Hawthorn or Crataegus is a large shrub and tree in the family Rosaceae.It is rich in vitamin C.Hawthorn has other names, such as may-tree, thornapple, whitethorn, and hawberry.The dose of hawthorn is recommended 500 milligrams three times daily to maintain healthy blood pressure.
Hawthorn leaves, flowers, and berries are used for medicinal purposes.This herb acts as a vasodilator to increase blood supply to the heart.Hawthorn has positive inotropic and beta-blocking effects, along with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.Pregnant and breast-feeding women are not recommended to consume hawthorn.
Active ingredients in hawthorn include :
- Flavonoids : quercetin, rutin, vitexin, hyperoxide.
- Tannins
- Oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs) : procyanidin, procyanidin B-2, epicatechin.
- Flavone-C
- Triterpene acids : crataegolic acid, oleanolic acid, ursolic acid.
- Phenolic acids : caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, and related phenolcarboxylic acids.
The Benefits of Hawthorn
- Lowers high blood pressure (hypertension)
- Reduces dyspepsia
- Treats postpartum blood statis
- Decreases fatigue
- Treats diabetes
- Protects against ischemia
- Treats chronic heart failure
- Reduces chest pain
- Treats hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis)
- Decreases anxiety
- Treats hernia
- Lowers cholesterol levels
- Treats cardiovascular disease
- Treats hemafecia
- Widens the blood vessels
- Increases the transmission of nerve signals
- Improves the amount of blood pumped out of the heart during contractions
- Treats tapeworm
- Cures stomach pain
- Treats diarrhea
- Cures boils, ulcers, and sores
- Acts as sedative
- Increases urine output
- Treats menstrual problems
- Cures indigestion
- Treats arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat)
- Treats low blood pressure
- Improves energy reserves
- Improves the nutrition
- Improves energy release of the heart muscle
- Strengthens capillaries
- Treats kidney stone
- Treats blood circulation problems
- Alleviates itching
Side Effects of Hawthorn
Hawthorn has side effects at therapeutic doses, including sweating, headache, palpitation, dizziness, agitation, sleepiness, and a mild rash.
STUDY
A 2010 Review concluded that Crataegus (hawthorn) preparations hold significant potential as a useful remedy in the treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
A 2008 Cochrane Collaboration Meta-Analysis of Previous Studies concluded that There was evidence of a significant benefit in symptom control and physiologic outcomes for an extract of hawthorn in treating chronic heart failure.
J. Herb Pharmcother, in 2003, Study concluded that An aqueous extract of hawthorn leaves exhibited a potent anti-hyperglycemic activity in streptozotocin (STZ) - induced diabetic rats.
Currently, Evidence is accumulating from various in vivo and in vitro studies that hawthorn extracts exert a wide range of cardiovascular pharmacological properties, including antioxidant activity, positive inotropic effect, anti-inflammatory effect, anticardiac remodeling effect, vasodilating effect, antiplatelet aggregation effect, antiarrhythmic effect, and endothelial protective effect.
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