Ribes nigrum (black currant) is a powerful natural antihistamine used for allergies and inflammation. Let’s find out its properties and benefits, how to use it, contraindications and side effects. Known for its sweet and sour taste, blackcurrant is now a fruit almost omnipresent on our tables. These small and firm blackberries ripen in June and represent a food used in numerous recipes. Ribes nigrum is also appreciated for its beneficial properties: it is easy to find supplements or herbal products based on this food.
As we will discover in the course of the article, the properties of black currant are many and all significant for health. This fruit contains a very high quantity of vitamin C, thus exerting a remarkable antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action. Black currant is also used to relieve tired and weighted legs, improving circulation within the capillaries and representing a natural alternative to anticoagulant drugs since it thins the blood. Perhaps few know that it is possible to use black currant for seasonal allergies, dust or hay fever, bringing relief and well-being, especially to the upper airways.
Ribes Nigrum: Properties And Benefits
At this point, let’s see some properties of Ribes nigrum and in which cases to use it to derive benefits for our health.
Black Currant For Allergies
Because it stimulates cortisol secretion, black currant proves to be a very useful natural antihistamine. It improves physical conditions when we contact allergens, such as mites, dust or plants that cause nasal congestion, difficulty in breathing, and cough. The combined action of flavonoids and quercetin makes black currant for allergies a valid alternative to “traditional” antihistamines and cortisone.
Ribes Nigrum For Inflammations
Blackcurrant-based preparations are successfully used to reduce inflammatory processes. Its anti-inflammatory qualities allow you to heal from more or less annoying conditions, for example, infections in the mouth or oral cavity (canker sores, sore throat) and even diseases that can affect the respiratory tract and bronchi.
Black Currant For High Blood Pressure
The intake of Ribes nigrum is recommended if we suffer from high blood pressure. Its ability to make the blood more fluid improves the whole blood circulation system and the substances essential to our health by lowering blood pressure. It also exerts a vasoprotective action against veins and capillaries, making them more resistant to injury and trauma.
Ribes Nigrum To Promote Diuresis
The diuretic function is another of the properties of black currant that should be noted. We cleanse ourselves of waste and toxins through urination and make sure that our body functions at its best. The diuretic action is also connected to the hypotensive action, thus lowering the pressure values.
Ribes Nigrum: Natural Cortisone
The action exerted by Ribes nigrum is indeed similar to that of the cortisone we take when we have an infection. The cortisone that the body produces typically, called cortisol, is that component that inhibits the immune response, thus reducing the typical discomfort associated with inflammation: pain, redness, and heat in the affected areas of the body. The properties of Ribes nigrum are carried out as this acts on the adrenal glands by stimulating the increase in cortisol.
The properties of Ribes nigrum do not end here. It is also used with positive results in the case of rheumatoid arthritis or inflammation of the joints and joints, reducing swelling and pain. Thanks to vitamin intake, the immune system can better cope with colds, flu, and bronchitis, all diseases that affect the respiratory tract. The flavonoids and antioxidants of current nigrum also promote night vision by relieving visual stress.
How To Use Ribes Nigrum
Black currant is one of those plants of which practically all parts are used, which are used for preparations with different properties.
Allergies And Inflammations
If we want to keep the annoying symptoms of allergies at bay, it is advisable to take the glycerine macerate of Ribes nigrum in a dose ranging from 20 to 40 drops. Similarly, we can take the macerate or apply blackcurrant oil locally to take advantage of the anti-inflammatory effects. In this way, the pain and swelling will be progressively reduced.
Skin Rashes And Dermatitis
For redness and painful areas of the body affected by dermatitis of various origins, it is advisable to massage these parts with a few drops of black currant oil until it is absorbed.
Natural Diuretic
The purifying action of Ribes nigrum is ideal if we want to eliminate waste deriving from what we eat or from the normal metabolic processes of our body. In this case, the best way is the oral one: drops of current nigrum or herbal tea made from leaves.
Anticoagulant
To make the blood more fluid and avoid the formation of clots, that is to say, of platelet clusters that can obstruct the blood flow, we take the mother tincture of Ribes nigrum with a bit of water no more than twice a day.
Venous Fragility
In the summer season, the veins of the legs and feet are more prone to enlargement or ruptures. Taking the drops of the current nigrum mother tincture can help us protect blood vessels, including the smallest capillaries, by strengthening their walls.
Ribes Nigrum: Contraindications And Side Effects
The consumption of black currant or its preparations can cause side effects of various kinds; therefore, it is essential to know that it is advisable to avoid its intake in certain situations and some subjects. Those with current allergies must naturally refrain from its consumption and those who are already taking drugs to treat hypertension.
The properties of black currant also linked to the thinning power of the blood can give rise to bleeding in conjunction with therapy with anticoagulants. Currants also seem to be able to modify the absorption of some medicines, such as psychotropic drugs. Finally, it is best to avoid taking black currants when pregnant or breastfeeding.
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