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Strawberries - Ingredients, Applications and Mythology
contents
- ingredients
- Secondary plant substances
- applications
- Specific diseases
- strawberry leaf tea
- strawberry peeling
- Prepare strawberries
- Where do wild strawberries grow??
- Strawberries in the myth
Already in antiquity the healing effect of the strawberry was known. Greek mythology states that when the blood of Adonis and the tears of Aphrodite unite, wild strawberry grows there. It was already considered by the Greeks as a medicinal plant for bile and liver diseases. In the literature found her blood-red color, among other things indentation as erotic color of the lips:
"I'm so wild after your strawberry mouth, I already cried my lungs, after your white body, you woman." Francois Villon, 15th c
Fresh strawberries from regional open-land cultivation are available between May and July. (Image: alicja neumiler / fotolia.com) ingredients
Strawberries not only taste great, but are also important medicinal plants, especially because of their high content of vitamin C, which increases with the degree of ripeness. Fruits such as leaves also contain more vitamin K, B vitamins, biotin and folic acid. Strawberries are low in calories and easy to digest.
Vitamin A builds up the skin, the B vitamins promote metabolism such as nerves, vitamin C is just as necessary for the metabolism and strengthens the immune system.
Secondary plant substances
The secondary plant substances contained in the strawberries expand their health promoting character. These include polyphenols, which are thought to inhibit inflammation and strengthen the cardiovascular system. In addition, they stimulate the immune cells of the body and may even prevent cancer.
Flavonoids, tannins and salicylic acid
In the sheets are:
- flavonoids,
- Tannins and
- salicylic acid.
Tannins promote digestion, counteract inflammation and help with wound healing. Salicylic acid is a remedy for skin problems such as acne, warts or corns, minor skin injuries, rash or skin irritation. Above all, the acid acts as a natural painkiller, helping with the formation of blood and the growth of cells.
Strawberries themselves contain ellagic and ferulic acid, two rare acids that prevent heart attacks and thrombosis.
Fresh and chilled strawberries are good for summertime, especially for people who are struck by the heat because of circulatory problems. They cool the heated body and put little stress on the stomach and intestines because they are easy to digest.
minerals
Strawberries are rich in antioxidants:
- catechin,
- quercetin,
- kampferol,
- Beta-carotene,
- lutein,
- zeaxanthin.
Amongst the minerals stands out particularly iron: From all "berries" (scientifically are strawberries no berries, but collecting nuts) strawberries have the highest content of iron. Other minerals in the fruits are phosphorus, calcium, potassium and magnesium.
In case of fatigue and fatigue, the consumption of strawberries is helpful because of their high content of vitamin C. (Robert Kneschke / fotolia.com) applications
The leaves of strawberries serve as tea for diarrhea. For throat and throat infections, you can gargle this tea if you have problems with your metabolism. Strawberry roots are used in folk medicine for anemia, colds, nervousness and diseases of the urinary tract. The scientifically proven ingredients make such applications seem reasonable.
The fruits themselves as a diet promote the healing of the following symptoms:
- gout,
- arthritis,
- cold,
- Inflammation of the gums and gum decline,
- Scurvy caused by vitamin deficiency,
- bronchitis,
- Spleen diseases,
- menstrual pain,
- Heart failure and
- generally fatigue, fatigue and dullness as a result of a lack of B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamins A and K..
Specific diseases
In various diseases, strawberries can provide healing and symptom-relieving by their diverse ingredients.
asthma
In asthma, the body releases more histamine and this causes the symptoms. Vitamin C slows down the release of histamine and so strawberries can counteract the disease.
diabetes
The trace element boron reduces the amount of insulin the body needs to regulate blood sugar. Therefore, strawberries are especially recommended for the diet in diabetes.
gout
The vitamin C contained in the strawberries lowers the level of uric acid in the body and thus counteracts the gout.
Flu infections
Vitamin C and anthocyanins strengthen the immune system against viruses. In doing so, they prevent the classic cold, which is not caused by cold, but by viruses. Vitamin C is not a means to treat an existing flu infection, but serves for prevention and treatment.
sunburn
If you have burned your skin and do not know what to do in the garden or in the forest, look no further than strawberries. First, the crushed fruits cool the skin, relieving pain and swelling. Secondly, the tanins in rose plants promote healing - not only for strawberries, but also for raspberries like blackberries, apples, pears, peaches, almonds, cherries and plums.
exhaustion
Exhaustion is not a disease of its own, but refers to nonspecific symptoms. These may be due to a lack of vitamin C. If this is the case, strawberries are a good antidote.
strawberry leaf tea
Not only the fruits, but also the leaves have a healing effect. For this, pick them and dry them, either in the sun or in the oven at no more than 30 degrees Celsius. Pour a teaspoon of the dried leaves over with about 200 ml of boiling water, allow to simmer for ten minutes and then drink the tea in small sips.
This tea helps against stomach upset and diarrhea as well as constipation. It relieves inflammation of the mucous membranes and reduces sore throat.
strawberry peeling
To regenerate the skin, a strawberry peeling helps. For this, puree a cup of fresh strawberries with three teaspoons of milk, two tablespoons of wheat bran and two tablespoons of honey. With the mixture, rub the face and neck and massage the skin. After about ten minutes you wash off the scrub.
With a strawberry milk no sugar needs to be added, because the strawberries have enough fructose. (Psdesign1 / fotolia.com) Prepare strawberries
Wash freshly picked strawberries only briefly under running water - long washing dilutes in the literal sense of the taste. Then remove the flower buds. To consume raw, you usually do not need additional sugar. The whole or halved berries are ideal for yogurts or fruit salads.
For milkshakes, pour a handful of strawberries and 250 ml of milk into an electric blender. It also fits a few drops of lemon, lime or orange juice and leaves of mint and / or lemon balm. The leaves of blackberries and raspberries are a perfect match for strawberry leaves. A tea can also be prepared from dried berries.
Forest and cultivated strawberries are great for fruit spreads, jams, ice cream, jellies, puddings, cakes, quark and desserts, and in larger quantities you can also add a delicious juice.
Where do wild strawberries grow??
The wild strawberry loves the semi-shade. Sun only tolerates it if the soil does not dry out, and it does not get too hot. Direct midday sun kills the plant in the long run, morning and evening sun like the strawberry better.
As a forest plant it loves soil with lots of humus and moisture, which is both permeable and contains many nutrients. Then he can be a bit sour but also calcareous.
Strawberries in the myth
Wild strawberries have served people as food since the Stone Age and had early symbolic meaning. So the strawberry was the plant of the Germanic goddess Freya, which stood for fertility, sexuality and marital love. This goddess of mothers allegedly hid the souls of deceased children in strawberries and smuggled them to Walhalla, where only the warriors who had fallen in the battle actually came.
Adonis Blood and Aphrodite's Tears
In Greek mythology, the beau Adonis sparked a jealous slaughter. The goddesses Aphrodite and Persephone coveted the youth equally. Ares, Aphrodite's lover, raged and turned into a boar to kill Adonis. He inflicted mortal wounds on the worshiper, and while Adonis bleed to death, Aphrodite wept. Out of his blood arose the anemones, from the tears the roses - when blood and tears mingled, wild strawberries grew out of the ground.
Nipple or fruit for the paradise?
The Christian folk belief in Northern Europe took over the pagan conceptions and the goddess Freya was reinterpreted as the Virgin Mary, who every year came down from heaven to pick strawberries for the souls of souls in paradise.
Legend has it that strawberries grew at the spot where Aphrodite's tears and the blood of Adonis met. (Archivist / fotolia.com) For these associations of strawberry to motherhood and fertility, there are different interpretations. One is that the wild strawberry in shape, color and size is reminiscent of the clitoris and thus has been assigned to femininity. Another is that the iron-rich fruits help against iron deficiency in heavy menstrual bleeding and the old folk medicine used them as a relieving remedy for menstrual problems.
Terms like "plum" or "cherry" for the clitoris show that these mental connections exist between fruits of rose plants and the female sex organ. However, the connection to motherhood could also be due to associations with the woman's nipple, as German people's names of the strawberry suggest, such as "Bresling".
Lure and innocence
Under Christian auspices, the strawberry was logically a symbol of seduction to sin. For example, Hieronymus Bosch painted a strawberry that people crave and mutate into monsters and animals because they can not resist the temptation. For poets, strawberry was a metaphor for erotic love, Christian morality a symbol of "lewd thoughts". The flowers, on the other hand, were seen by Christians as a symbol of innocence and humility.
For the Christians, the three-leaved plants also showed the Trinity, the fruit stood for the blood drops of Jesus, the five-petals reminded of the miracles of the "Son of God". Hildegard von Bingen considered strawberries to be unhealthy, as the fruits caused mucus in humans.
The berry of the menstruation
In modern times, scholars advocated the careful use of the fruit, as in an encyclopedia of 1785: "As (wine) can not dissolve its slime-deficient flesh-flesh, it delays its digestion in the stomach, in which they more easily acidify and destroy." A few decades later Madame Tallien, a courtesan of Napoleon Bonaparte, used the juice of 11 kilos of strawberries daily to soften her skin.
Strawberry leaves should cure shortness of breath, liver, kidneys and bladder. They were crushed to heal wounds, served as a "toothpaste", ie for the care of teeth and gums. The root should act against jaundice. In addition, the strawberry was called "monthly flower", as their consumption should promote the menstruation. (Dr. Utz von Anhalt)