is much more modest in size - not higher than 4 m. In their homeland, this plant is treated almost more often than ginseng and with the same efficiency. If official medicine has chosen to use only the fruits and seeds of lemongrass, then in folk medicine everything is used, from the roots to the fruits.

Schisandra is included in the list of 10 plants with outstanding medicinal properties.

What is the healing power of lemongrass? To understand this, let's look at its chemical composition, which has long been well studied.

Chemical composition

In lemongrass, it is quite complicated.Liana does not contain toxic substances, each of its components carries a certain benefit to the body. Consider the most significant components of a healing plant and their effect on the human body. And for convenience, we summarize the results in a table.

Substance	Effect
Flavonoids, including catechins, and organic acids	They are antioxidants, have anti-inflammatory effects.
Essential oils	Anti-inflammatory, tissue regenerating, analgesic
Ascorbic acid and tocopherol	Regenerating, immunostimulating; strengthen the walls of blood vessels (including capillaries), improve bone growth
Fatty oils and tannins	Heal wounds, relieve inflammation, have an astringent effect, improve the condition of the skin
Schizandrine and schizandrol	Tonic effect
Lignans	They improve metabolic processes, lower cholesterol, stabilize the nervous system, are cancer protectors, and promote the production of hormones.
Anthocyanins	Bactericidal, immunomodulating, decongestant; strengthen vision and blood vessels, protect cell membranes

There are macro- and microelements in the plant, among which selenium, iodine and silver, which is so rare in representatives of the flora, are so necessary for a person.

The healing properties of lemongrass are explained by the complex effect of all its constituent substances and are as follows:

They tone the nervous system, contribute to its better work, while there is no effect of overexcitation. Enhanced reflex activity allows you to better focus and remember a large amount of information.
A person increases endurance and performance. All this is very important with great physical exertion. This effect is due to the preservation of glycogen in muscle fibers and a decrease in the level of lactic acid in them, which leads to fatigue much later.
The vitamins and minerals present in the plant strengthen immunity, promote oxygen saturation of organs, enhance and normalize metabolism, which allows the body to quickly restore its strength and energy. It is better resistant to viral diseases, so it is advisable to take lemongrass preparations during an SARS and flu epidemic. The risk of the disease is reduced by 4-5 times.
Schisandra preparations increase the production rate of endorphins, and therefore they are especially indicated for depression.
The plant has an adaptogenic effect, which can be used with a sharp change in time zones or climate. Taking lemongrass helps to cope with stress.
This healing plant is able to improve the functioning of the organs of vision, increase its acuity, including at night, because it improves the nutrition of the eyes, their blood supply, relieves spasm of muscles controlled by the eye nerves.
An important function is the ability to increase pressure.
Lemongrass preparations normalize the gastrointestinal tract.
Fresh lemongrass juice has a high bacteriostatic effect. He copes especially well with pneumococci, Escherichia coli and dysenteric amoeba.
Due to increased blood supply to the pelvic organs, it normalizes the functioning of the genitals, both in women and in men. Being an aphrodisiac, lemongrass enhances libido in the former and improves potency in the latter.
Strengthening the tone of the walls of the uterus, improves labor.
Schizandra-based drugs increase hemoglobin and reduce the content of bad cholesterol and blood sugars.
Restore liver cells and have an antitoxic effect.
They improve the functioning of the cells of the adrenal cortex, maintaining hormonal balance in the body.
Reduce the frequency of contractions of the heart, while increasing their amplitude.
Rejuvenate the body.
Eliminate a hangover.
Stimulate hair growth.
Enhance respiratory function. They have an expectorant and antitussive effect.

Read also:chilli

Plant application

The truly unique properties of lemongrass allow it to be used very widely - in medicine, cosmetology and as a food product.

In medicine

Official medicine uses the fruits and seeds of schisandra in the form of alcohol tinctures. Take them no more than 3 times a day from 20 to 30 drops half an hour before a meal. The course of treatment is about 3 weeks. There is also a tablet form - the drug Schizandra. Drink 2 times a day, 1 tablet in the morning and evening with food.
Lemongrass extract for alcohol is taken from 25 to 30 drops twice a day.
Schizandra seed oil is sold in pharmacies in capsule form. They are taken two to three times, one at a time, after meals. They are especially recommended for those whose work is associated with radiation, cooling, oxygen starvation.
Traditional medicine uses all parts of the plant in the form of tinctures, infusions and decoctions; the seeds are dried and made into a healing powder; leaves and stems are brewed like tea, and medicinal juice is squeezed from the fruits.

What pathologies do lemongrass benefit most in?

Respiratory diseases: asthma and bronchitis, whooping cough, tuberculosis.
Diseases of the stomach, liver, kidneys.
Asthenic conditions, fatigue, recovery after serious illness.
Hypotension.
Diseases of the heart and blood vessels.
Skin diseases.
Diseases of the nervous system: neurasthenia, mental disorders, depression, amnesia.
Vitamin deficiency and anemia.
Trophic ulcers and non-healing wounds.
Gastrointestinal tract diseases: dysentery, diarrhea.
Influenza and SARS.
Impotence and infertility.

Lemongrass is useful in diabetes mellitus, women during menopause, in case of adrenal gland malfunction, urinary incontinence and headache.

In cosmetology

Schisandra berries can prolong the youthfulness of the skin and have a beneficial effect on the hair. They fight small wrinkles, help eliminate various irritations and inflammatory processes. From lemongrass make lotions, creams, as well as nourishing masks for the skin.

Lotion. To prepare it, you need two tablespoons of crushed dried fruit. They are brewed with a glass of boiling water and simmered in a water bath for a quarter of an hour. After cooling, filter and add a teaspoon of honey. Keep the composition in the refrigerator. Wipe face if necessary.
Moisturizing mask for the skin. Mix a tablespoon of sour cream and cottage cheese, add to them three drops of tincture of lemongrass on alcohol.
Nourishing mask. The yolk of the chicken egg is combined with 10 g of cream and a teaspoon of fresh berries that need to be mashed.

There are two ways to prepare a hair rinse:

Four tablespoons of leaves of lemongrass brew a liter of boiling water, simmer in a water bath for about 7 minutes. In a cooled and strained broth add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Rinse hair after washing.
For the next recipe, you will need one tablespoon of nettle, chamomile and lemongrass leaves. The mixture must be brewed with a liter of boiling water and kept in a water bath for 10 minutes. Cool, strain. Rinse hair after washing with a decoction.

In nutrition

If when using lemongrass seeds, the dosage is not recommended to be exceeded, then fresh juice of berries can be used with almost no restrictions.

It has a peculiar taste and is widely used in the preparation of various desserts.

Juice is used to create bouquets of fruit wines.
Ice cream, soft drinks, jelly are made from it.
The pulp of berries is added to the filling for sweets.
Stewed berries and sugar syrup can be used in winter as an additive to tea.
Winter preparations are also made: the berries are mixed with sugar in a proportion of one to two. Such a vitamin dessert can be stored for up to a year.

Instructions for use of Chinese magnolia vine

Schisandra is a potent remedy. Its overdose is unhealthy. Therefore, you need to use lemongrass correctly.

How to brew a plant?

You can brew any part of lemongrass: leaves, bark, young shoots and even roots.For 1 liter of boiling water, only 15 g of any raw material is enough. In order for the drink to acquire taste and aroma, it needs to be infused for several minutes. A decoction of lemongrass bark is a good help in the treatment of caries and gum disease.

For tea, you can use lemongrass berries. A tablespoon of the fruit is brewed with a glass of boiling water and boiled for 10 minutes in an enameled bowl. Such tea should be infused for a day. Drink this amount, adding a little sugar, throughout the day.

Lemongrass preparations should be taken on an empty stomach or 4 hours after a meal.

The plant in question combines very well with green tea. To enhance the therapeutic effect, they add a third of a teaspoon of chopped ginger and a little honey to them.

For every two teaspoons of green tea, you need a tablespoon of dried lemongrass berries.
A mixture of tea and berries is brewed in 0.5 water and brought to a boil.
After it has been removed from the heat, ginger is added.
And after five minutes, you can drink such tea by adding honey to your taste.

You cannot drink more than 2 cups of lemongrass tea per day.

Lemongrass tincture

Schizandra tincture is easy to buy at the pharmacy. But if you have raw materials, you can cook it yourself.

As a rule, berries are poured with alcohol in a ratio of 1: 5.
Pharmacy tincture is prepared for alcohol 96% concentration. For home cooking, a 50% alcohol concentration is sufficient.
After 10 days of settling in a dark place at room temperature, the mixture must be filtered and the precipitate added another 20 ml of alcohol.
Again insisting for 10 days and filtering.
In the process of insisting, shake the mixture daily.
Mix both tinctures and add the same amount of clean, preferably distilled water.

Take 2 weeks of 2.5 ml from 2 to 3 times a day, if there is depression, dizziness, sleep disturbance.

Juice and Syrup

Juice is made from freshly picked berries and added to a teaspoon in one cup of tea. If pasteurized for 15 minutes and hermetically sealed, it is well stored in a dark place. Juice can be used to rub into the scalp if there is a tendency to baldness.

You can make syrup from it if you add 1.5 kg of sugar for each liter. The mixture needs to be slightly warmed so that the sugar dissolves. Store the syrup in a sterile dish in a dark place. Take along with food three times a day, one tablespoon. You can add syrup to any drinks. The deadline is one month. Such a syrup can also be bought at a pharmacy.

Berries - benefits and how to eat?

Schisandra berries are considered one of the most effective tonic and adaptogenic agents. They are used in the form of tea, infusion or broth.

From dried berries, you can make peculiar tablets that are widely used in oriental medicine.

To do this, mix:

42.5 g of powdered berries;
30.5 g of honey;
27 g of sugar.

The mixture is divided into 100 identical balls. Every day they are taken from 5 to 6 pieces.

Plant seeds

The seeds contain the highest content of schizandrin and schizandrol, so the preparations from them are very effective. They are ground into powder and pressed into tablets. The powder is advised to take 0.5 grams before meals 2 to 3 times a day. It’s better not to cook a lot for the future, but to grind so many seeds so that about 1 teaspoon is obtained.