Black currant has diuretic and anti-inflammatory properties and is used as a remedy for various ailments, from capillary fragility to allergies.
Blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum) is a plant of the Sassifragaceae family. Known for its anti-inflammatory and antihistamine properties, it is useful against conjunctivitis, allergy and fatigue. Let’s find out better.
Description of the plant
Blackcurrant is a shrub that can reach about one and a half meters in height. The bark is smooth, light to reddish in young stems, darker in adult individuals.
The leaves are large, divided into 3-5 lobes, toothed along the margins, rich in secretory glands on the lower page and fragrant.
The flowers hatch in spring and are inconspicuous, reddish-green in color and collected in hanging racemes. After flowering, fruits develop, small fragrant black berries with a pleasant taste.
Currant habitat
Black currant is native to the mountainous areas of Eurasia, it is spontaneous in the north and center of Europe and northern Asia.
Properties of black currant
Black currant has properties
- Vasoprotective;
- anti-inflammatory;
- tonic;
- diaphoretic;
- diuretic;
- depurative.
The activity of this remedy is given by the phytocomplex present in the leaves, fruits and buds, consisting of flavonoids, anthocyanins, vitamin C, essential oil, mucilages, mineral salts and amino acids.
What is Ribes nigrum used for
Preparations based on black currants are used internally and externally.
Oral use of this remedy is recommended to relieve the symptoms of allergies and flu, to combat joint pain and capillary fragility, and to improve vision.
Externally, black currant is instead useful especially as an anti-inflammatory in case of gingivitis and other inflammations of the mouth.
Benefits of Ribes nigrum
Blackcurrant leaves have diuretic, depurative, vasoprotective and anti-inflammatory action. They are used as a remedy against rheumatism and joint pain but also to improve microcirculation and to eliminate excess uric acid.
Among the benefits of Ribes nigrum we find those related to the intake of fruits.
Rich in vitamin C and anthocyanins, the fruits of black currants are administered under juice or extract as a remedy to increase immune defenses, prevent infectious diseases, relieve colds and fever and fight fatigue.
Even the fruits, like the leaves, have a protective action on the blood vessels and bring benefits in case of venous insufficiency, capillary fragility and hemorrhoids. The intake of black currant juice then have a refreshing, slightly laxative action and beneficial properties for eyesight.
Black currant seeds, on the other hand, have antioxidant activity thanks to the content of gamma linolenic acid and are used to extract an oil useful for lowering cholesterol levels and with antiplatelet activity.
Finally, black currant buds have anti-inflammatory action and are used in the form of gemmoderivato (glyceric macerate) to treat inflammation of joints and muscles, as well as the respiratory, digestive and urinary systems.
Blackcurrant bud derivative is also used for its antiallergic properties and is often onsigliato to combat urticaria, conjunctivitis and rhinitis of allergic allergic nature.
How to use
Black currant can be used in the form of an infusion obtained from the leaves to enjoy the diuretic and purifying action and as an adjuvant in the treatment of circulation disorders and against painful inflammation of joints and muscles.
With the same indications, mother tincture (drops of currant nigrum) and other herbal preparations containing the leaves are used.
Products containing fruit extracts are more suitable to prevent the flu or relieve symptoms.
For the benefits of black currants for allergy, the bud derivative is used instead.
Dosage
Infusion
2 gr of dried leaves for a cup of water.
Several cups are consumed per day.
Mother tincture of black currant
30 drops diluted in a little water 3 times a day.
Gemmoderivato
50 drops of black currant diluted in water, two voles a day
Juice of berries
A tablespoon in a little water in the morning on an empty stomach.
For the dosage of Ribes nigrum in the form of a dry or fluid extract, reference should be made to what is reported by the manufacturer.
Effects
Black currant is considered a safe remedy, well tolerated and free of toxicity; the side effects of Ribes nigrum at therapeutic doses are not known.
Contraindications of Blackcurrant
The administration of preparations based on black currants is contraindicated in case of hypersensitivity to one or more components, before surgery and during the period of pregnancy and lactation.
The use of black currant is also not recommended if you take diuretics and in people suffering from high blood pressure.
Background
Its name would seem to derive from the Arabic ribas, a particular rhubarb of Lebanon that, according to the Moorish conquerors in Spain, would have the same flavor and the same properties.
In the past the characteristic aroma of this plant was not like the current one, the result of selections by man, but described as unpleasant and repellent. It is, therefore, a “domesticated” species, even if it is found in the wild.
As it happens for other plants with dark parts, but edible and sweet taste, it has the meaning of “driving away black moods” and in the past it was used, in fact, to heal pestilences and fevers.
Currants, in fact, represented a non-malicious “dark side”, which can ward off melancholy. The berries are the basis of the famous liqueur French de cassis which is the French name of this fruit.
