Birch Sap - Benefits And Harms. How And When To Collect?

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

The benefits and harms of birch sap

Birch sap is a liquid flowing from cut and broken birch trunks and branches under the influence of root pressure. The juice contains many vitamins, minerals and organic acids. Its composition can be called unique. It contains glucose, fructose, enzymes, tannins. There are practically no contraindications to the use of birch sap. The juice is drunk to fight diseases of the digestive system, it helps dissolve kidney stones and cleanse the blood. The metabolic processes are accelerated due to the regular use of birch sap. In general, the person begins to feel better.

Content:

• Composition of birch sap
• The benefits of birch sap
• Cosmetological properties of birch sap
• When and how is birch sap collected?
• Contraindications and harm to birch sap
• Birch sap recipes

Composition of birch sap

Birch sap has a very varied composition. It contains carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Vitamins give a special value to the drink. The juice contains malic and citric acid, fructose and glucose. Due to these components, the juice has a sweet and sour taste.

Birch sap is extracted from a tree trunk, therefore tannins and essential oils are present in it. People use juice as a source of ascorbic acid, vitamins B6 and B12.

It is useful to drink juice for people with diseases of the cardiovascular system, as it contains potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, fluoride and calcium. Drinking the drink has a beneficial effect on the condition of the skin and muscles, which is possible thanks to phytoncides, saponins and betulins.

The benefits of birch sap

All body systems respond positively to human consumption of birch sap.

Thanks to its reception, you can achieve the following effects:

• Diuretic effect.
• Improvement of secretory function.
• Removal of inflammation.
• Increasing the general tone of the body.
• Strengthening the immune system.
• Blood cleaning.
• Antioxidant effect.

During the international conference Food Innova in 2010 (Spain, Valencia), the thesis was voiced that birch sap is a powerful antioxidant for the human body. The data were provided by the staff of the Latvian University of Agriculture, who conducted research on this matter. As it was found out, the antioxidant effect is due to polyphenols, and primarily flavonoids.

The unique composition of birch sap helps the body to cope faster with various diseases, including:

• Diseases of the digestive system. Spasms go away from the digestive tract, intestinal colic ceases to torment a person. The juice acts as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent. Therefore, it is taken for diseases of the liver, stomach and gall bladder. It has a beneficial effect on the state of the intestinal microflora, increases appetite and normalizes digestion.
• Urinary system. People with urolithiasis drink the juice. Traditional healers recommend that patients with this diagnosis consume 6 glasses of the drink a day. This will crush the stones and flush them out of the kidneys. Treatment can only be carried out under medical supervision. During the release of kidney stones, a person may experience quite intense pain.
• Rheumatic diseases. Birch sap is drunk for gout, arthritis of the joints, atherosclerosis. The drink can not only be taken orally, but also applied topically.
• Diseases of the respiratory system. Birch sap helps to ease sputum discharge, so it is drunk by patients with pneumonia and bronchi, as well as tuberculosis patients.

• Metabolic disruptions. Blended birch sap can be taken by people with diabetes. An important condition for treatment is adherence to a strict diet. The healing drink is prepared on the basis of birch sap, to which the juice of raspberries, currants, blackberries, blueberries, elderberries is added (the share of other juices should be 35%). You can also mix birch sap with a decoction of wild rose, lingonberry leaves, nettle, buckthorn and other plants that have medicinal effects. To achieve positive dynamics, you need to take drinks in certain quantities and under medical supervision. It is important to have regular examinations and tests. The juice is dosed depending on the type of diabetes. The course is calculated on an individual basis. Juice is also useful for obese people, as it contains few calories.
• Anemia. With this violation, the juice is prescribed 2-3 glasses a day.
• Avitaminosis. Since birch sap is a source of vitamins and minerals, it is prescribed for weakened patients. It is good to use it in the spring, when vegetables and fruits contain few nutrients. Juice is taken for prophylactic purposes in order to reduce the likelihood of contracting SARS, flu and other colds.
• Intoxication of the body. It is good to take birch sap for various poisoning. It replenishes water reserves, helps to eliminate toxins from the body, and helps to reduce body temperature. If you mix birch sap, lemon sap and rosehip broth, you will be able to get a diaphoretic effect. You can take a drink for a hangover, it helps to get rid of stomach discomfort.

• External use. They wash the nasopharynx with birch sap, gargle with it. You can treat the mouth with a drink if a person suffers from stomatitis, gingivitis, or periodontal disease. Juice is used to wipe the skin affected by itch mites, psoriasis, eczema. It can be used for neurodermatitis and long-term healing ulcers.

Most of the nutrients in the juice will be within 2 days after collection. Therefore, you need to consume the drink fresh.

Doctors recommend taking birch sap to patients with rheumatism, gout, radiculitis, arthritis. People with pancreatitis drink it. It is useful to take juice for women suffering from varicose veins. You can drink it for cancer patients.

There is evidence that the juice helps to get rid of worms, relieves heartburn well. At the same time, the drink does not contain a large amount of acids, so it does not harm the teeth.

Benefits during pregnancy

Juice is not prohibited for women carrying a child. It allows you to normalize the work of the kidneys, relieves expectant mothers from surges in blood pressure. If a woman is breastfeeding, then the juice helps to increase the amount of breast milk, increases its nutritional properties.

There is no consensus among experts on the consumption of birch sap by pregnant women. You can find the statement that the juice negatively affects the health of the fetus. However, official medicine refutes this myth.

Benefits for the child's body

Children more often than adults suffer from infectious diseases. To cope with them and increase the defenses of the child's body, you can offer the child birch sap. It enriches cells and tissues with vitamins and microelements, allowing the baby to grow and develop properly.

Birch sap is contraindicated for children under one year old. Older children are offered it in small portions and diluted. At knocks, the child should not drink more than 200 ml of the drink.

Cosmetological properties of birch sap

Since birch sap contains acids, they are able to penetrate deep into the dermis. This allows you to keep your skin toned. Betulol and ash disinfect the skin and promote its cell renewal.

The consumption of birch sap allows for an antioxidant effect. To make the skin of the face healthier and rejuvenated, an integrated approach is required. To do this, the juice is taken orally and applied externally.

In America and Britain, birch sap has begun to show particular interest. It is used in these countries as a tonic, replacing the previously popular coconut water with juice.

Nutritionist Eva Kalinnik points out that birch sap is similar in composition to coconut water. It contains a similar balance of electrolytes, potassium and other phytonutrients. However, its main advantage is the presence of saponins in it.

To whiten your skin, you need to take a month-long course.

It is carried out according to the following scheme:

• Three times a day, 30 minutes before meals, you need to consume 200 ml of juice inside.
• In the morning, wipe your face with ice cubes cooked in birch sap.
• In the evening, make a mask from the beads
• You need to wash with birch sap 3 times a day. First, they wash their face with warm water, then with soda, and after 5 minutes with cool water.

After 3 days it will be possible to evaluate the result. The face will be well bleached after 14 days. The effect is fairly stable over time.

To prepare cosmetics for face care, you need to use the following recipes:

• Making ice. The collected molasses are placed in ice molds and frozen. Wipe the face with ready-made ice every morning. This procedure allows you to renew skin cells, increase its tone. Ice copes well with fine wrinkles. The pores narrow under the influence of cold, blackheads and blackheads disappear.
• Preparation of the mask. A tablespoon of honey is added to 50 ml of juice. The composition is mixed and applied to the face for half an hour. After that, they wash themselves with warm water.

Cosmetologists point out that birch sap helps to cope with seborrhea, dandruff, and hair loss.

You can wash your hair with birch sap. Hair becomes plump and softer.

• Hair nourishing mask. You need to mix burdock oil with juice in a 1: 3 ratio. Apply a mask to the hair, put on a cellophane cap and a towel over it. After 20 minutes, wash off the mask with water and wash your head with shampoo.
• Lotion for oily hair. Mix a glass of vodka and birch sap, add a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of honey to them. Withstand this remedy for 10 days in a dark place. After each shampooing, rinse the hair with a prepared solution.

When and how is birch sap collected?

Birch sap begins to move in March, when the first buds appear on the tree. Collect it from early April to mid-May. Birch sap is actively consumed by residents of Russia, Scandinavia and Northern China.

Birch has its own biorhythms, most actively the juice moves in it during the day. Therefore, it is recommended to collect the drink between 10 am and 6 pm.

Not every tree is suitable for collecting sap. You need to pay attention to where it grows.

Do not collect sap from trees that grow near roads or hazardous industries. Birch has the ability to absorb substances not only from the soil, but also from the air.

Only adult birches are suitable for collecting sap, which will not be harmed by the holes. The trunk of the tree should not be more than 20 cm in diameter.

It is not recommended to make holes in young plants, as they do not give much juice. In addition, a young tree may not survive such damage and die.

To collect birch sap, you need to take a drill, a straw and a container with you.

• A small hole is drilled into the tree trunk, about 6 mm. If you don't have a drill at hand, you can drive a nail into the birch tree, loosening it. This will make the hole wider. It should not be too deep, as birch sap flows between bark and wood.
• A tube is inserted into the hole made. It can be corrugated. Also on sale are special straws for collecting birch sap. If nothing is at hand, then you can use grass. The stems and leaves are washed and the bundle is inserted into the hole. The drink will flow down the green.
• A container is placed under the tube to collect the drink. The juice will accumulate for a long time, so the container should be left under the tree for several hours. In order not to attract insects to a sweet drink, the container must be taken with a narrow neck.
• When the required amount of juice is collected, a piece of a branch is inserted into the hole made, or it is covered with clay. This will help the tree recover. After a year, even a memory will be gone from the hole.

Video: How to collect birch sap:

Nuances

• If the trunk of the tree is about 25 cm in diameter, then one hole is enough to collect the sap. When a tree has a girth of 26-35 cm, the trunk can be pierced twice. If its diameter exceeds 35 cm, then 3 holes are made.
• One tree can produce about 5 liters of juice.
• You should not pump out all the juice from the birch, otherwise it will die. It is recommended to collect a liter of juice from 1 barrel.
• The hole is made from the sunny side of the forest. The bark will warm up well, so the juice will flow intensively.
• It is recommended to collect the drink 2-3 times a day. If liquid does not flow from the hole made, then you should not make it deeper. You just need to find another tree.
• It is best to collect the juice after lunch. At this time, it flows especially intensively.

Storage

If you keep the drink warm and in the light, then after 1-2 days it will deteriorate and ferment. You can increase the shelf life of the juice by filtering. This must be done immediately after collection. Heavy impurities will be removed from the juice, which contribute to its spoilage. Pass the juice through cheesecloth or a thin cloth. You need to fold the material in several layers. The juice should be kept in the refrigerator, where it can stand for 2-3 days.

There are several ways to store the collected juice:

• Freezing. The juice is poured into containers and placed in the freezer.
• Conservation. This procedure is associated with the loss of nutrients. However, the shelf life of the drink increases significantly. The juice is poured into sterile jars, heated to 75 ° C and rolled up.
• Preparation of birch concentrate. The juice is heated to 65 ° C, while about 2/3 of the liquid is evaporated. The remaining drink is poured into sterile jars. They must be tightly closed.

If done correctly, then such juice will be stored for a long time. It can be used medicinally and simply drunk to meet the body's natural fluid needs.

Contraindications and harm to birch sap

• Do not drink juice if you are allergic to birch pollen, as well as to the drink itself.
• Canned juice should not be consumed in patients with diabetes.
• If a person has kidney disease, a doctor should be consulted before drinking the juice.

Birch sap recipes

The juice can be drunk neat, or you can prepare delicious drinks from it.

Birch juice with lemon

This drink is a good thirst quencher. It tastes very good, has a slight sourness.

Ingredients: birch sap 3 l, sugar 200 g,? lemon, citric acid 0.5 teaspoon.

Preparation

• The juice is filtered and poured into a saucepan.
• Cut the lemon into slices along with the peel.
• Add sugar and citric acid to the pan.
• Stir the juice until it boils.
• The drink is poured into cans, rolled up with a machine while hot.

Kvass from birch sap

Kvass based on birch sap is very refreshing on hot days.

Ingredients: birch sap 10 l, honey 200 g, lemon 3 pcs, fresh yeast 50 g, raisins 30 pcs.

Preparation:

• Filter the juice and boil for 2 minutes.
• The drink is cooled, lemon juice, honey, raisins and yeast are added to it.
• Stir the resulting composition, cover with gauze and remove to a warm place. It will ferment for 3 days.
• Kvass is bottled, cooled and drunk. You can store the juice in the cellar.

Kvass from birch sap with barley and yeast

Such kvass turns out to be very rich and aromatic.

Ingredients: 3 liters of birch sap, barley grains 3 tablespoons, rye bread 200 g, sugar 2 tablespoons, a pinch of dry yeast.

Preparation:

• The bread is cut into pieces and fried in a pan without adding oil.
• Do the same with grains.
• The juice is filtered and slightly warmed up.
• Crackers, barley, sugar, yeast are added to the juice.
• Leave the kvass under the lid for 2 days warm.
• Store the drink in bottles in the refrigerator.

Birch wine

Ingredients: 25 liters of juice, 5 kg of sugar, 200 g of raisins, 200 g of wine yeast, 10 g of citric acid, 200 g of liquid honey.

During the Soviet Union, the production of birch wine was well established in the country. Nowadays it is rare to find such a wine.

Preparation:

• Sourdough is prepared from raisins. However, if wine yeast is used, no starter is needed.
• Birch sap, citric acid and sugar are mixed in a saucepan. Bring the liquid to a boil. It is necessary to remove foam from the drink. Wine is evaporated to 20 liters.
• The wine is cooled to 25 ° C, stirring all the time. If a film forms, then it must be removed.
• Then honey, yeast are added to the drink and poured into a container that is suitable for fermentation.
• The container with wine is tightly closed with a punctured glove, and then removed to a dark place. The temperature should remain at 10-16 ° C. The wine is kept for about 20 days, after which the sediment is drained. The drink is ready.

Birch sap champagne

Ingredients: birch sap 12 l, sugar 2-3 kg, citric acid 1 teaspoon, liquid honey - 50 g. For starter culture: raisins 100 g, sugar 25 g, a glass of water.

Preparation:

• The first is to prepare the sourdough by mixing raisins, sugar and water. Leave it to ferment in a warm place for 3-4 days.
• Filter the juice, add 2 kg of sugar and citric acid to it, bring to a boil. Keep the drink on low heat until about 15% of the liquid has evaporated.
• The drink is cooled, honey and sourdough are introduced into it.
• The drink is poured into a glass bottle and closed with a water seal. Leave it to ferment for 20-40 days.
• When the wine is fermented, it is filtered.
• Pour sugar into clean plastic bottles (10 g of sugar will be required per liter of drink). Wine is poured into bottles, closed with a lid and removed for another 10 days. Store the drink at room temperature. If the bottles become stiff, then the cap is unscrewed, releasing gases.
• After 10 days, bottles of champagne are removed to the cellar or refrigerator for 2-4 days.
• Such a drink can be stored for 6 months.

Mead on birch sap

Ingredients: birch sap 3 l, liquid honey 0.5 kg, rye bread 100 g.

Preparation:

• Filter the juice, add honey to it and boil over low heat. Withstand the drink for about an hour, all the time removing the foam from it.
• The juice is cooled, bread is added to it. Leave for 12 hours.
• After 12 hours, bubbles should form on the surface of the drink. If they are not there, then yeast is added to it (a teaspoon).
• Cover the pan with gauze and put away for 2 days in a warm place.
• When the drink stops fermenting, it is bottled, closed and put into the cellar. The longer the mead is stored, the stronger it becomes.

The author of the article: Kuzmina Vera Valerievna | Endocrinologist, nutritionist

Education: Diploma of the Russian State Medical University named after NI Pirogov with a degree in General Medicine (2004). Residency at Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, diploma in Endocrinology (2006).