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Raspberries for colds: what is useful, how to make tea and drink?
Last reviewed: 28.11.2021
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The question is - can raspberries with a cold? - rarely asked, because the medicinal properties of this berry have been known since time immemorial, and it was practically a universal home remedy for many diseases.
But, if this question does arise, we will try to find out if raspberries help with colds. And also to find out what is useful for raspberries for colds, and whether there are contraindications to its use in adenovirus infection.
Properties of raspberries with colds
In addition to the fact that raspberries increase sweating and help reduce fever, anti-inflammatory properties of raspberries are also manifested with colds. In acute respiratory infections, berries, raspberry leaf, and even the upper parts of shoots (thin branches) of crimson bushes are used, since all parts of this plant (Rubus idaeus L.) contain organic acids, including salicylic acid. And in berries there is L-ascorbic acid or vitamin C (25 mg%), as well as carotene and other vitamins.
Fresh raspberries with colds, raspberry tea or raspberry jam act as Aspirin for colds, because the salicylic (or 2-hydroxybenzoic) acid contained in them - thanks to the glycoside salicin - blocks the production of cyclooxygenase enzymes (COX-1 and COX-2) , as a result of which the synthesis of transmitting inflammatory signals of prostaglandins ceases. At the same time, salicylic acid contributes to the secretion of perspiration by the sweat glands of the skin, which triggers the physiological mechanism of body thermoregulation, and the temperature for cold fever (caused by the action of exogenous virus pyrogens) decreases.
At the cellular level, the transduction of inflammatory signals and the kaempferol contained in raspberry and several of its derivatives, the polyphenolic compounds of the flavone class with anti-inflammatory properties, affect the transduction of inflammatory signals. And another polyphenol - quercetin - can inhibit the effect of mast cells produced by mast cells and the inflammatory mediators mentioned above. Recent studies using chromatography and mass spectrometry have shown antiviral properties in quercetin that are manifested in the inhibition of virus enzymes (protease, reverse transcriptase, and neuraminidase).
In addition, vitamin C is available in this raspberry, as it not only suppresses the inflammatory mediator reaction, but also increases the production of protective proteins by the cells of the immune system - interferons.
To flavonoid antioxidants, which are found in raspberries, also include ellagitanin (polyphenol derivative of ellagic and gallic acid) and berries of the berry - anthocyanins.
Leaves of raspberries for colds act due to the included in their biochemical composition of salicylin, phenolcarbonic acids and ellagitanin.
Contraindications for use
Fresh and dried berries of raspberries have no contraindications, but raspberry leaves should not be used for the treatment of colds if:
- inflammation of the stomach with high acidity and duodenal ulcers,
- intolerance to acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin),
- asthma or bronchitis with an asthmatic component,
- chronic constipation and gout,
- with poor blood coagulability.
Side effects
Possible side effects include deterioration of blood clotting (due to the antiaggregant effect of salicylic acid on platelets), stomach pain (if the acidity of the gastric juice is increased).
Interactions with other drugs
If raspberries are used to treat colds, it is not recommended to take NSAIDs, corticosteroids, anticoagulants, hypoglycemic agents based on sulfonylureas and diuretics.
Treatment of a cold raspberry: the way of application and dose
In order to maximize the healing effect, you should know how to make raspberries for colds: berries, and the leaves do not boil, but fill with steep boiling water.
Here are the main recipes of raspberries for colds used in alternative medicine.
Fresh berries: a tablespoon of berries to suppress in a cup and pour 200 ml of freshly brewed black or green tea - it turns out tea with raspberries for colds.
Dried berries: a half tablespoons of berries pour two cups of boiling water, close the container tightly, wrap it and let it brew for four to five hours. You can do it in a thermos. The filtered infusion is recommended to be taken several times a day for half a cup. If raspberries are used for colds for preschool children, it is enough to give the child 50-60 ml of infusion or tea three times a day.
In the same way, frozen raspberries are used in colds, which can be combined with black currant, and with a strong cough - with kalina.
Fresh and dried leaves or raspberry branches from the common cold are brewed in a similar way; such an infusion (taking it inside on 150 ml three times a day) can alleviate the condition with influenza with a cough and temperature, and gargling of the throat helps with its inflammation.
Well combined - in terms of therapeutic effects - raspberries with lemon, raspberries with honey from colds.
Read also - Teas for colds
Raspberries during pregnancy with colds in the minimum amount and for a short time can be applied, but raspberry leaves in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy are strictly forbidden. Firstly, kaempferol, which is abundant in crimson leaves, interacts with estrogen receptors in the endometrium and changes their physiological response, increasing or decreasing the tone of the uterus. Secondly, ellagitananins show their biological activity by inhibiting the enzymes of aromatases, thereby reducing the level of estrogen in the body of a pregnant woman.
Raspberry with breastfeeding for colds is used. In addition, there is an opinion that is confirmed by individual reviews of nursing women that tea with raspberries can increase the production of breast milk and helps in the treatment of lactation mastitis.