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Birch sap, the benefits and harms of a natural drink. Birch sap, benefits and harms, how much you can drink per day

Since childhood, many have been familiar with the pleasant, slightly sweet taste of birch sap, which can be safely called one of the most wonderful gifts of nature. Birch sap has been used by man since time immemorial, people appreciated it for beneficial features. The juice contains a huge amount of vitamins, mineral salts (sodium, calcium, silicon, copper, iron, etc.), acids, enzymes, phytoncides, tannins. And this is not a complete list. useful substances, which are part of birch sap. Due to such a rich composition, this natural product has a complex healing effect on the body.

Birch sap has a low calorie content and stimulates metabolism.

It is noteworthy that birch sap can be extracted precisely in early spring, when our body, weakened after a long and cold winter most in dire need of vitamins. Medical studies have shown that drinking at least one glass of this miraculous juice a day for 2-3 weeks will help to cope with spring beriberi, fatigue and depression after winter. In addition, phytoncides and vitamins, which are part of birch sap, strengthen the immune system and help the body fight viruses and bacteria.

This drink is useful for many diseases. digestive system, especially with gastritis, peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, in which the use of other fresh juices is limited or completely contraindicated. Birch sap stimulates metabolism, improves work gastrointestinal tract, . Thanks to these properties, the juice helps to get rid of excess weight and restore a slim figure, it is used in many diets, since its calorie content is very low (only 24 calories per 100 ml), and nutritional value high enough.

Birch sap also has a beneficial effect on the genitourinary system. It is recommended to drink with urolithiasis and pyelonephritis, as well as inflammatory diseases of the genital organs. Juice is useful for pregnant and lactating women, as it helps to increase the level of hemoglobin in the blood. It is useful to drink birch sap for inflammatory diseases of the respiratory system, diseases of the nervous system, skin and joints.

Birch sap is very useful not only to drink, but also to apply externally. It perfectly tones the skin, helps restore its fat balance, cure acne and get rid of age spots. Masks from a mixture of birch sap and honey (1:1) improve the condition of the skin and give it a healthy look. Birch sap will help strengthen hair, improve their growth and get rid of dandruff, for this you need to rub it into the scalp and rinse your hair with it after washing.

There is only one contraindication to the use of birch sap - an allergic reaction to birch pollen. There is simply no such thing as "the harm of birch sap". The amount of birch sap that can be drunk per day is not limited, if desired, it can also make up the entire volume of liquid consumed per day. Doctors believe that in order to improve the body, it is enough for an adult to drink 3 glasses of juice a day half an hour before meals.

Is it possible to give birch sap to children?

It is not recommended to give birch sap to children under 1 year old. Despite its harmlessness, you should start adding juice to the baby's diet, guided by all the rules for introducing new products. For the first time, you can offer your child to drink no more than 1 teaspoon of juice. In the absence of an allergic reaction, the volume gradually increases, but not more than 100 ml per day. Children are advised to give only fresh, freshly harvested birch sap.

How to collect birch sap?

Birch sap is collected by making a small hole in the tree trunk.

Birch sap is harvested in early spring, when the buds are just beginning to swell on the trees and sap flow begins (around mid-March), before the leaves bloom. You need to choose a strong tree (trunk diameter of at least 20 cm) with a spreading crown. If you notice damage to the bark on the tree or traces of the fact that someone has recently collected juice from this tree, then it is better to choose another one. You should not collect more than 1–1.5 liters of juice from one tree, otherwise it may die.

The most intensive sap flow in trees occurs during daylight hours, so it is better to start collecting juice in the morning at 9-10 o'clock. The number of holes that can be made in the barrel depends on its thickness. If the trunk diameter is 20–25 cm, then more than one incision should not be made, 25–35 cm, then two holes can be made, 35–40 - three. Even on the thickest trunk, you should not make more than 4 holes.

When starting to collect, you need to make a shallow incision on the tree trunk or drill a hole 1–1.5 cm deep with a gimlet and insert a tube or groove into it, the free end of which must be directed into a container for collecting juice.

There is another way to collect birch sap, some consider it less traumatic for a tree. It is necessary to cut off the end of one of the branches, wrap it with a clean rag or bandage, and lower its free end into the prepared container.

After you collect right amount juice, a cut of a branch or an incision on the trunk must be carefully covered with wax, plasticine, laundry soap or hammered with moss. This will help prevent bacteria and fungus from entering the wood, which can lead to rotting of the damaged area and death of the tree.

The collected birch sap can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than two days. To preserve the juice for a long time, it can be frozen, canned or made into a drink. For cosmetic purposes, the juice is frozen in small cubes in ice-making containers.

How to prepare birch sap?

Conservation

Like any other sap, birch sap loses some of its beneficial properties during preservation, however, most of the vitamins are still preserved. For conservation, it is necessary to prepare sugar (at the rate of 2 tablespoons per 1 liter of juice), citric acid and lemons to taste (if desired, they can be replaced with oranges). Lemon (orange) should be cut into thin slices, put in a saucepan with birch sap filtered through several layers of gauze, add sugar and citric acid (at the tip of a knife) and quickly bring to a boil. Next, the juice is poured into sterilized jars, lemon or orange slices are placed there, after which the jars must be hermetically sealed. After cooling, containers with canned birch sap should be stored in a dark, cool place. This method will keep the juice until winter.

birch kvass

In Russian villages traditional drink birch kvass has long been considered. To prepare it, you will need birch sap, sugar at the rate of 50 g per 1 liter of juice and raisins, if desired, you can add a little lemon peel. Freshly picked birch sap must be filtered through several layers of cheesecloth to remove forest debris, add sugar, raisins (5-10 berries per liter of juice) and leave to ferment for three days. Then strain again, pour into clean containers, close tightly and put in a dark cool place. The resulting birch kvass can be stored for 3-4 months. Thanks to this harvesting method, you will get a delicious refreshing drink that will retain all the beneficial properties of birch sap.

The benefits and harms of birch sap were well known to our ancestors. More precisely, they knew more about its beneficial, healing properties. They also knew when and how to collect this medicine, how to prepare it correctly in order to preserve the healing substances as much as possible. This forest drink has few contraindications, but still they are, and they were established by traditional medicine after a series of observations on patients suffering from urolithiasis and stomach ulcers.

For representatives of the current generation, birch sap is a kind of antiquity, a true story, a natural product from the times of the USSR, which has gone into the past along with the realities of life. There is some truth in this, because the value of this drink, the methods of its collection and preparation are gradually forgotten. Yes, and the volume of its industrial procurement has decreased significantly. However, there are keepers of traditions, there are many recipes in folk herbalists and a lot of evidence that this drink is not just a symbol of Russia. It is also a valuable medicine that can be prepared at home.

Features of medicinal raw materials

Birch sap is pleasant, sweetish, with a specific delicate aroma. For what diagnoses is it recommended? Does it have contraindications? When to start collecting, in what ways to harvest juice yourself?

Preparation of birch sap

Industrial collection and conservation of birch sap are carried out mostly in Belarus, less - in Russia and Ukraine. This drink was especially popular during the Soviet era. Older generation remembers very well how, in the era of shortages, three-liter cans of this drink filled the empty counters. It can also be seen on modern counters (in three-liter, one-and-a-half-liter jars and tetra-packs), but its production has noticeably decreased.

When to collect? Harvesting is carried out in early spring, when the juices begin to rise from the root up the tree trunk. With a thaw, sap flow can begin earlier - in February. The juice is collected until the buds on the birch have blossomed, which also depends on the weather and climatic conditions. It is also better to collect liquid during daylight hours, because at night the trees “sleep” and the movement of sap stops.
How to collect birch sap? There are several rules to follow: do not use young trees; after collection, cover the hole or slot with wax, laundry soap or a special garden var, which prevents various lesions and wood decay. In extreme cases, the hole is tightly closed with moss or a twig is stuck into it, it is saturated with liquid, swells and prevents it from flowing out. It is possible to extract this forest food resource (namely, as it is called in the legislation) different ways. The first is to make an incision (notch) on the bark, substitute a groove and fix it, hang a container where the juice will drain. The second is to drill a hole in the barrel to a depth of 5 cm, insert a plastic tip from the dropper system into it, and lower its other end into a container. The third is to cut off young branches, wrap them in a plastic bag, where the liquid flows. Sometimes the juice is collected from stumps after sanitary cutting of a forest area.
Some "tricks" of collecting. You need to start collecting in the southern parts of the grove, and as the snow melts and warms up, move deeper into the forest. They try to make incisions on the north side of the trunk - there is more juice here. A cut or hole is made at a height of about 50 cm from the ground. Don't make a deep hole. First, it is dangerous for the life of the tree. Secondly, the juice moves between the bark and the wood, it is enough just to pass through the bark layer.
How to store birch sap at home? Raw birch is best collected and stored in glass containers. If he is going to plastic bottles, then after filling it must be immediately poured into glassware. Raw can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 3 days. It is desirable to drink it by this time, then it becomes cloudy, bubbles appear in it, and fermentation processes begin. Then you can already make kvass or wine from it. For long-term storage fresh juice canned and frozen in small portions.

One large tree can produce up to 7 liters of valuable liquid per day, a small tree - up to 3 liters. On a tree with a diameter of up to 20 cm, only one hole is allowed, with a diameter of up to 25 cm - two holes can be made, up to 35 cm - three, and over 40 cm - no more than four. Despite the fact that birch roots go deep into the ground and take nutrients from clean soil, it is better to choose birch trees in groves, and not in plantings along roads. Wood also has the ability to absorb harmful substances from the air.

Healing properties and pharmacological action

The chemical composition of birch sap includes:

invert sugar (with equal parts of glucose and sucrose);
organic acids;
proteins;
carbohydrates;
essential oil;
phytohormones;
phenols;
urea derivatives;
saponins;
tannins;
group of vitamins B;
vitamin C;
rich composition of trace elements (copper, potassium, sodium, manganese, magnesium, iron, silicon).

Pharmachologic effect:

diuretic;
secretory;
anti-inflammatory;
tonic;
restorative;
blood-purifying;
antioxidant.

Increasingly, they talk about the antitumor properties of raw birch, although there is no scientific evidence for this. It can be prescribed for rehabilitation, recovery of the body after severe procedures in oncology.

What diseases are indicated

Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. It relieves spasms, gastric and intestinal colic, treats diseases of the stomach, liver, gallbladder, acts as a mild analgesic, anti-inflammatory medicine. Restores microflora, appetite, digestion.
urinary system. One of the effective folk remedies with urolithiasis. It is advisable to drink fresh 6 glasses a day. Juice promotes crushing of stones in kidneys and their removal. The course of treatment is carried out under the strict supervision of a doctor, painful conditions are likely.
Rheumatic diseases. Effective remedy for gout, articular arthritis, atherosclerosis. They are taken internally and externally.
Respiratory system . As a tonic with an expectorant effect, it is prescribed for inflammatory processes in the bronchi and lungs, including the treatment of tuberculosis.
Metabolic disorders. In diabetes, blended birch sap is useful in complex treatment and with a strict diet. On its basis, a medicinal drink is prepared, it contains 35% juice of raspberries, currants, blackberries, blueberries, elderberries. It is also taken with decoctions of wild rose, lingonberry leaves, buckthorn, nettle and other medicinal herbs. We emphasize that phytotherapy for diabetes mellitus gives a positive therapeutic effect, but only under the supervision of a doctor, with a number of laboratory studies. Depending on the type of diabetes, the dosage and course of treatment are prescribed. Since the juice is low in calories and stimulates all metabolic processes in the body, it is drunk for weight loss.
Anemia. With anemia, it is recommended to drink juice 2-3 glasses a day before meals.
Avitaminosis. Birch sap contains half of the periodic table. It is prescribed for spring beriberi, weakened immunity, after serious illnesses, for the prevention of acute respiratory viral infections, influenza.
Intoxication. The drink helps well in case of poisoning (gives energy and reserves of lost fluid), cleanses the body of toxins, restores the water-salt balance, helps to lower the temperature and acts as a diaphoretic in combination with rosehip decoction and lemon juice. The drink also helps with a hangover, relieving discomfort in the stomach.
Outdoor use. The tool can be used to gargle, rinse the nose, drink to disinfect the oral cavity with stomatitis, gingivitis, periodontal disease. They also wipe the skin with scabies, psoriasis, neurodermatitis, eczema, ulcers. Good for non-healing wounds.

This has contraindications healing drink little: individual intolerance and allergic reaction. It is important to remember that with exacerbation of gastric and duodenal ulcers, as well as in the acute form of urolithiasis, self-treatment with juice can lead to an even greater exacerbation. Therefore, medical supervision and supervision is so important. Due to the high content of glucose, birch sap can harm the body if the dosage and dilution are incorrect.

Features of the preparation and use of birch sap

Despite all the harmlessness and undoubted usefulness of this forest drink, it is recommended to consult a doctor before taking it. When any side effects(primarily from the digestive system - diarrhea), you should stop the treatment and consult a doctor.

How to use

How much juice can you drink per day?

A glass 3 times a day is the "universal" dosage.
Some herbalists recommend drinking diluted juice, especially if there are exacerbations and diabetes.
For preventive purposes, you can drink for a long time, but little by little.
The treatment course may be shorter, but with a higher dosage, in which case a break in therapy is required.

cooking recipes

Recipes for harvesting birch sap are impressive in their diversity. You can prepare pure raw, or you can prepare sedative infusions from it with the addition of mint, fortified - with blackcurrant and rose hips. Also from birch raw obtained delicious kvass, wine, low-alcohol drinks, syrup.

Kvass. Birch sap has high fermentation properties. Therefore, kvass from birch sap is prepared without yeast. But there are also recipes for its preparation with yeast.
syrup. It is curious that today in the world there are no more than two dozen manufacturers of this delicacy. Birch syrup is prepared according to the same principle as the famous maple syrup. To get 1 liter of product, you need to evaporate 100 liters of juice! The syrup is similar to honey in consistency and taste, but there is a woody bitterness in it. In Russia, there is a community of lovers and connoisseurs of this product, which also produces natural birch sap, sauce, kvass, and chaga. You can buy frozen cheese here.
Wine. In the USSR, the production of birch wines was established, but now it is a rarity. From raw birch, high-quality sparkling (carbonated) wine was obtained. It can be prepared at home according to old Russian recipes.

carbonated drink recipe

Pour raw birch into three-liter jar and keep warm for 2 days.
Put in a jar 6 tsp. Sahara.
Add some raisins and lemon zest.
Close the lid and hold for 2 days.

It turns out a pleasant carbonated drink with sourness (essentially - kvass). If the fermentation process is active, you need to slightly open the lid or use a lid with a hole. To reduce fermentation processes, the drink is stored in the refrigerator.

Recipe for birch kvass with yeast

Heat raw birch to 35°C.
Add 15 g of yeast (per 1 liter of juice), some raisins, lemon zest.
Close with a tight lid.
Withstand 7 days.

Kvass perfectly quenches thirst, normalizes digestion.

Recipe for birch kvass without yeast

Pour raw birch into a three-liter jar.
Put pieces of dried rye bread in it.
For flavor, put currant and cherry leaves.
Cover the jar with gauze, soak for 14 days.

Recipe for kvass from malt

Pour 5 liters of raw birch into a large bottle.
Keep 2 days.
Put 30 g of barley malt.
Keep at least 10 days.

Earlier in Rus', kvass was prepared in large barrels. It was one of the most popular drinks on festive feasts. To keep kvass for a long time, honey and oak bark were placed in barrels. Herbs were also added - thyme, cumin, linden, chamomile, lemon balm, St. John's wort. Blended low-alcohol drinks were made with the addition of mountain ash, rose hips, cherries, blueberries, and apples.

canned birch sap recipe

Take 3 liters of fresh juice.
Add 100 g sugar and 1 medium lemon, cut into wedges.
Boil over low heat for enamelware 5 minutes.
Pour into a sterilized jar, roll up.

Orange can be used instead of lemon. Pleasant taste give the juice a sprig of mint or lemon balm. Previously, there was an opinion that industrial birch sap is diluted with citric acid and water. Too much of it was produced in the USSR. In fact, a little lemon can be added to a recipe drink as a preservative.

Birch sap for women and children

Pregnancy. There is no information that juice can harm the body during pregnancy. However, a doctor's consultation should be mandatory, especially if a woman has chronic diseases of the stomach and kidneys. This low-calorie drink quenches thirst well, normalizes metabolic processes, blood pressure, reduces nausea and vomiting during toxicosis.
lactation. It is believed that birch sap is useful for breastfeeding, stimulates lactation. There is no scientific evidence for this. However, it can be useful for a nursing mother with its rich composition. It should be taken in reasonable portions. To begin with, it is recommended to drink 100 g of juice and observe the reaction of the baby.
Childhood . The question arises: is it possible for children to drink birch sap? Pediatricians do not recommend giving it to babies under 1 year old in any form. After a year you can offer canned juice, but in small portions, first diluted. Later, you can try to introduce raw into the diet, also in small doses. Juice is valuable for children with glucose, phytoncides, organic acids, unique compositions of micro and macro elements, vitamins. Needless to say, children should be given only a high-quality, proven product, without additives.

Cosmetology

Birch sap is widely used in cosmetology due to its tonic, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory effect. How is it used?

Like lotion and hair mask. It strengthens the roots well, eliminates dandruff, increased fat content. Pure juice is rubbed into the scalp and hair. Also, masks are made from it with the addition of castor oil and honey.
For skin problems. Undiluted juice wipe the skin in the morning and evening with furunculosis, acne, age spots, lichen.
Reception inside. For skin diseases, it is used not only externally, but also internally. Birch sap acts as a blood purifier, helps with furunculosis, acne, acne, eliminates the cause of the disease "from the inside".
cosmetic ice. In addition to lotions and masks, cosmetic ice from birch sap is used. To do this, it is poured into small molds, frozen, rubbed daily with pieces of ice.

What are the main medicinal properties birch sap? First of all, it is a mild diuretic and choleretic agent. Also, the drink has a tonic, blood-purifying, tonic, antiseptic properties. It is used to treat skin diseases, metabolic disorders, anemia, vitamin deficiency, intoxication, and is actively used in cosmetology.

Reliable scientific data on the beneficial properties of birch sap today either do not exist at all, or they are hidden away from human eyes. Self-extraction of juice is treated as a crime, and if you ask a person about what birch sap is, then the first thing he will remember will be a sweet and sour liquid “packed” in a glass jar or tetrapack.

Of course, later, perhaps, someone will remember the trees with black and white bark, but that will be later. And this is somewhat disturbing.

On the other hand, the time is now when natural products A person recognizes nutrition not in the forest, in a clearing or near a river, but in a store, studying the colorful labels of semi-finished products.

Well, what kind of health can we talk about here ...

However, we have strongly deviated from the main topic of the article. After all, our main task is to find out what birch sap is, how it can be useful to us, how to prepare it and whether it is worth storing it for a long time.

Let's get started...

The benefits and harms of birch sap

Birch juice is a woody elixir of life that nourishes the birch throughout its existence.

This definition is far from scientific or at least generally accepted, but we believe that it reflects the essence of birch sap, its main purpose and value. At the same time, despite such a clearly defined biological role of birch sap, it is able to nourish not only the tree, but also the human body. And with no less efficiency.

At first glance, birch sap is very similar to water, but it is not water at all. And the point here is not at all in the sweet taste, which is a kind of " calling card» birch sap. In fact, the two liquids have different chemical compositions.

The maximum that water is capable of is saturation with minerals. Birch sap, in turn, contains minerals, vitamins, enzymes, phytoncides, fructose, tannins, organic acids, essential oils and, most likely, much more. Because even in our advanced age, not everything is visible through a microscope.

Thanks to such a rich composition, birch sap benefits everyone who is able to drink it. And this, not a lot, not a little - almost the entire population of our vast planet. The only exceptions are two categories of people:

those who were not lucky enough to “get their hands on” an allergy to birch catkin pollen
healthy children under the age of six months who have the opportunity to feed on their mother's breast milk (no one will give birch sap to sick children at this age, but hypothetically it can help them too)

For everyone else, birch sap will be a good help in life, as it improves metabolic processes in the body, and with regular use, it is able to quickly remove a huge amount of toxins from the gastrointestinal tract and human blood.

In addition, all sorts of inorganic deposits (salts, trans fats, etc.) are susceptible to birch sap, which are waiting in the wings in the joints, internal organs, connective tissue and under the skin.

Such an effect on the body allows us to say with confidence that birch sap will be useful to everyone who has one or more diseases from the following list:

sciatica, arthritis, rheumatism, gout
stones in the kidneys, urinary and gall bladders (be sure to start with small volumes of juice and constantly monitor the size and position of the stones)
functional disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, kidneys and other internal organs and systems
cardiovascular diseases
sore throat, cough, chronic runny nose, tuberculosis, acute respiratory infections and other diseases associated with the release of mucus and pus through the upper and lower respiratory tract
any oncology
any inflammatory processes in the body, and especially in the organs of the genitourinary system
intoxication of any origin
chronic fatigue, drowsiness and even depression

This is not a complete list of diseases and conditions in which raw fresh birch sap is indicated. However, we do not have a medical encyclopedia here, but just a small article about health. Therefore, on this conversation about the beneficial properties and diseases, we, perhaps, will finish.

We only note that fresh raw birch sap has the greatest healing cleansing power. A little less good frozen raw juice will bring, and you will get very little benefit from all kinds of kvass, tinctures, industrial drinks called "Birch sap" and other products of industrial and home processing of this wonderful elixir.

How to collect birch sap

Acquaintance with the technology of self-collection of birch sap should begin with an answer to the question WHERE it can be collected. Although, of course, purely physically birch sap can be stored anywhere, including the Chernobyl "reserve". Only now only the juice that was collected away from any factories, cities, major roads (including railways) and agricultural fields can bring benefits to the body.

Only in this case will birch sap be pure (without heavy metals, radionuclides, pesticides and other harmful chemical compounds), safe and nutritious.

You can collect birch sap from the moment when the first buds swell on the birch trees, and until the first leaves appear. At the same time, in sunny glades, collection can begin a little earlier than in the depths of the forest. True, the leaves here bloom faster than in the wilderness. Therefore, start in clearings and gradually move to darker places.

To check if the juice has flowed, you can use a thin awl to pierce the bark and see if a drop of juice appears. If it appears, you can start collecting.

Trees should be selected based on the following parameters:

trunk thickness at chest level of an adult - at least 20 cm
developed "lush" crown

To cause minimal damage to a birch, a hole in the trunk should be made at an angle of about 45 degrees (to make it easier for the juice to drain), with a thin drill - no wider than 1 cm, no more than 3 cm deep. Curved pieces of tin, wooden and plastic can be used as a groove tubes, medical systems, etc. The main thing is that these grooves do not “enrich” the tree and the collected juice with harmful chemical elements and compounds.

Each birch that meets the above criteria is able to produce an average of 1 to 7 liters of juice. At the same time, the holes made are tightened over time, and we get less and less juice. We recommend not making the hole deeper, but simply changing the tree. Just be sure to treat the damaged area - seal the hole hermetically with garden pitch, wax or clay.

How to save birch sap (until winter, at home)

Fresh raw birch sap can be stored in a cold place for up to 2 days without compromising quality. After this time, as well as when stored warm, birch sap starts to sour very quickly. And here methods of long-term storage of birch sap come to our aid ...

The ideal way to preserve birch sap until winter is to freeze it. Moreover, the juice must be frozen quickly, then everything useful will remain in it.

If there is no freezer, then you can “roll up” birch sap into sterilized glass jars. To do this, it is heated to 80 ° C, poured into jars and rolled up. tin lids. After that, the sealed jars are kept in 85-degree water for 15 minutes and left to cool at room temperature.

You can also make birch concentrate. To do this, the juice is brought to a temperature of 60 ° C and 75% of the total volume is evaporated. The remaining 25 percent of the concentrate is poured into sterilized jars and hermetically sealed. And before use, mix such a concentrate with water.

What is prepared from birch sap?

Since the "discovery" of birch sap, people have come up with dozens of recipes for making delicious and healthy (though not always) drinks, which include all kinds of kvass, syrups, homemade wines, fruit cocktails, sweet "vodichka" and others.

The simplest drink is obtained by mixing birch sap with fruit or vegetable juices. In any proportions - to taste.

A little harder to prepare birch kvass(one of the options):
Fresh birch sap is poured into glass bottle, a handful of raisins are added there (at the rate of a few pieces per liter) and sugar (2 tsp per liter). If desired, you can also throw a little lemon zest, fruits or berries into the bottle. After that, the bottle should be tightly closed and put in a cool place. In a few days, kvass will be ready, but you can open it either immediately or after 2-3 months. Will not deteriorate.

Another option is birch-bread kvass:
Pour birch sap into any clean container (preferably in oak barrel), lower a cloth bag with rye breadcrumbs there and close the vessel. After a few days, the juice will ferment, and you can add dill stalks, cherry leaves and oak bark to it. Then the future kvass is closed for at least 2 weeks. After that, the vessel can be opened, and kvass can be drunk.

Prepared from birch sap and medicinal drinks. Usually for these purposes, birch sap is mixed with berries and honey.

For example, here is a recipe for making a birch-lingonberry drink:
The first step is to squeeze the juice from 150 grams of lingonberries. Then put the pomace in a saucepan and pour 1 liter of fresh birch sap. Hold this "compote" for 5 minutes in a water bath and cool. Mix with previously squeezed lingonberry juice and add a little honey (or a lot if you like sweets very much). Drink according to your mood. The drink has a pronounced diuretic effect.

As we have already said, there are a great many recipes for such drinks - at least according to a recipe for a berry. And if you remember about lemons, oranges and dried fruits, then during the spring you can provide yourself with a variety of drinks for the whole year. True, before that you will have to stock up on berries and dried fruits well ...

Birch sap is nothing more than a liquid that rises up the trunk of a tree under the influence of root pressure. When branches are broken or from a hole made in a birch trunk, the liquid is collected in a specially substituted container. Externally, birch sap resembles water, but its chemical composition is different.

In the Soviet Union, its industrial collection and its implementation were developed. Such productions were opened in the places of birch growth. This, first of all, was in the north of Ukraine, in Belarus and in Russia, located on the European part.

When and how to collect birch sap

Its collection begins from April, during, until May, at the moment when the first leaves appeared. Experienced juice collectors determine the right place for making an incision. A groove (metal or plastic) is inserted into the resulting hole through which liquid flows.

To collect birch sap, do not use trees standing near highways with high traffic.

Keep in mind! The tree to be used should be about 20-30 cm in diameter. For younger trees, this procedure can be fatal, and older trees will not produce enough juice.

Experienced people advise drilling a small hole with a drill and using the needle of a medical system for intravenous injection to build such a device. The end of the tube from the system is lowered into a container for collecting juice. You can use a regular glass jar.

Not all birch trees can produce the same amount of sap. On average, an ordinary birch can produce about two liters per day. But some large trees give up to 7 liters. The hole is closed with moss, twig or wax after the end of the flow. Significant damage to the tree can serve as the beginning of the disease and even lead to its death.

The collected juice is drunk in fresh, as well as packed in tetrapacks or glass jars. When packaged, it can be transported over a longer distance. Since the juice contains about 2% sugar, it is subject to the fermentation process and therefore cannot be stored in uncorked containers for a long time.

The use of birch sap

Residents of areas where the production of this juice is common, kvass is prepared on its basis. The resulting kvass has a light shade, but its taste is similar to bread kvass.

AT chemical composition birch sap:

vitamins B6 and B12;
tannins;
trace elements.

Birch sap benefits and harms for pregnant women

Women try to follow the right diet, which would have a beneficial effect on the course of pregnancy and future childbirth. Some go to extremes, limiting seemingly harmful foods. But doctors recommend eating the right food, which is also recommended for others. It is completely inappropriate to eat "for two". With this method, you can “feed” the baby and unforeseen complications may occur during childbirth.

Important! The composition of the juice has a beneficial effect on the body of the mother and fetus (saccharides, vitamins, tannins and minerals). Birch sap is recommended for pregnant women on the same restrictions as for the rest. The main limitations are personal intolerance to birch pollen.

Also, if there are urolithiasis, abundant juice intake can cause increased rejection and excretion of large ones. In this case, it should be drunk in limited doses. Pregnant women are not recommended to drink canned birch sap. For the reliability of juice preservation, sugar, citric acid, citrus fruits are added to it. These products may cause an allergic reaction.

If you drink 3-4 glasses of juice a day, a serious condition like toxicosis can be significantly reduced.
If you take the juice three times a day before meals, blood pressure normalizes.
With regular intake of juice, metabolism is normalized, which reduces swelling of pregnant women.
Improving metabolism helps pregnant women who are prone to rapid weight gain to normalize it.
It has been noticed that if you drink birch sap in the second trimester, this contributes to an increase in lactation after childbirth.

How much can you drink per day

Birch sap should be consumed taking into account the state of your health. Undoubtedly, birch sap has a beneficial effect on the state of the body. For a healthy body, to maintain it in a satisfactory condition, it is enough to drink 2-2.5 liters of juice per day every day.

Consumption should be limited to people with large kidney stones. The juice is diuretic and can move stones, which can cause complications. People with diabetes should not drink a lot of birch sap, as the juice contains glucose. The birch sap you drink is the benefit or harm to your body, decide with your doctor.

Birch sap recipes

To keep birch sap longer, it is frozen, canned or kvass and even wine are made from it. When preserving juice at home, sugar, citric acid and other flavoring ingredients are added.

The liquid boiled with the addition of ingredients is poured into glass containers and sterilized for half an hour. After corking, it is suitable for long-term storage.

You can use these recipes based on 3 liters:

Add 3 tbsp to boiling birch sap. sugar and 3 slices of lemon.
3-4 orange slices and 1½ tsp. citric acid pour boiling birch sap.
Place 2-3 mint leaves and 0.5 teaspoon of citric acid in a jar and pour boiling juice over.
Dissolve 2-3 lollipops with your favorite flavor in boiling birch sap and add 0.5 teaspoon of citric acid.

Juice storage

Birch sap poured into jars is immediately subject to hermetic rolling. After that, the banks are covered with a warm blanket until completely cooled. After that, they can be lowered into the cellar or stored at room temperature.

Fresh juice should not be stored for more than one day, as amino acids, enzymes and other substances can disappear under the influence of bacteria. If the birch sap turns cloudy, then fermentation has begun.

Kvass from birch sap

Storage is extended by preparing kvass based on it. Recipes for making birch kvass differ in the ingredients used. The container with kvass is placed in a cool place. After the fermentation process is completed, kvass is ready for consumption. On hot days, such kvass helps to quench your thirst. But the drink prepared in this way loses the medicinal properties of the juice.

There are many recipes for making kvass. Each locality uses its own original recipe.

1 lemon and 100 g of sugar are added to a 10 liter bottle of juice. Leave the mixture to ferment in the heat for 3 days. After the end of the process, ready kvass placed in a cool place.
For 10 liters of birch sap, add 100 grams of sugar and 30 - 35 g rye flour. After fermentation for three days at room temperature, kvass is placed in a cool place with a temperature of 5-10 degrees.
For 10 liters of juice, add a couple of pieces of black bread dried in the oven, 4 young branches of black currant and 100 grams of sugar. After a three-day fermentation process, ready-made kvass can be consumed. Store in a cool place for storage. In the old days, kvass was stored in bottles buried in the ground.

Note! Kvass does not tolerate long-term storage at temperatures higher than 16 degrees. It acquires a too sharp aftertaste, unpleasant for consumption.

Birch sap has such miraculous properties. Drink to your health!

The article describes natural birch sap. What is it useful for, how is juice taken. Is there any harm from the product and how much to drink per day.

Birch sap, benefits for the body

Birch liquid is obtained from a cut in a tree. It flows out of the barrel along the groove. Collect nectar in the spring from April to May.

Birch sap is a dietary and medicinal product containing only 24 kcal per 100 grams of drink. Contains: proteins 0.1 grams, carbohydrates - 5.8 grams.

Note! Freshly harvested juice will keep in the refrigerator for 2 days.

Composition of freshly harvested birch sap :

enzymes;
macro- and microelements: potassium, copper, magnesium, sodium, calcium;
fruit sugars;
essential oil;
vitamins;
phytoncides;
tannins:
betulol.

What are the beneficial properties of birch sap for the body:

Potassium and magnesium are found in the human heart muscle. With a lack of trace elements, arrhythmia develops. There is numbness of the skin and leg cramps. Birch sap eliminates these symptoms in a week.
Phytoncides help fight inflammation of various organs. Birch sap is used for sore throat, furunculosis, acne. Patients with influenza and other infections recover faster with the use of life-giving moisture.

Interesting! Birch sap has tonic properties - due to the presence of magnesium and potassium, it relieves chronic fatigue syndrome. With this disease, which often manifests itself in the spring, a person feels overwhelmed even in the morning after sleep. People want to sleep all the time. A drink without medicine copes with the blues.

The liquid has a diuretic effect . Eliminates swelling of the legs in pregnant women. Vitamins and minerals will replenish the reserves of magnesium and potassium in the body of mother and child. Prevents the development of varicose veins during gestation. Calcium is essential for bones and teeth. Birch drink fills the growing needs of the body during pregnancy.

Juice can be consumed by children with increased fatigue , poor school performance. It does not cause allergies at any age. Sucrose and fructose are fuel for the brain.

Women who want to lose weight at all costs , a low-calorie drink will help to painlessly endure difficult times. Birch sap contains only 22 kcal per 100 grams of product. How many drinks can you drink per day? Doctors recommend drinking 1 to 2 liters. In summer, you can drink more, combining with a squeezed lemon slice.

ethnoscience treats osteochondrosis with birch sap. Inflammatory diseases of the spine are removed by regularly consuming three times a day before meals. The intake of birch liquid is combined with a drink of celery leaves and fruit. Take 2 times a day for ½ cup in the morning and evening. For severe pain, compresses from birch leaves are used.

Birch sap is used in cosmetology . With acne, oily skin make compresses. Effective hair masks for dandruff. To cleanse the skin every morning and evening wipe the face with a cotton pad moistened with liquid.

Birch sap, benefits and contraindications

Despite the beneficial properties, birch sap is not recommended for everyone to use. However, there are very few contraindications. They concern people with chronic diseases.

The drink should not be taken by people suffering from stomach ulcers.
Limited use in kidney stone disease.
It is contraindicated for people with hypersensitivity to birch pollen.

Today, doctors of the best clinics recommend taking birch sap to improve health. In the spring, due to the circadian rhythm, people have reduced immunity. The supply of vitamins and minerals is depleted. Some get depressed. That's when a natural drink comes to the rescue.

Thus, the benefits of birch sap are greater than the harm. How much to drink it per day is also clear - from 1 to 2 liters per day, depending on the weight of the person.