Barberry tea benefits are quite numerous and have been used for thousands of years. This herbal remedy can help diminish fever, manage lung infection, and much more.
Barberry
Barberry is a shrub with yellow flowers, serrated leaves and small red fruits. It is decorative as well as useful in the medicinal field. In fact, barberry tea benefits have been known in traditional Asian medicines for more than 2500 years. To prepare a cup of tea, boil pulverized barberry bark into 1 cup of water for about 5 minutes, let it cool down and strain the mixture. Limit your barberry tea intake to 1 cup before lunch and dinner – do not exceed two cups per day.
Proprieties of Barberry
Barberry consists of several active substances. The bark contains alkaloids (berbamine, berberine, oxyacantha) and tannins. These substances bring about the medical effects: vasodilator, haemostatic, diuretic, hypertensive, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antiparasitic. Berberine, one of the potent agents, helps manage different illnesses such as stimulating digestion, reducing gastrointestinal pains and toughening up the immune system.
Hemorrhoids
Barberry’s bark has mild antiseptic properties, and when applied externally it can be used to clean up the anal area that is affected with hemorrhoids. It does not heal the condition, but protects and sterilizes the area, where microorganisms can enter, against further infection that might worsen the already inflamed veins. When taken internally, it makes for an effective laxative, allowing the digestive system to generate soft stools, which can alleviate pain for those suffering from Hemorrhoids.
Digestive Benefits
As mentioned above, barberry tea can help soften the stool and relieve the pain for people with hemorrhoids. Aside from that, it is also effective at remedying intestinal infections like bacterial dysentery as it prevents microbes from hanging on to human cells. Barberry is known to treat intestinal parasitic infections and bacterial diarrhea. It is also used as a medication for yeast infection (candidiasis) and may thwart symptoms of indigestion like nausea and heartburn.
Antimicrobial Properties
Aside from helping with digestive problems, the berberine substance found in the barberry plant can help other microbial infections such as abrasions, scrapes and cuts. It is also helpful in infections from 1st and 2nd degree burns and those affecting the nails, eyes, bladder, Urinary Tract Infection, Chronic Sinusitis, and throat. It kills Pseudomonas, Shigella, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Salmonella and Vibrio bacteria. The tea can be ingested or used to wash infected areas.