What will happen if you eat too much hawthorn?

Hawthorn can help stimulate appetite and digestion, and relieve nausea. However, it should be noted that if you eat too much hawthorn, it may cause harm to your health. For example, pregnant women, or people with stomach acid or weak spleen and stomach are not suitable for eating hawthorn.

1. When talking about hawthorn, the first thing people think of is that it can aid digestion. In fact, hawthorn has many other benefits besides helping with digestion. Not long ago, relevant personnel from Tianjin Institute of Environmental Medicine tested the antioxidant activity of 30 common fruits in China and believed that hawthorn's anti-aging effect ranks first among all fruits.

2. Anti-cancer and anti-cancer studies in recent years have found that hawthorn contains a compound called vitexin, which has anti-cancer effects. Both nitrosamines and aflatoxin can induce the occurrence or aggravation of gastrointestinal cancer. Experimental studies have shown that hawthorn extract can not only block the synthesis of nitrosamines, but also inhibit the carcinogenic effect of aflatoxin. Therefore, people at high risk of gastrointestinal cancer should eat hawthorn regularly. For patients who already have cancer, if they experience indigestion, they can also cook porridge with hawthorn and rice. This can not only aid digestion, but also play an auxiliary anti-cancer role.

3. Strengthen the heart, lower blood lipids and blood pressure. Clinical studies have confirmed that hawthorn can significantly lower serum cholesterol and triglycerides, and effectively prevent and treat atherosclerosis. Hawthorn can also strengthen the heart and prevent angina pectoris by enhancing myocardial contractility, increasing cardiac output, dilating coronary arteries, increasing coronary blood flow, and reducing myocardial oxygen consumption. In addition, the total flavonoids in hawthorn have the effect of dilating blood vessels and permanently lowering blood pressure. Therefore, patients with hyperlipidemia, hypertension and coronary heart disease can take 15 to 30 grams of raw hawthorn every day, boil it in water and drink it as tea.

4. Treatment of dysmenorrhea and irregular menstruation. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that hawthorn has the effect of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, and is an excellent food therapy for patients with blood stasis type dysmenorrhea. Patients with blood stasis type dysmenorrhea often experience lower abdominal pain on the 1st to 2nd day of menstruation or 1 to 2 days before menstruation. When the menstrual blood flows smoothly, the pain gradually decreases or disappears, and the menstrual blood is dark in color and accompanied by blood clots. Patients can take 1000 grams of fresh hawthorn with core, wash it, add appropriate amount of water, simmer until the hawthorn is cooked, add 250 grams of brown sugar, and simmer for another 10 minutes until it becomes a thin paste. Start taking it 3 to 5 days before menstruation, eat 30 ml of hawthorn paste every morning and evening, and stop taking it 3 days after menstruation. This is one course of treatment, and it will be effective after taking 3 courses in a row. This method is also suitable for those with irregular menstruation and blood stasis as diagnosed by traditional Chinese medicine.

5. Some people should not eat too much hawthorn. When pregnant women have early pregnancy reactions, the sweet and sour hawthorn is often their favorite. In fact, pregnant women should not eat too much hawthorn, because hawthorn can contract the smooth muscle of the uterus and may induce miscarriage. Hawthorn can promote the secretion of gastric acid, so it should not be eaten on an empty stomach. The acidic substances in hawthorn are corrosive to teeth. After eating, you should pay attention to rinsing your mouth and brushing your teeth in time. Children who are in the tooth replacement period should pay special attention.