Preparations from birch sap (old recipes). birch kvass

Our ancestors knew about the unique properties - it was not for nothing that she was so revered by the ancient Slavs. It was believed that birch takes away adversity and illness, and in return brings happiness.
Birch branches and, as a powerful magical symbol, after sacred rituals served as a talisman for the house, field and garden - the birch drove away evil people, witches, evil spirits, protected from destructive natural phenomena.
Everything is useful for birch: and, and bark, and leaves, and, and. Note that birch brooms are so popular among those who like to take a steam bath, because the substances released from the leaves at high temperatures have an excellent effect on the skin: they treat dermatitis, acne, eczema, and also help reduce cellulite and swelling.

Birch sap is a storehouse of vitamins, especially vitamin C, and it also contains organic acids, aromatic, tannic, biologically active substances and compounds, a lot of mineral elements, including potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, manganese, copper and even titanium.
Plant hormones and phytoncides that kill microbes make birch sap a real natural immune stimulant.

Birch sap can temporarily replace cosmetic foam and tonic, as this product perfectly refreshes and cleanses the skin. To do this, simply wash your face with juice in the morning.
For dull and tired facial skin, you can make a mask based on birch sap. To do this, buy white or blue clay at the pharmacy, dilute it with birch sap to the consistency of thick cream, apply on your face for 15-20 minutes. Wash off the mask also with birch sap. Repeat the procedure twice a week.
A cream mask will help saturate the skin with energy and vitamins, as well as smooth fine wrinkles. To prepare it, mix 200 grams, 50 grams of wheat germ and 2 tablespoons of birch sap.

Birch sap will also replace hair conditioner balm. After shampooing, rinse your hair with juice. This simple procedure will help restore strength and shine to your hair.
If you are tired of caring for oily hair, prepare a birch lotion. Mix 2 tablespoons birch sap with 1 tablespoon honey and 1 teaspoon salt. Pour the liquid into a dark glass jar. Add 1 glass of vodka and mix thoroughly. Put the lotion in a dark place for 10 days.
Rub the finished lotion into the scalp before each wash. Wrap your hair with a terry towel, wash it only after an hour and a half. The course of treatment is 10 days. Then take a 10-day break and repeat the course again.
You can prepare a nourishing hair mask. To do this, mix birch sap and in a ratio of 3: 1. Wrap your head with polyethylene and wrap with a terry towel. Wash your hair with your usual shampoo after 20 minutes. The mask will restore hair strength and shine.

It is very good to do and rub with ice cubes, consisting of birch sap, the skin of the face and neck. This perfectly tones the skin, makes it fresh and supple, as if you were using an expensive cream with biologically active additives. In addition, you will feel how fatigue goes away, and your mood becomes upbeat.

Birch-oat drink
Pour 1 cup of well-washed oats with 1.5 liters of birch sap, insist in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours, put on fire, bring to a boil and cook in a sealed container over low heat until half the juice boils, then strain.
Take 100-150 ml three times a day 30 minutes before meals for a month.
This drink is especially recommended for those who suffer from gastric diseases aggravated by chronic hepatitis or pancreatitis.

Birch-lingonberry drink
Rinse 150 grams of cranberries, mash with a wooden spoon, squeeze out the juice. Pour pomace with 1 liter of birch sap and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Strain the broth, cool to room temperature, dissolve 150 grams of honey in it and pour in the squeezed lingonberry juice.
Drink within 1-2 days.
This drink is useful as a diuretic for gout, arthritis, edema, rheumatism.

Birch-calamus drink
As an anti-febrile and expectorant for coughs and chest pains, a birch-calamus drink helps.
Boil 1 tablespoon in a tightly sealed container for 15 minutes in 3 glasses of birch sap, remove from heat, wrap, leave for 2 hours, strain.
Take 1/2 cup 3 times a day 30 minutes before meals, slightly sweetened to taste with honey.

This year I tried 2 ways of storing juice - freezing and making kvass according to Petrovich's recipe (for which special thanks to him). Therefore, fresh birch sap is especially useful, and not stored or canned. I would like to add burnt oats to kvass. Is it possible for a place of raisins? And about sugar, I understand that what is in the juice is enough? I read here about birch sap, caught fire.

The fermentation process in kvass occurs constantly, so it is not possible to conserve it for commercial sale, and if it does, then what is the use of canned fungi? The original kvass is made from young grape shoots, it has a specific original taste, but it is seasonal, and you won’t be able to drink it all summer.

I should note that in addition to the ease of preparation, oat kvass is simply an invaluable storehouse of vitamins and amino acids due to its raw material - oats. Oats are a valuable nutritious cereal. Oat kvass wins over other types of kvass in that it is simply simple to prepare, and only oats are needed from raw materials. We buy whole grains of oats in the market or in a specialized store.

We pour out the fermented kvass, it has a bitter taste and a slightly viscous structure. We wash the oats and fill them with drinking water, add 3 tablespoons of sugar (based on a three-liter jar).

Here is the whole recipe. No frying, steaming, extraction of unusual raw materials. What do I do with kvass after two days? In principle, you can already drink it, but I like kvass cold and sharp. Do not store ready-made kvass for more than two or three days, even in the refrigerator.

As soon as I poured the finished kvass into bottles, I immediately fill in a new one. This results in a continuous and very simple process of preparing a refreshing and healthy drink. The oats are still washed, so that the component that you don’t like is easily and completely removed in the next batch. Sugar can be added a little, 1-2 teaspoons per liter of juice. I have never heard of roasted oats.

6. BIRCH JUICE - harvesting and canning

It’s hard to believe that thanks to raisins, the juice will be stored for a long time. And it does not deteriorate thanks to hermetic containers and carbon dioxide, which is released during light fermentation. Every year I collect birch sap, but I didn’t think about storing it for a long time. Having tried the recipe with raisins, I confirm the exclusivity of this life-giving drink, for which I bow to Petrovich! Do not. Pour fresh birch sap into the bottle, throw 5 raisins there, close the lid tightly, and put it in a cool place. I was ready to use after 3 weeks.

HEALING DRINKS FROM BIRCH JUICE

BLANKS FROM BIRCH JUICE (OLD RECIPES)

There seems to be no exact dosage, so “strictly by eye” is a handful of raisins and sugar. All then in the basement and stored for a very long time, it does not grow cloudy and you can get drunk. This year has already made 120 cans, sometimes until the new year remains. And before, I did it on horseradish and on barley, everything is not right, this is already kvass, which is not stored for a long time. We buy five-liter bottles in a beer store (Only the shape should be rectangular, for some reason it tears round) and into the freezer.

This time my wife and sister, mother-in-law and father-in-law, without my personal presence, decided to update the wallpaper, tint the wooden trim in some places and just relax in their labors and worries. My sister's wife filled the exact same canister at home with ordinary water. And then everyone laughed with one voice.

We welcome your questions and feedback:

I want to remind lovers of birch sap that the juice from low-lying birches and birches standing in melted puddles is the most abundant, but also the most bland and tasteless. That is why, in order to feel the taste and SWEETENESS of real juice, it must be extracted from mature birch trees growing on hillocks and drier (rather than lowland) places.

Such kvass can stand for almost a year and only gets better. The other day we went to the forest, my brother took 6 liters of kvass. in poltorashki, duck were, kvass flew away. The raisins that were in the bottles were chewed up. Then the kvass ran out, the bottled water ran out. Many thanks to Petrovich for the kvass recipe, for the second year I have been preparing 30 five-liter canisters each, in May June I am now drinking last year’s, I have not opened a new one yet ...

Good topic. I can’t wait for spring. I bought a small screwdriver for this and made a few caps (plug the holes.) You need to take care of nature !!! And who tried to collect through a tube from a dropper? Birch sap, or birch tree, is a very valuable product that has a beneficial effect on the entire human body.

With the same composition, there can be a different structure of a substance and, therefore, its different properties. In birch sap, the content of rather harmful heavy D2O and extra heavy T2O water is sharply reduced, and it also has its own special liquid structure, which is very beneficial to health.

This structure begins to gradually change immediately after extracting the sap from the birch, and after 2 hours it becomes already strongly changed. Until the sticky leaves have blossomed (about a month before the appearance of leaves and flowering, during the period of snow melting), sap flow begins at birch trees, called “birch crying”. How to extract juice? It is necessary to cut out a small square of the outer bark and, in the cleaned place, turn the recess by 3-4 centimeters with a brace.

But with no less success, juice can be collected in glass jars or plastic bottles. How to take juice correctly and not harm the tree. Firstly, it should be taken from trees with a diameter of 20-30 cm, it is better not to touch young and old birches.

A groove made of thin aluminum or plastic is inserted into the slot, through which the juice will run drop by drop into the container. TIPS The period of extraction of birch sap depends on weather conditions. For example, if during the March thaw the juice has already begun to flow, and frosts suddenly hit, it may stop flowing for some time.

Last season I collected 40 liters per day. Instead of a screwdriver, I used a hand drill and a 14 or 15 feather drill, which fits under the dropper plastic. Spring in the middle lane, tomorrow I'm going for birch sap. The systematic intake of birch sap has a general strengthening and tonic effect. My father-in-law prepares 100-150 liters in 40 liters. tubs with raisins. While birch sap is poured into our tueski, bottles and jars, we walk through the forest and carefully get acquainted with the surrounding nature.

The benefits and harms of birch sap were well known to our ancestors. More precisely, they knew more about its beneficial, healing properties. They also knew when and how to collect this medicine, how to prepare it correctly in order to preserve the healing substances as much as possible. This forest drink has few contraindications, but still they are, and they were established by traditional medicine after a series of observations on patients suffering from urolithiasis and stomach ulcers.

For representatives of the current generation, birch sap is a kind of antiquity, a true story, a natural product from the times of the USSR, which has gone into the past along with the realities of life. There is some truth in this, because the value of this drink, the methods of its collection and preparation are gradually forgotten. Yes, and the volume of its industrial procurement has decreased significantly. However, there are keepers of traditions, there are many recipes in folk herbalists and a lot of evidence that this drink is not just a symbol of Russia. It is also a valuable medicine that can be prepared at home.

Features of medicinal raw materials

Birch sap is pleasant, sweetish, with a specific delicate aroma. For what diagnoses is it recommended? Does it have contraindications? When to start collecting, in what ways to harvest juice yourself?

Preparation of birch sap

Industrial collection and conservation of birch sap are carried out mostly in Belarus, less - in Russia and Ukraine. This drink was especially popular during the Soviet era. The older generation remembers very well how, in the era of shortages, three-liter cans of this drink filled empty shelves. It can also be seen on modern counters (in three-liter, one-and-a-half-liter jars and tetra-packs), but its production has noticeably decreased.

• When to collect? Harvesting is carried out in early spring, when the juices begin to rise from the root up the tree trunk. With a thaw, sap flow can begin earlier - in February. The juice is collected until the buds on the birch have blossomed, which also depends on the weather and climatic conditions. It is also better to collect liquid during daylight hours, because at night the trees “sleep” and the movement of sap stops.
• How to collect birch sap? There are several rules to follow: do not use young trees; after collection, the hole or slot should be covered with wax, laundry soap or a special garden pitch, which prevents various lesions and wood decay. In extreme cases, the hole is tightly closed with moss or a twig is stuck into it, it is saturated with liquid, swells and prevents it from flowing out. This forest food resource (namely, as it is called in the legislation) can be obtained in different ways. The first is to make an incision (notch) on the bark, substitute a groove and fix it, hang a container where the juice will drain. The second is to drill a hole in the barrel to a depth of 5 cm, insert a plastic tip from the dropper system into it, and lower its other end into a container. The third is to cut off young branches, wrap them in a plastic bag, where the liquid flows. Sometimes the juice is collected from stumps after sanitary cutting of a forest area.
• Some "tricks" of collecting. You need to start collecting in the southern parts of the grove, and as the snow melts and warms up, move deeper into the forest. They try to make incisions on the north side of the trunk - there is more juice here. A cut or hole is made at a height of approximately 50 cm from the ground. Don't make a deep hole. First, it is dangerous for the life of the tree. Secondly, the juice moves between the bark and the wood, it is enough just to pass through the bark layer.
• How to store birch sap at home? Raw birch is best collected and stored in glass containers. If it is collected in plastic bottles, then after filling it must be immediately poured into glassware. Raw can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 3 days. It is desirable to drink it by this time, then it becomes cloudy, bubbles appear in it, and fermentation processes begin. Then you can already make kvass or wine from it. For long-term storage, fresh juice is canned and frozen in small portions.

One large tree can produce up to 7 liters of valuable liquid per day, a small tree - up to 3 liters. On a tree with a diameter of up to 20 cm, only one hole is allowed, with a diameter of up to 25 cm - two holes can be made, up to 35 cm - three, and over 40 cm - no more than four. Despite the fact that birch roots go deep into the ground and take nutrients from clean soil, it is better to choose birch trees in groves, and not in plantings along roads. Wood also has the ability to absorb harmful substances from the air.

Healing properties and pharmacological action

The chemical composition of birch sap includes:

• invert sugar (with equal parts of glucose and sucrose);
• organic acids;
• proteins;
• carbohydrates;
• essential oil;
• phytohormones;
• phenols;
• urea derivatives;
• saponins;
• tannins;
• group of vitamins B;
• vitamin C;
• rich composition of trace elements (copper, potassium, sodium, manganese, magnesium, iron, silicon).

Pharmachologic effect:

• diuretic;
• secretory;
• anti-inflammatory;
• tonic;
• restorative;
• blood-purifying;
• antioxidant.

Increasingly, they talk about the antitumor properties of raw birch, although there is no scientific evidence for this. It can be prescribed for rehabilitation, recovery of the body after severe procedures in oncology.

What diseases are indicated

• Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. It relieves spasms, gastric and intestinal colic, treats diseases of the stomach, liver, gallbladder, acts as a mild analgesic, anti-inflammatory medicine. Restores microflora, appetite, digestion.
• urinary system. One of the effective folk remedies for urolithiasis. It is advisable to drink fresh 6 glasses a day. Juice promotes crushing of stones in kidneys and their removal. The course of treatment is carried out under the strict supervision of a doctor, painful conditions are likely.
• Rheumatic diseases. Effective remedy for gout, articular arthritis, atherosclerosis. They are taken internally and externally.
• Respiratory system . As a tonic with an expectorant effect, it is prescribed for inflammatory processes in the bronchi and lungs, including the treatment of tuberculosis.
• Metabolic disorders. In diabetes, blended birch sap is useful in complex treatment and with a strict diet. On its basis, a medicinal drink is prepared, it contains 35% juice of raspberries, currants, blackberries, blueberries, elderberries. It is also taken with decoctions of wild rose, lingonberry leaves, buckthorn, nettle and other medicinal herbs. We emphasize that phytotherapy for diabetes mellitus gives a positive therapeutic effect, but only under the supervision of a physician, with a number of laboratory studies. Depending on the type of diabetes, the dosage and course of treatment are prescribed. Since the juice is low in calories and stimulates all metabolic processes in the body, it is drunk for weight loss.
• Anemia. With anemia, it is recommended to drink juice 2-3 glasses a day before meals.
• Avitaminosis. Birch sap contains half of the periodic table. It is prescribed for spring beriberi, weakened immunity, after serious illnesses, for the prevention of acute respiratory viral infections, influenza.
• Intoxication. The drink helps well in case of poisoning (gives energy and reserves of lost fluid), cleanses the body of toxins, restores the water-salt balance, helps to lower the temperature and acts as a diaphoretic in combination with rosehip broth and lemon juice. The drink also helps with a hangover, relieving discomfort in the stomach.
• Outdoor use. The tool can be used to gargle, rinse the nose, drink to disinfect the oral cavity with stomatitis, gingivitis, periodontal disease. They also wipe the skin with scabies, psoriasis, neurodermatitis, eczema, ulcers. Good for non-healing wounds.

This healing drink has few contraindications: individual intolerance and an allergic reaction. It is important to remember that with exacerbation of gastric and duodenal ulcers, as well as in the acute form of urolithiasis, self-treatment with juice can lead to an even greater exacerbation. Therefore, medical supervision and supervision is so important. Due to the high content of glucose, birch sap can harm the body if the dosage and dilution are incorrect.

Features of the preparation and use of birch sap

Despite all the harmlessness and undoubted usefulness of this forest drink, it is recommended to consult a doctor before taking it. If any side effects appear (primarily from the digestive system - diarrhea), treatment should be discontinued and a doctor should be consulted.

How to use

How much juice can you drink per day?

• A glass 3 times a day is the "universal" dosage.
• Some herbalists recommend drinking diluted juice, especially if there are exacerbations and diabetes.
• For preventive purposes, you can drink for a long time, but little by little.
• The treatment course may be shorter, but with a higher dosage, in which case a break in therapy is required.

cooking recipes

Recipes for harvesting birch sap are impressive in their diversity. You can prepare pure raw, or you can prepare sedative infusions from it with the addition of mint, fortified - with blackcurrant and rose hips. Also, raw birch produces delicious kvass, wine, low-alcohol drinks, syrup.

• Kvass. Birch sap has high fermentation properties. Therefore, kvass from birch sap is prepared without yeast. But there are also recipes for its preparation with yeast.
• syrup. It is curious that today in the world there are no more than two dozen manufacturers of this delicacy. Birch syrup is prepared according to the same principle as the famous maple syrup. To get 1 liter of product, you need to evaporate 100 liters of juice! The syrup is similar to honey in consistency and taste, but there is a woody bitterness in it. In Russia, there is a community of lovers and connoisseurs of this product, which also produces natural birch sap, sauce, kvass, and chaga. You can buy frozen cheese here.
• Wine. In the USSR, the production of birch wines was established, but now it is a rarity. From raw birch, high-quality sparkling (carbonated) wine was obtained. It can be prepared at home according to old Russian recipes.

carbonated drink recipe

1. Pour raw birch into a three-liter jar and keep warm for 2 days.
2. Put in a jar 6 tsp. Sahara.
3. Add some raisins and lemon zest.
4. Close the lid and hold for 2 days.

It turns out a pleasant carbonated drink with sourness (essentially - kvass). If the fermentation process is active, you need to slightly open the lid or use a lid with a hole. To reduce fermentation processes, the drink is stored in the refrigerator.

Recipe for birch kvass with yeast

1. Heat raw birch to 35°C.
2. Add 15 g of yeast (per 1 liter of juice), some raisins, lemon zest.
3. Close with a tight lid.
4. Withstand 7 days.

Kvass perfectly quenches thirst, normalizes digestion.

Recipe for birch kvass without yeast

1. Pour raw birch into a three-liter jar.
2. Put pieces of dried rye bread in it.
3. For flavor, put currant and cherry leaves.
4. Cover the jar with gauze, soak for 14 days.

Recipe for kvass from malt

1. Pour 5 liters of raw birch into a large bottle.
2. Keep 2 days.
3. Put 30 g of barley malt.
4. Keep at least 10 days.

Earlier in Russia, kvass was prepared in large barrels. It was one of the most popular drinks at holiday feasts. To keep kvass for a long time, honey and oak bark were placed in barrels. Herbs were also added - thyme, cumin, linden, chamomile, lemon balm, St. John's wort. Blended low-alcohol drinks were made with the addition of mountain ash, rose hips, cherries, blueberries, and apples.

canned birch sap recipe

1. Take 3 liters of fresh juice.
2. Add 100 g sugar and 1 medium lemon, cut into wedges.
3. Boil over low heat in an enamel bowl for 5 minutes.
4. Pour into a sterilized jar, roll up.

Orange can be used instead of lemon. A sprig of mint or lemon balm will add a pleasant taste to the juice. Previously, there was an opinion that industrial birch sap is diluted with citric acid and water. Too much of it was produced in the USSR. In fact, a little lemon can be added to a recipe drink as a preservative.

Birch sap for women and children

• Pregnancy. There is no information that juice can harm the body during pregnancy. However, a doctor's consultation should be mandatory, especially if a woman has chronic diseases of the stomach and kidneys. This low-calorie drink quenches thirst well, normalizes metabolic processes, blood pressure, reduces nausea and vomiting during toxicosis.
• lactation. It is believed that birch sap is useful for breastfeeding, stimulates lactation. There is no scientific evidence for this. However, it can be useful for a nursing mother with its rich composition. It should be taken in reasonable portions. To begin with, it is recommended to drink 100 g of juice and observe the reaction of the baby.
• Childhood . The question arises: is it possible for children to drink birch sap? Pediatricians do not recommend giving it to babies under 1 year old in any form. After a year, you can offer canned juice, but in small portions, first diluted. Later, you can try to introduce raw into the diet, also in small doses. Juice is valuable for children with glucose, phytoncides, organic acids, unique compositions of micro and macro elements, vitamins. Needless to say, children should be given only a high-quality, proven product, without additives.

Cosmetology

Birch sap is widely used in cosmetology due to its tonic, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory effect. How is it used?

• Like lotion and hair mask. It strengthens the roots well, eliminates dandruff, increased fat content. Pure juice is rubbed into the scalp and hair. Also, masks are made from it with the addition of castor oil and honey.
• For skin problems. Undiluted juice wipe the skin in the morning and evening with furunculosis, acne, age spots, lichen.
• Reception inside. For skin diseases, it is used not only externally, but also internally. Birch sap acts as a blood purifier, helps with furunculosis, acne, acne, eliminates the cause of the disease "from the inside".
• cosmetic ice. In addition to lotions and masks, cosmetic ice from birch sap is used. To do this, it is poured into small molds, frozen, rubbed daily with pieces of ice.

What are the main medicinal properties of birch sap? First of all, it is a mild diuretic and choleretic agent. Also, the drink has a tonic, blood-purifying, tonic, antiseptic properties. It is used to treat skin diseases, metabolic disorders, anemia, vitamin deficiency, intoxication, and is actively used in cosmetology.

Birch kvass is one of the most useful. It is useful for the kidneys and pancreas, perfectly refreshes and tones. In addition, it is very tasty.

Not everyone likes birch sap, but I think many will like kvass from it. Today I will talk about my recipe for birch kvass.

Step 1
For kvass, we need birch sap. You need to collect it at the end of March, as soon as the buds appeared on the birch. We cut off one of the branches and hang a plastic bottle so that our cut is inside the neck. We cover the cut with gauze so as not to attract insects.

Step 2

After a certain time, we get a bottle of birch sap. We clean it from forest debris by straining it through gauze several times. Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil over low heat. This will save our kvass from excess water and make it thicker.

Step 3

We cool the future kvass to room temperature. I put the pan in the sink with cold water, it's faster. We breed yeast in a glass and pour it into birch sap. You can add a toasted crust of bread, then the kvass will turn brown and acquire a bready taste. I preferred to leave it white.

Step 4

Cover with gauze and leave to roam in a warm dark place. There our kvass will stand for about 3-5 days. Carefully remove the foam that appears in the process.

Step 5

We pour the fermented kvass into bottles, add raisins to them at the rate of 1 liter = 10 raisins and hide in the refrigerator. Raisins will saturate the kvass with carbon dioxide and add a little brown color.

Step 6

After a couple of days, birch kvass is ready. Since we did not sweeten it during the cooking process, we add sugar before use to taste. Bon appetit and stay healthy!

The benefits of oatmeal kvass are obvious. Oats will easily cleanse the stomach and intestines of excess muck, energize the entire body and save you from an excess of sugar and cholesterol. This cereal contains many vitamins that we need for normal life. Oatmeal is also very tasty. It is very refreshing in the heat. And what kind of okroshka turns out on it !!! I will tell you about my recipe for healthy oatmeal kvass.

Step 1
For this recipe, we need whole grain oats. Oatmeal in this case will not work. Often these grains are sold in pet stores.

Step 2

We fill half of our container with oat grains and pour warm water. It will be more convenient to use the bank.

Step 3

Add sugar at the rate of 1 tablespoon per liter. If you want sweeter, add more. But it is better to sweeten the finished kvass, so you definitely do not overdo it.

Step 4

Mix everything well and leave in a warm dark place. There our kvass will wander for a day.

Step 5

We live and try. As a rule, the first kvass on this starter will be bitter. Without regret, we pour it into the sewer. And we fill the sourdough again. Add sugar from the same calculation. And again we leave for a day.

Step 6

Sourdough can be used until the oats are empty. We cool the finished kvass in the refrigerator and enjoy the taste and benefits of oat kvass. Honey can be added for sweetness and richness of taste. Bon Appetit!

Berezovitsa, differs from water in the structure of the liquid. It, like water, consists of H2O molecules. But the fact is that in birch sap there are almost no compounds of heavy forms of hydrogen - deuterium and tritium, which are present in ordinary water. These forms are harmful to the human body, so birch sap is useful not only for the substances dissolved in it, but also for the structure of its liquid.

However, just a couple of hours after collection, the life-giving structure of the juice changes, so it should be drunk as soon as possible.

Properties of birch sap

By their own medicinal properties birch sap surpasses all other parts of the plant, because in order to give life to new foliage and inflorescences, the tree accumulates useful substances in it for almost a year.

It is especially rich in vitamin C, organic acids, sugars, tannins and mineral elements. The biologically active components contained in it (and plant hormones) make birch a powerful immunostimulant.

Birch sap in medicine

Birch has antitumor, anthelmintic, diuretic, stimulating and restorative properties. Regular consumption of this juice will relieve symptoms and facilitate the course of the following diseases and conditions:

• general weakness,
• avitaminosis,
• chronic fatigue,
• angina,
• bronchitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis,
• blood diseases, anemia,
• sciatica, arthritis, rheumatism,
• low acidity, ulcer,
• edema,
• gout,
• metabolic disease,
• eczema.

But the birch tree received the widest fame due to its ability remove stones from the body with urolithiasis.

It's important to know!
Birch sap is contraindicated for those who suffer from allergies caused by birch pollen!

Otherwise birch contraindications coincide with those set out in ours and apply to all medicinal birch raw materials.

For medicinal purposes, birch sap you should drink only freshly harvested (no more than 2 days from the moment of collection) in the form of 3 glasses a day half an hour before meals for 3 weeks. The juice should be stored in the refrigerator! This dose is calculated for the treatment of skin diseases and inflammatory processes accompanied by fever, arthritis, gout, rheumatism. In the same dose they drink juice with a weakened body.

For the treatment of such diseases and conditions as tuberculosis, anemia, edema due to disorders in the work of the heart, atherosclerosis, scrofula, helminth infestation, juice is drunk for a month 3 times a day on an empty stomach from half to a glass.

For colds, accompanied by inflammation of the throat and nose, it will be useful to make warm rinses with birch sap. And for chronic diseases of the nasopharynx, drink a glass of fresh birch every morning before meals. In the same dose, juice should be taken if you want to get rid of stones and sand in the kidneys, in the bladder. But keep in mind that birch sap dissolves only carbonate and phosphate stones, but it has no effect on oxalate and uric acid stones.

Using birch to solve sexual problems

With impotence and menopause, even one glass of birch sap a day will give you energy, reduce drowsiness, irritability, fatigue and other phenomena that accompany these problems.

Birch sap and caries

Finnish dentists and confectioners have developed sweet-tasting syrups and candies based on birch sap for children, which can not only prevent the development of caries, but also block its growth on affected teeth. However, in order to prevent this disease, you do not need to go to Finland for candy at all, it is enough to drink a glass of birch for a month.

birch sap and mushrooms

If the skin is affected by fungal diseases, it is recommended to drink a glass of birch sap a day on an empty stomach and make lotions, rinses or compresses on the affected areas from it.

Health Drink Recipes

Birch-oat (diseases of the gastrointestinal tract)

Take 1 glass of oats, wash thoroughly, pour one and a half liters of juice there. The mixture should be insisted in the refrigerator for 12 hours, then placed on fire, boiled at minimum power to half the initial volume, strain. The drink is taken a month half an hour before a meal, 100-150 gr.

Birch-lingonberry (arthritis, gout, rheumatism, edema (as a diuretic))

Squeeze the juice of 150 g of washed lingonberries, add a liter of birch sap to the pomace, boil for 5 minutes on minimum heat, strain, cool, add the squeezed lingonberry juice (150 g). Drink within a day or two.

Birch-wheatgrass (cholelithiasis)

Take crushed couch grass roots (100 g), birch sap (1 l), mix, put on fire, simmer over low heat until evaporated to half the volume, strain, take three times a day half an hour before meals.

Birch-lemon mixture for hypertension

After washing and removing the seeds, medium lemons (6 pcs.), Pass through a meat grinder, put in a three-liter bottle, add a liter of birch sap there. Close tightly and place in the refrigerator for 2.5 days. Then add 0.5 kg of any honey to the mixture, mix the ingredients well and place again in a cold place for 2.5 days. Take half an hour before meals three times in knocks of 50 ml.

Birch-calamus (fever and cough)

For 3 glasses of juice, take 1 tbsp. , boil in a covered enamel pan over low heat for 15 minutes. Removed from heat, wrapped, leave for 2 hours, strain, take, adding honey to taste, half a cup three times a day 0.5 hours before meals.

Birch sap in cosmetology

For cosmetic purposes you can use not only fresh birch, but also canned juice, which can be purchased at the store. Also, for this, you can prepare birch sap yourself, and, having frozen it in containers, stock up on it until next spring.

Regular rinsing of hair with birch sap will relieve you of dandruff, have a beneficial effect on the scalp, enhance hair growth and make them silky and shiny.

Birch sap mask recipe

Take 2 tbsp. juice, 1 tbsp. sour cream and 1 tsp. honey, thoroughly mixing the ingredients, apply on the skin of the face and hold for a quarter of an hour, then rinse thoroughly with softened warm water. The birch mask moisturizes, nourishes and gives the skin a matte finish.

Tonic Recipe

Take 40 ml of ginseng tincture and 200 g of juice, mix, and wipe the skin of the face with the product before applying the evening and morning cream on it. It is not necessary to cleanse the skin before this. Such a tonic is especially effective for women after 40 years.

Instead of ginseng, other tinctures can be used, such as Japanese Sophora, Eleutherococcus, or Radiola rosea. All of them, paired with juice, allow you to keep your skin in excellent condition, slowing down the aging process.

When to start harvesting birch

A month before the appearance of new sticky leaves on the branches of birches, the tree begins sap flow process which is popularly called " weeping birch". Immediately after the snow melts, birch trees give us a sweetish-tasting, refreshing healing drink for 2-3 weeks.

In central Russia, this period begins in mid-March and ends in mid-April. If frost hits at this time after a thaw, then sap flow may stop, but with the onset of heat, it will necessarily resume.

It's important to know!
Canned juice, which is sold in stores, is devoid of almost all useful components, so decide for yourself whether to drink it or not.

Preparation of birch sap

Birch perfectly absorbs all human waste products emitted into the atmosphere. Therefore, the juice of trees growing in industrial areas, cities or along busy roads cannot be drunk, do not expect any benefit from it. It is best to collect juice in birch forests prepared for felling.

Best for collection middle aged trees, whose diameter is not less than 25-30 cm. In a tree with a thin trunk up to 30 cm, only one hole can be drilled, in a tree with an average trunk up to 35 cm, two holes can already be made, in a tree with a thick, over 40 cm, trunk, 4 holes.

From one tree in 2-3 days you can not take more than a liter of juice. So you do the least harm to the birch. It is best to start collecting during the daytime from noon to 18-00.

How to take birch sap (step by step instructions)

1. For collection, you should stock up on the following devices:

• drill or chisel,
• rubber or plastic tubes of small diameter,
• hammer,
• drill for tube diameter
• containers (previously, special birch bark tubes were made for this, now for this it is best to take plastic bottles with handles on the neck).

2. Choose a suitable tree for this and make on the north side of the trunk using a drill hole. If you make a hole on the south side, you run the risk of getting the juice fermented under the influence of direct sunlight. Before drilling, make sure that there is no anthill near the tree, otherwise small, but multiple competitors may run into your sap.

Do not drill deep as sap flow mainly occurs between the outer layer of wood and the bark. A hole is enough to hold the tube on which the bottle will be hung. During drilling, the juice will already begin to flow through the drill.

3. Clean the hole from small particles of bark and sawdust.

4. Using a hammer, drive the tube into the bore of the barrel.

5. Put the neck of the bottle on the pipe and you can go for a walk in the woods for a while, admire the primroses.

6. Periodically check the containers for filling with juice. At the same time, do not forget check the juice for taste and smell if they are unpleasant, this means that the tree is affected by a fungus; in no case should you drink such juice. If you have made the desired hole in the tree, and the juice is extremely slow, seal it with var or cork, and collect the juice from another tree.

7. After the containers are full, remove them and clog the holes with a wooden plug, or a knot, cover with pitch or plasticine. This must be done without fail, otherwise our birch can be easily affected by various diseases and pests. Try not to "milk out" the tree to the last drop, it is better to make a hole in another birch.

8. Immediately after collection, it is imperative to drink fresh juice until it has lost all its beneficial properties.

Advice
You will bring much less damage to the tree if you cut off one branch on a knot, and on the other branch, tilting it down, hang a container to collect the juice.