The Healing Properties Of Sunflower

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Sunflower seeds are one of the favorite delicacies of the people of Russia. This plant, or rather its seeds, were first brought to Europe from Mexico in the 16th century.

They began to be sown, and the sunflower was then called "grass of the sun" or "Peruvian flower of the sun." And this is not surprising at all: a large, bright yellow, like the sun, inflorescence, turning towards the sun's rays, attracted everyone's attention.

The Slavs recognized the sunflower in the 18th century, primarily, mainly in Ukraine, where it was planted right next to the huts.

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The sunflower, or "swarm" (local name) is an unpretentious plant, it does not require any special care, if only the seeds fall directly into the moist soil, and it grows well almost everywhere.

But not everyone knows that sunflower is not only a widespread delicacy, but almost the entire plant, from roots to flower petals, is a powerful traditional medicine. It is on this property that I want to dwell in more detail.

The use of sunflower leaves and caps in folk medicine

Sunflower leaves are used first for treatment when they reach 6-8 cm. They are cut off, dried in the shade in a draft and ground into powder. They help to remove lime deposits from the vessels of the heart and brain. They also help with spleen disease. The powder is taken in 0.5 tablespoons, adding to coffee or tea once a day. Week - reception, week - break. The course is four times a year until the condition improves.

This unique product is obtained from the yellow petals of sunflower baskets. In any glass jar, you need to ram the petals almost to the top, then pour alcohol or good vodka, then roll up with a metal lid and put in a warm, dark place. The tincture is ready when the liquid turns brown and oily.

After that, the petals are squeezed out, the liquid is poured into a separate bowl and an invaluable medicine is used for the treatment and prevention of colds. Adults are recommended to take 1 tablespoon three times a day 20 minutes before meals, children 5-14 years old - 1 dessert spoon twice a day 10 minutes before meals. This tincture is potent and can only be taken for three days. After a while, the treatment can be repeated.

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The sunflower hat is also used in folk medicine. It is useful for diseases of the liver, stomach, duodenum, intestines, pancreas.

The hat is cut off when the seeds in it, when squeezed, are smeared between the fingers. Tear off all the petals, and the hat itself with seeds is passed through a meat grinder. The resulting mass is mixed with sugar in a 1: 1 ratio, laid out in glass jars, covered with paper, tied with twine (no lids are used) and put in the refrigerator. Take 1 tablespoon in a glass of tea or coffee three times a day. In the treatment of diseases, the remedy is taken for one month, for prevention - a week.

Raw semi-ripe (not dry) seeds help normalize blood pressure, prevent the appearance of sclerotic plaques on blood vessels, and calm the nervous system. Pour 2 liters of water into a saucepan, pour a half-liter jar of raw seeds there, bring to a boil and simmer for two hours. The resulting broth is drunk gradually throughout the day. Drink for two weeks, then a break for 5 days. And so on until the condition improves.

From the inside of the basket (cotton), a good rubbing is obtained for sore joints. We fill the jar with this pulp a little more than half, top up with moonshine or vodka, leave for 10 days. Then we use it for joint diseases.

Using sunflower roots

Sunflower roots are also used in folk medicine. They have amazing healing power in removing stones from the kidneys and gallbladder, in cleansing the joints from salt deposits and curing osteochondrosis. As the body is cleared, the pressure is normalized, headaches and heartaches disappear, and a general cleaning takes place. You will feel lightness when moving. What will come out of you along with urine, to put it mildly, shocking: flakes, sand, salt, mucus of a dirty rusty color.

The sunflower root has healing power only in a fully ripe plant, when it takes on a brown color, and the cap is ready for cutting.

So, you have prepared the roots - let's start preparing the broth: boil one faceted glass of crushed roots in three liters of water for 5 minutes from the moment of boiling over low heat. Cool the broth, drain and store in the refrigerator, the roots too. Drink the broth in three days - 1 liter per day, gradually, before or after meals.

Then boil the same roots again in three liters of water for 10 minutes, drink in the same way. And once again (last) boil the same roots for 15-20 minutes in three liters of water, drink as usual, and discard the roots. For a full two-month course of treatment, 7 glasses (300-350 g, depending on humidity) roots are needed. During treatment, exclude from the diet spicy, sour, smoked foods, as well as alcohol, including beer.

When harvesting roots, many will face such a problem - the roots of a sunflower sometimes reach the size of a thick, long carrot. They are as strong as an oak; you cannot take them with a knife or a meat grinder, only with a hatchet. The root must first be cleaned of small lateral roots. Break the thick central root with an ax in length into 4-6 pieces as thick as a pencil, dry under a canopy in a draft. Break it into pieces 1-1.5 cm in size with nippers or tongs and only then the raw materials are ready for use. Of course, there are a lot of troubles with them, but, as they say, health is more expensive. The roots are stored for up to 3 years in an airtight container.

The roots for the preparation of a medicinal drink can be thrown into both cold and boiling water, the main thing is to adhere to the recipe and observe the prescribed time for boiling the broth. The course of treatment is two months, in one month of treatment, up to 1 cm of the stone dissolves, and since stones are of different sizes, calculate for yourself how many courses you need to undergo to completely dissolve the stones.

Sometimes after you start taking the decoction, a slight burning sensation begins in the joints and bones. There is no need to be afraid of this, it is the deposits of salts that we have been accumulating all our lives that begin to dissolve and are removed from the body. Everyone has them. And after 10 days of admission, observe the urine, and by the end of the two-month course, it will become light and transparent.

About the benefits of sunflower seeds

And one cannot fail to mention one more product obtained from sunflower. I mean sunflower seeds. Their nutritional value lies not only in calorie content, but also in a unique combination of easily digestible protein rich in essential amino acids (its core contains more than 20%) and oil (up to 63%), as well as a high content of vitamin E and microelements.

Eating 200 grams of fried sunflower seeds (this is about two glasses), you will provide your body with 100 g of butter, which is superior in calories to butter, and 40 g of protein. Moreover, there are absolutely no medical contraindications for the consumption of this product. It does not increase the acidity of the stomach, and metabolic disorders have never been noted. On the contrary, consumption of 15-20 pieces of fresh sunflower seeds can relieve unpleasant heartburn syndrome!

But most often we do not eat fresh, but fried seeds. And in order for them to become a fragrant delicacy, they must be properly prepared. Before frying, the sunflower seeds must be rinsed under running cold water to remove dust and coloring pigment, and then immediately pour into a hot (150-200 ° C) frying pan, preferably cast iron.

It is necessary to fry, constantly stirring them with a wooden spoon, and after the seeds begin to "crack", remove the frying pan from the heat without stopping stirring. This procedure must be repeated 3-4 times, after which the seeds are poured onto a wooden surface and covered for 5-8 minutes with a linen or cotton cloth to "ripen". With this method, real "kaleki" are obtained - a well-known delicacy.

To obtain such a delicacy, sunflower varieties with large striped seeds - Gigant Kubansky and Gulliver - are very well suited.

In addition, breeders have created decorative sunflower varieties - with bright baskets, which serve as dominants in landscape compositions.

Sunflower is easy to grow, it is enough to sow the seeds in the soil at the proper distance and shoots will appear. In more northern regions, in order to extend the growing season, you can sow sunflowers in cups, and then transfer the grown seedlings to a permanent place and plant them out of the cup. The sunflower does not need constant attention, the only thing is that after flowering and pollination, the caps-baskets need to be sheltered from sparrows, since these birds will quickly leave you without a crop. Do not be lazy, grow this useful and medicinal delicacy on your plots, and it will help you in difficult times.

Valery Brizhan, experienced

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