Hawthorn berries

Hawthorns are currently decorating autumn hedgerows and fields with their scarlet and crimson berries. These can be safely eaten, but don't possess much flavour and have quite a big seed. They are best used by adding them to hedgerow jellies and in more medicinal preparations such as honeys, syrups and tinctures.

Long the plant of the heart in folklore, we know now that hawthorn works in several ways as a restorative of the physical heart. It has the wonderful capacity to dilate the coronary arteries and strengthen the heart muscle without raising blood pressure or increasing the beat. 

The berries, leaf and flowers can be used to treat angina, enlargement of the heart from overwork or excessive exercise, and heart damage from over-use of alcohol.

It is important to state that heart disease is a life-threatening illness, and should be treated under the advice of a primary healthcare practitioner such as your GP or a qualified professional herbalist. If you are taking beta-blockers, only use hawthorn under supervision. 

Unlike digitalis and numerous commercial preparations, hawthorn is a prophylactic with few side effects. It can – and we’d say should – be made part of personal regime to forestall future problems with the heart and circulation. 

Hawthorn lowers high blood pressure and helps dissolve cholesterol and calcium deposits, making it good for arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and plaquing. 

When a fatty plaque comes loose from an artery wall it can rapidly lead to a blockage. If the artery involved is the coronary artery, which feeds the heart muscle, this blockage will mean a heart attack; if a plaque blocks an artery in the brain, it will cause a stroke.

Arteries anywhere in the body can be affected, but problems often go unnoticed.

Hawthorn is also an effective treatment for intermittent claudication, where the blood vessels of the legs aren’t supplying enough oxygen to the muscles, resulting in pain on walking. Similar conditions, such as Buerger’s disease and Raynaud’s disease, also benefit from hawthorn’s gentle effects. Hawthorn enhances the functioning of the heart and circulation during exercise, and taken in moderation can improve athletic performance.

Also, the flavonoid compounds called procyanidins found throughout the plant help normalise blood pressure. So, if blood pressure is too high, hawthorn will lower it, and if too low it will stimulate the heart rate and raise it.

Taking hawthorn calms the spirit, and gives good results in menopausal mood swings, restlessness and anxiety; it will quieten overactive children who have ADHD.

Hawthorn combines well with yarrow when there is constriction of the blood vessels and a risk of thrombosis or clotting. As a general heart and circulatory tonic, it is used alongside ramsons or garlic, and ginger. If the circulation needs stimulating, take it with horse-    radish. To improve the peripheral circulation of the limbs, use hawthorn with lime blossom.

Expanded from Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal, Hedgerow Medicine (2008)

Hawthorn