Birch is a purely Russian tree. Despite this, legends about its medicinal properties and the healing properties of its juice are known throughout the world. Many people feel peace in a birch forest. They go there to remove all negativity and recharge with energy. It is enough to just sit under a tree, or stand near it, leaning your back. It is not for nothing that the birch tree has long been a kind of deity that was worshiped.
The healing properties of natural birch sap are known to everyone. In addition, it is an environmentally friendly and tasty drink.
Birch sap is taken not only to quench thirst. It is also used in cooking. It is in demand both by folk healers and traditional medicine, in which not only the juice is used, but also the leaves and buds of the tree.
Birch sap is considered a common folk remedy. It can be drunk either alone or together with other juices or infusions.
Following the advice of doctors, you need to drink birch sap if you decide to cleanse your body of waste and toxins. It is able to relieve pain from migraines, helps to absorb salts from arthritis and rheumatism. By consuming it regularly, you can improve your metabolism, get rid of constipation and intestinal colic. Its help will be noticeable with chronic gastritis and obesity, as well as with low stomach acidity.
In order to prepare a healing drink, you need to mash 150g of lingonberries and squeeze out the juice, add 1 liter of birch sap and cook in an enamel bowl for 5 minutes over low heat. The resulting mixture is filtered and 1 tbsp of honey is added to it. It is recommended to take warm, one tablespoon half an hour before meals three times a day. Reception time is three days. After a break, it is recommended to repeat the course.
Birch-oat drink is recommended for those who have chronic inflammation of the liver and pancreas. To prepare it, you need to take a glass of oats, rinse it, then add 1.5 liters of birch sap. This drink should be infused in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
After this time, the contents must be poured into a container suitable for boiling and simmer over low heat until half of the broth has evaporated.
The drink is cooled to room temperature and filtered. You need to drink it three times a day, half an hour before meals for three months.
Birch sap is an excellent diuretic. It is used to remove sand and stones that may be in the kidneys and bladder. After consulting with your doctor in advance, you can prepare the following decoction: pour crushed wheatgrass root into a liter of birch sap. Boil over a fire – the volume should reduce by half. You need to drink the resulting decoction every hour, one tablespoon.
Birch sap can and should be consumed for both healthy and sick organisms.
Birch sap, or birch tree, is a very valuable product that has a beneficial effect on the entire human body.
A LITTLE ABOUT WATER AND SOLUTIONS
Let us recall the inextricably linked triad: COMPOSITION, STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES.
With the same composition, there may be a different structure of the substance and, therefore, different properties.
An example would be the isomers of the sugars glucose and fructose, which have the same composition C6H12O6, but different molecular structures and very different properties.
Water does not consist of H2O molecules, but of clusters, mostly composed of 2-5 molecules.
These clusters interconnect to form very complex structures of water. The number of such possible water structures is extremely numerous. An example of this can be the shapes of snowflakes: among the billions of snowflakes studied, no two identical ones have yet been found.
In natural water, in addition to water molecules with light hydrogen (H - protium) H2O, small quantities also contain water molecules with heavy hydrogen (D - deuterium) D2O and superheavy hydrogen (T - tritium) T2O.
In addition, there is no pure water in nature, but there are always aqueous solutions of various substances in different concentrations, the presence of which greatly changes the water structure.
Birch sap has a sharply reduced content of rather harmful heavy D2O and super-heavy T2O water, and also has its own special liquid structure, which is very beneficial for health. Therefore, birch sap is useful not so much for the dissolved substances it contains, but for its special liquid structure.
This structure begins to gradually change immediately after extracting the sap from the birch and after 2 hours it becomes significantly changed.
Therefore, it is fresh birch sap that is especially useful, and not stored or canned.
Drinking fresh birch sap is a pleasure. This is a pleasant, refreshing and body-strengthening drink that tastes little different from plain water. Since ancient times, it has been famous for its healing properties - it is an environmentally friendly, tasty, healing, refreshing soft drink.
Until the sticky leaves bloom (about a month before the leaves appear and flower, during the period of snow melting), birch trees begin to flow sap, called “crying birch.” Within 15-20 days, the birch tree gives us slightly sweet birch sap.
The sap of a tree growing near a busy highway or in an industrial area of the city will do harm instead of benefit. It makes no sense to buy birch sap in stores, because... When canning, almost all beneficial substances are destroyed.
How to extract juice correctly?
You need to cut out a small square of the outer bark and in the cleaned area turn the indentation 3-4 centimeters with a hammer. The juice will flow in a brisk stream. You can attach a tin groove, you can distill it into a bottle using a gauze strip.After collecting the juice, you need to tightly cover the incision with plasticine, wax, laundry soap or clog it with moss. This will protect the tree from the penetration of bacteria and fungi.
In the old days, birch sap was collected in special containers made of birch bark - it was believed that in them it better retained its properties. But with no less success, the juice can be collected in glass jars or plastic bottles.
How to take the sap correctly and not harm the tree.
Firstly, it should be taken from trees with a diameter of 20-30 cm; it is better not to touch young and old birches.
Secondly, you can take no more than 1 liter of juice from one tree in 2-3 days. You can pierce the bark with a knife or chisel (but not very deeply). A groove made of thin aluminum or plastic is inserted into the slot, through which the juice will flow drop by drop into the container. Then, when the sap is collected, do not forget to cover the hole with garden varnish, plug it with a piece of moss or seal it with wax.
There is a more gentle way: just cut off a branch on a twig, and hang a bottle on the stump. Using this technique, you can hang several glass or plastic bottles on one tree at once.
The cut branch should be lowered slightly downwards (the branch can be tied with a rope to the lower branch or to the tree trunk).
During the day, when the sun warms up, the juice runs faster - you need to remember this when checking in time how the container is filled.
The best time to collect juice is between 12 and 18 o'clock, when it flows most strongly.
The number of holes that can be made depends on the diameter of the birch trunk: if the trunk diameter is 20-25 cm - only one, for 25-35 cm - two, for 35-40 cm - three, and if the diameter is more than 40 cm - it is permissible to make four holes .
“Birch tears” should only be collected in ecologically clean forests, because the tree is capable of absorbing harmful substances and exhaust gases.
It is best to choose a birch tree with a diameter of at least 20 cm, with a well-developed crown.
At a distance of 20 cm from the ground, a small hole is carefully made in the tree trunk. It is important to know that, basically, the sap comes in the surface layer between the bark and the wood, so you should not make a deep hole.
A birch bark tray or other semicircular device is attached to the hole made or under it, along which the juice will flow. The groove should be directed into the bottle, jar or bag.
Birch sap should be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 2 days (although some store it for up to 1 month, but the sap loses almost all its beneficial properties).
Like any sap, birch sap is best consumed fresh, stored for no more than 2 hours.
With proper tapping, when the bark and several layers of wood are carefully cut, no great harm is done to the tree. In the scientific literature there is no mention of the death of birch trees due to the extraction - even industrially - of birch sap. By the way, one of the vital indicators of birch is sap production. If it decreased from year to year, one could say that tapping undermines the health of the tree. However, five-year observations of tapping in the Middle Urals showed that sap productivity not only does not decrease, but, on the contrary, tends to increase.
Natural birch sap is known for its healing properties
For medicinal purposes, two types of birch are most often used - silver and spreading. They use buds, leaves, juice, activated carbon, tar obtained by dry distillation of wood, xylitol - a sugar substitute for diabetics, obtained from wood waste - and all this is widely used in medicine.
Useful biological compounds, salts and minerals, dissolving in juice, form an almost universal medicine. It contains 0.5 - 2% sugar and is rich in vitamins. The juice contains enzymes, organic acids, tannins, calcium, potassium, iron salts, plant hormones, glucose and substances with high antimicrobial activity (phytoncides).
Every year a person should consume at least 8-10 liters of birch sap.
Birch sap destroys urinary stones, is effective in treating stomach and liver ulcers, headaches, bronchitis, cough, as well as rheumatism, radiculitis and arthritis, and removes harmful substances from the body. In addition, birch sap has a regenerating effect and stimulates metabolism, and is also an excellent dietary and refreshing drink.
Birch sap helps with vitamin deficiencies, anemia, tuberculosis, uterine cancer, colds and skin diseases. It is also taken as a diuretic and anthelmintic for edema of cardiac origin, scrofula, gout, and for the prevention of dental caries.
Systematic intake of birch sap has a general strengthening and tonic effect. Spring birch sap is taken for vitamin deficiencies, allergic diseases, kidney and bladder stones, scrofula, scurvy, colds, and anemia. And it is especially useful for patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and tonsillitis.
Birch sap is rich in nicotinic, malic and glutamic organic acids. It contains potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron and tannins. Thanks to these components, birch sap has good tonic cosmetic properties.
The scientific literature mentions the antioxidant and antitumor activity of birch sap. It is also recommended to drink it for various diseases of the respiratory system, including tuberculosis; kidney and gallstones, gout, rheumatism, edema, non-healing wounds and ulcers.
From the point of view of herbal medicine, birch sap is one of the best natural remedies for improving metabolism. Despite the fact that birch sap differs little from water, it ferments well and has a positive effect on the functioning of the stomach.
ABOUT BEREZA
Once upon a time, the birch tree in Rus' was called the “tree of four tasks”: “The first task is to illuminate the world, the second task is to console the cry, the third task is to heal the sick, the fourth task is to maintain cleanliness.”Russian people learned to read and write on birch bark, illuminated by a birch torch.
The “cry” from the creaking of cart wheels was consoled with birch tar, and decoctions from birch buds were given to babies “for the cry.”
And today, every year, fragrant and flexible birch brooms and brooms are harvested from the forests. For the birch broom is beyond any competition in the bathhouse, where it is not so much a guardian of cleanliness as a multifaceted medicine.
There is a wonderful remedy for treating various cuts, abrasions and skin lesions - “Berezka”. Fill 3/5 of the bottle with sticky birch buds, pour vodka under the neck, seal tightly and leave in a dark place to infuse for 2-3 weeks. Store in the dark without draining the liquid from the kidneys. The solution is stored well in a cool, dark place for 2-3 years.
Not only folk medicine, but also scientific medicine turns to birch for help. Almost all parts of the tree have long been used for all sorts of ailments: unopened buds, young leaves, growths of chaga mushroom on the trunks, and a strong antiseptic extracted from birch bark - birch tar.
Medical studies have shown that drinking at least one glass a day for 2-3 weeks (it is optimal to drink a glass three times a day half an hour before meals) will help the body cope with spring weakness, vitamin deficiency, absent-mindedness, fatigue and depression.
Birch sap is contraindicated for those who are allergic to birch pollen.
Birch sap increases the body's resistance to colds, infectious and allergic diseases, and has an anthelmintic, diuretic, and antitumor effect. Birch sap is also useful for wiping the skin for eczema, acne, moisturizing and cleansing dry skin.
It is useful to apply the following mask to the skin of the face: mix 1 tbsp. l. sour cream with 2 tbsp. l. birch sap and 1 tsp. honey You need to keep this mask for about 15 minutes, rinse with cool water, after which the skin will acquire a beautiful matte shade.
Birch sap is useful for washing your hair if you have dandruff, to enhance its growth and make it shiny and soft. An infusion of birch leaves has the same property.
If you are over 40 years old, try periodically wiping your face with a tonic:
Mix a glass of birch sap with one bottle (40 ml) of ginseng tincture. Wipe your face with this mixture morning and evening before using day or night cream. But always after cleansing the skin.
The ideal cosmetic product is natural birch sap. But it is only available in the spring, and only if you have a birch grove nearby, and in an ecologically clean area.
For cosmetic purposes, you can buy canned birch sap at the grocery store. It’s even better to use what you get yourself and freeze it in small portion bags. Ginseng tincture is sold in pharmacies. By the way, you can also buy tinctures of Rhodiola rosea, Eleutherococcus or Sophora japonica for this purpose. All of them perfectly improve the condition of the skin and slow down aging.
To preserve birch sap, you can add alcohol to fresh sap until a strength of 16-18 degrees (percent by volume) is obtained. Store in a cool, dark place. To enhance the effect, you can add 40-50 birch buds per half-liter bottle.
Birch sap is a good remedy for impotence, an assistant for menopause: if you drink at least a glass of sap a day, drowsiness, fatigue, irritability and other phenomena associated with menopause will disappear. Healthy people can take fresh birch sap unlimitedly (of course, avoiding an overdose of the total amount of liquid) instead of tea, compote, water for 1-2 months.
You need to store the juice in the refrigerator, because it quickly deteriorates and turns sour. It is useful to mix birch sap with all types of juices, infuse it with St. John's wort, rose hips, mint leaves, thyme, lemon balm, basil, linden blossom, etc. The healing properties of medicinal plants, vegetables, and fruits complement the healing effect of birch sap.
In case of high body temperature, sexually transmitted diseases, drink 1 glass of birch sap before meals 3-4 times a day, following a dairy-vegetable diet.
For vitamin deficiencies, anemia, tuberculosis, in case of atherosclerosis, cardiac edema, scrofula, for the prevention of caries, as a diuretic, anthelmintic, birch sap is drunk 0.5-1 glass 3-4 times a day for 3-4 weeks.
In case of sore throat and other inflammatory diseases of the throat and mouth, gargle with birch sap.
For chronic runny nose, you should drink 1 glass of fresh birch sap every morning in the spring.
Birch sap is good at driving stones and sand out of the kidneys and bladder (it destroys urinary stones mainly of phosphate and carbonate origin, without affecting oxalate and uric acid ones). To do this, you should drink 1 glass on an empty stomach.
For gout, arthritis, rheumatism, as a diuretic and tonic, the juice is taken orally, 1 glass three times a day. The course of treatment is 1-1.5 months.
Methods for placing a container when collecting birch sap
Step-by-step instructions for collecting birch sap
Equipment: hammer, drill, tubes (anything round or hollow will do),
drill for the outer diameter of the tube and containers (bottles).
We choose a larger tree and start drilling.
During the drilling process, the juice already flows through the drill.
There’s no need to drill deep, we’ll feel sorry for the birch tree - that’s enough,
so that the inserted tube can support the weight of the bottle.
The hole is ready, let's clean it of sawdust.
We pick up the phone...
...and hammer it into the hole.
After a couple of seconds, the first drops of birch sap are already pouring.
We take a bottle (preferably a plastic one, so that it is lighter) and put it on with the neck
on a pipe driven into a tree.
We are waiting for our containers to be filled with wonderful birch sap.
In an hour we’ll see what nature has given us.
And immediately drink fresh juice - it is the healthiest!
After collecting the juice and drinking, you MUST tightly plug the hole with the cut out
from a branch with a wooden cork.
BIRCH JUICE PREPARATIONS (OLD RECIPES)
FREEZING BIRCH JUICE is the best way to preserve itPreserving birch sap in jars is not a very wise thing to do.
Birch sap is especially good fresh. When pasteurized or sterilized, it loses many vitamins and other useful substances.
Drinking such canned juice in the summer, when there are a lot of different berries and fruits, is a below average pleasure.
So if you prepare birch sap for a long time, then only by freezing it.
After defrosting, it retains almost all of its properties.
For cosmetic purposes, it should be frozen in small plastic bags.
BEREZOVIK (1st METHOD)
Trim the bark of a large young birch tree, make a transverse hole, insert a splint tightly into it and place a pan or bowl under it. From a good tree you can get from 10 to 40 liters of juice.
Pour the juice into a barrel, add port wine, vodka, add sugar and raisins. Stir the contents of the barrel thoroughly until the sugar dissolves. Seal the barrel with a sleeve as tightly as possible and place it in a cold place, preferably on ice, for 2.5 months.
After this period, pour into bottles, carefully cork, securing the corks to the neck with wire, and place in a cellar or other cool place on its side.
For 5 liters of birch sap - 750 g of port wine, 500 g of vodka, 1.2 kg of granulated sugar, 600 g of raisins.
BEREZOVIK (2nd METHOD)
Pour birch sap, port wine into the barrel, add sugar, crushed lemon pulp with skin, but without seeds. Place the barrel in a cold place (preferably on ice) for 2 months. After this period, pour the juice into bottles, carefully cork it, attaching the corks to the neck with wire, and place it in a cellar or other cool place on its side on the sand. Birch bark prepared in this way will be ready for consumption 3 weeks after the spill.
For 5 liters of birch sap - 1.6 kg of sugar, 2 lemons, 1 liter of port wine.
BEREZOVIK (3rd METHOD)
Pour birch sap into a basin, add sugar, stir until it dissolves and cook until a third of the sap boils. Skim off foam while boiling. Then remove the basin from the heat, strain its contents through a clean cloth directly into the barrel and, when the juice has cooled to a temperature of 40 ° C, pour in a thick solution of yeast, vodka, put in lemons, cut them into circles and remove the seeds. The keg doesn't have to be full.
Leave the barrel in a warm room for fermentation for 10-12 hours, then take it to a cold room or on ice, where it is left for 7 weeks.
After this time, strain the juice again, pour into champagne bottles, carefully cork, attaching the corks to the neck of the bottle with wire, and store in a cool place.
For 5 liters of birch sap - 1.6 kg of sugar, 2 tbsp. spoons of yeast, 1 liter of vodka, 2 lemons.
BIRCH WATER
Release the sap from the birch and pour it immediately into bottles. Place granulated sugar, lemon zest, and raisins in each bottle. Carefully seal the bottles, attaching the corks to the neck of the bottle with wire, and place in a cool place for 2-3 months. The finished drink should foam well. Before use, add sugar to taste.
For 0.5 liters of birch sap - zest from 1/4 lemon, 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar, 4 raisins.
VINEGAR FROM BIRCH JUICE
Pour birch sap into a barrel, add vodka and honey. Place all this in a warm place without clogging the barrel.
The vinegar will be ready in 2 months.
For 2 liters of birch sap - 100 g of vodka, 40 g of honey.
This is an ancient folk recipe that allows you to preserve birch sap in the cold for two to three months (fresh sap does not last long - a few days at most). Proper storage increases the acidity of kvass without impairing its taste.
The juice is fermented in glass bottles of any size. After washing with hot water (preferably boiled), they are filled with fresh juice right next to the sapling trees.
For every half liter, add half a teaspoon of regular or glucose sugar, 2-3 raisins, washed in cold boiled water, and - if you like - a little lemon zest.
The bottle is closed with a clean stopper and secured with wire or bands.
The pressure of carbon dioxide in the bottle is created quite high, and to prevent the glass from bursting, it is not recommended to put more than the specified amount of sugar.
In a few days you will get a pleasant-tasting, sour, highly carbonated drink.
BIRCH KVASS
A bag of burnt rye bread crusts or crackers is lowered onto a rope into an oak barrel with juice. After two days, fermentation will begin. Then oak bark, berries or cherry leaves, and dill stems are poured into the barrel. After two weeks, the kvass is ready.
There is another recipe for kvass. Birch sap is heated to 35°C, yeast is added to it at the rate of 15-20 g per 1 liter. The starter is placed in a cold place for 3-4 days, then poured into containers and preserved.
GOLDEN BIRCH KVASS
It has a beautiful golden color and a wonderful aroma, and if you let it sit for a long time, it begins to ferment and has a pleasant tingling sensation on the tongue.
Add dried apples (dry apples for compote), dried lemon balm sprigs and toasted barley (whole grains) to a container with birch sap (for example, a can).
This kvass is infused for several days in a cold place and stored in the same cold place.
RECIPE OPTION
About 0.5 kg of pure roasted barley is poured into a 20-liter bottle of juice, and the bottle is placed in the cellar.
In a week or a week and a half, excellent kvass is ready, which can be stored in a dark and cool place for up to six months.
From fresh birch sap (sweet and slightly sour in taste) you can prepare a tasty and healthy
BIRCH SYRUP
(it can be added to tea or mixed with water)
After evaporation over fire in an open container (at the end - with stirring), the sugar concentration should be 60-70%. This syrup has a lemon-white color and the thickness of honey.
It has been proven that sweet syrup made from birch sap not only prevents dental caries, but even stops its development.
NOTE. The sap of the Canadian maple, from which maple syrup is boiled by evaporation, is 3-4 times sweeter than birch. Therefore, syrup is usually not prepared from birch sap - the fuel consumption is too high.
A simple modern way of collecting birch sap for future use
To 1 liter of birch sap add 125 g of sugar and 5 g of citric acid.
Then it is filtered, poured into jars, pasteurized and screwed on with lids.
It is useful to mix birch sap with other juices obtained from fresh fruits and vegetables, and also infuse it with mint leaves, lemon balm, thyme, St. John's wort, linden blossom, rose hips, and lingonberry berries.
Birch sap - an elixir for health
Our ancestors knew about the unique properties of birch - it was not for nothing that it was so revered by the ancient Slavs. It was believed that the birch tree takes away adversity and illness, and in return brings happiness.
Birch branches and leaves, as a powerful magical symbol, after sacred rituals served as a talisman for the house, field and garden - the birch tree drove away evil people, witches, evil spirits, and protected from destructive natural phenomena.
Traditional medicine: what does birch treat?
Everything about the birch tree is useful: the sap, the bark, the leaves, the buds, and the inflorescences. Note that birch brooms are so popular among those who like to take a steam bath, because the substances released from the leaves at high temperatures have an excellent effect on the skin: they treat dermatitis, acne, eczema, and also help reduce cellulite and swelling.
Do you want to have beautiful hair? A decoction of birch leaves will help strengthen curls, get rid of dandruff and improve the health of the scalp. The same decoction treats skin diseases, relieves pain from arthritis and rheumatism.
Infusions and decoctions of birch leaves or its buds are an excellent diuretic for diseases of the kidneys and urinary system, and for cholecystitis. Essential oil is made from birch buds.
It is used not only in medicine to treat dermatitis, but also in perfumery - birch bud oil gives the characteristic aroma of expensive leather.
Tinctures from birch catkins are used for heart diseases, gastritis and stomach ulcers. Only men's earrings are suitable for these purposes; it is difficult to confuse them with women's: unlike single women's earrings, they grow in several pieces side by side.
Fresh birch bark helps treat abscesses, and tablets from it - activated carbon - are widely used for diseases of the stomach and intestines.
Even the birch mushroom, chaga, is useful, but it is recommended to collect it in the fall. And spring, we repeat, is an excellent time to collect birch sap.
This very tasty, healing, refreshing drink has a sweetish taste due to the content of healthy sugars: glucose, fructose, sucrose.
Birch sap is a storehouse of vitamins, especially vitamin C, and it also contains organic acids, aromatic, tannins, biologically active substances and compounds, a lot of mineral elements, including potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, manganese, copper and even titanium.
Plant hormones and phytoncides that kill microbes make birch sap a real natural immunostimulant.
Note that the positive properties of the sap are stronger than those of other, also medicinal, parts of birch. After all, it is the sap that contains all the life-giving power of the tree, which it has accumulated over the long winter.
In addition to the entire spectrum of diseases - from dermatitis to arthritis - the juice cleanses the body of toxins, stimulates metabolism, improves mood, and, according to recent data, even helps women relieve the symptoms of menopause, and men fight impotence.
Birch sap: when and how to collect
In March-April, birch trees begin to awaken from winter sleep. Birch sap rises along the trunk to the tree buds.
This tendency of the sap upward, towards the branches, can even be heard if you put your ear to the white bark. The characteristic noise is similar to the surf of a distant sea. It makes sense to collect juice within a short period of time: experts set aside no more than four weeks for this.
The beginning of the collection of birch sap can be determined by... the weather: when daytime and night temperatures reach several degrees above zero (approximately after March 25), the birch wakes up.
The sap begins to decline when the first leaves begin to appear on the trees. Moreover, the time of day for collecting sap is also strictly defined: from ten in the morning to six in the evening, in the evening and at night the tree “sleeps”.
Having decided on the collection time, you need to decide on the tree. In a birch grove or forest, you need to choose a healthy birch tree, without damage or signs of disease, with a trunk of at least 20-25 cm in diameter.
At a height of about 50 cm from the base, use a drill, knife or other sharp object to make a hole with a diameter of up to 1 cm and a depth of about 2 cm, at a slight upward slope. Then you need to insert a tube or groove into the hole through which the juice will flow, and tie a container under the gutter to collect the juice.
From one tree you can collect no more than 1 liter of juice in 2-3 days, but you shouldn’t “drink” all the juice from a tree: it can die from such poaching. Therefore, the bottle is usually removed one day after the start of collection. The hole must be plugged with a wooden plug, and then covered with garden varnish or wax.
A more gentle way to collect the healing drink is as follows: cut a branch from a branch, tilt it down, and hang a container on it to collect the juice. This way the sap collects more slowly, but the tree will lose less strength.
Important:
- do not collect juice in the city and suburbs, it will not be environmentally friendly;More tips:
- you can collect sap in specially designated places - birch forests intended for felling;
- if the birch tree is less than 30 cm in diameter, then only one hole or cut can be made on it to collect sap;
- be sure to treat the hole in the trunk, otherwise the tree may get sick;
- if the sap goes poorly, do not deepen the hole, but rather choose another tree;
- if the sap has an unpleasant odor, this may mean that the tree is infected with a fungus - you should not drink such sap!
- there is an allergy to birch sap;
- juice spoils quickly, so it’s better to drink it fresh.
1. When choosing, it is better to give preference to larger birch.
2. It is better to place the collection container on the north side of the tree so that the sap does not begin to ferment under the sun’s rays.
3. Don’t try to “milk” the birch tree to the last. It is better to collect sap from several birch trees.
4. Do not collect sap from a birch tree near which there is an anthill - otherwise there will be attempts on sweets
Birch sap: recipes
The best thing you can do with birch sap is not do anything with it! Just drink it immediately after collection, while all the beneficial substances are contained in full.
You can store it in the refrigerator for no more than two days. It is recommended to take 1 glass 3 times a day.
Make cocktails: birch sap is good in combination with the juice of blueberries, viburnum, lingonberries, chokeberries, currants, apples and cherries, as well as with various infusions such as chamomile, mint, linden, rose hips, thyme, St. John's wort, lemon balm.
Of course, birch sap in its pure form and mixed with other juices and herbs is the most healthy drink, but if you want to preserve it, try following the recipes below.
Kvass is made from birch sap
To 5 liters of birch sap add the juice of 2 lemons, 25 g of yeast, 20 g of honey or sugar diluted in birch sap. All ingredients are mixed well, poured into bottles, put 1-2 raisins in each bottle, sealed tightly and placed in a cool, dark place.
In a few days the drink will be ready, but it can be stored for up to 4 months, checking periodically, as bottles can burst from pressure.
Wine is made from birch sap
Boil 6 liters of birch sap and 350 g of sugar to 5.5 liters, not forgetting to skim off the foam. Place 1-2 slices of lemon in a container, add 1 liter of white table grape wine, and add hot birch sap.
Cool the mixture to room temperature, add half a teaspoon of dry yeast, stir and leave for 3-4 days. Then the container is sealed and placed in a cool place. In 2 weeks the wine will be ready.
By the way, ready-made birch sap in bottles tastes similar to natural one, but, alas, has no health value. Substances used for preservation neutralize all the beneficial properties of the juice.
Birch leaf recipes
If you don't have the opportunity to collect healthy birch elixir, don't worry. You remember that the leaves of this tree have the same powerful healing power, and they can also be eaten.
Once upon a time, our ancestors used birch leaves as an additive to various dishes. Collect the early, tender leaves and use them to make a stew, a dry seasoning, or simply brew them as an herbal tea.
Chowder with birch leaves
Birch leaves are passed through a meat grinder, 2 tbsp. spoons of the resulting mass are placed in boiling water (3 cups), grated carrots and chopped onions are added, and boiled for 5-7 minutes. Let it brew for 15 minutes and then serve with sour cream.
Seasoning with birch leaves
Birch and nettle leaves are dried. Grind them into powder along with a clove bud (for 1 teaspoon of birch leaves you will need 1 teaspoon of nettle and 1 clove bud).
Store in a tightly closed glass container, in a dark and dry place, add to dishes shortly before cooking.
Healing tea from birch leaves
Two teaspoons of crushed birch leaves are poured into 250 ml of boiling water and left for 4 hours. The infusion is filtered and drunk 0.5 cups 4-5 times a day warm, adding honey.
This year I tried 2 ways to store juice - freezing and making kvass according to Petrovich’s recipe (for which special thanks to him). Therefore, it is fresh birch sap that is especially useful, and not stored or canned. I would like to add burnt oats to kvass. Is it possible to have raisins instead? And about sugar, I understand that what’s in the juice is quite enough? I read a lot about birch sap and it caught fire.
The fermentation process in kvass occurs constantly, so it is not possible to preserve it for commercial sale, and if it does, what is the use of canned fungi? Original kvass is made from young grape shoots, it has a specific original taste, but it is seasonal, and you won’t be able to drink it all summer long.
I should note that in addition to the ease of preparation, oat kvass is simply an invaluable storehouse of vitamins and amino acids thanks to its raw material - oats. Oats are a valuable nutritious grain. Oatmeal kvass wins over other types of kvass in that it is simply simple to prepare, and the only raw material needed is oats. We buy whole oat grains at the market or in a specialty store.
We pour out the fermented kvass; it has a bitter taste and a slightly viscous structure. We wash the oats and fill them with drinking water, add 3 tablespoons of sugar (based on a three-liter jar).
Here, in fact, is the whole recipe. No frying, steaming, or extraction of unusual raw materials. What do I do next with kvass after two days? In principle, you can already drink it, but I like cold and sharp kvass. Do not store finished kvass for more than two to three days, even in the refrigerator.
As soon as I poured the finished kvass into bottles, I immediately pour a new one. This results in a continuous and very simple process of preparing a refreshing and healthy drink. The oats are washed anyway, so the component you don’t like is easily and completely removed in the next batch. You can add a little sugar, 1-2 teaspoons per liter of juice. I’ve never heard of burnt oats.
6. BIRCH JUICE - preparation and canning
I can’t believe that thanks to raisins the juice will be stored for a long time. And it does not spoil thanks to airtight containers and carbon dioxide, which is released during light fermentation. Every year I collect birch sap, and I don’t think twice about storing it for a long time. Having tried the recipe with raisins, I confirm the exclusivity of this life-giving drink, for which I bow to Petrovich! No need. Pour fresh birch sap into a bottle, throw in 5 raisins, close the lid tightly, and put it in a cool place. I was ready to use within 3 weeks.
HEALING DRINKS FROM BIRCH JUICE
BIRCH JUICE PREPARATIONS (OLD RECIPES)
There doesn’t seem to be an exact dosage, so “just by eye” a handful of raisins and sugar. Everything then goes into the basement and is stored for a very long time, it does not become cloudy and you can get drunk. This year I’ve already made 120 cans, sometimes it remains until the new year. And before, I made it with horseradish and barley, but it’s not like it’s kvass that doesn’t last long. We buy five-liter bottles at the beer store (Only the shape should be rectangular, for some reason the round one breaks) and put it in the freezer.
My wife and sister, mother-in-law and father-in-law, without my personal presence, this time decided to update the wallpaper, tint the wooden frames here and there and just relax in their labors and worries. My sister’s wife filled the exact same canister with ordinary water at home. And then everyone laughed in unison.
We welcome your questions and feedback:
I would like to remind lovers of birch sap that the sap from lowland birches and birches standing in melted puddles is the most abundant, but also the most insipid and tasteless. Therefore, in order to feel the taste and SWEETness of real juice, it must be extracted from mature birch trees growing on hills and drier (than lowland) places.
This kvass can sit for almost a year and only gets better. The other day we went to the forest, my brother took 6 liters of kvass. in one and a half rubles, they were there, the kvass flew away. The raisins in the bottles were chewed. Then the kvass ran out, the bottled water ran out. Thank you very much to Petrovich for the kvass recipe, I’ve been preparing 30 five-liter canisters for the second year now, in May June I’m now drinking last year’s, I haven’t opened a new one yet...
Good topic. I can’t wait for spring. I bought a small screwdriver for this purpose and made some caps (to plug the holes.) We need to take care of nature!!! Has anyone tried collecting it through a tube from an IV? Birch sap, or birch tree, is a very valuable product that has a beneficial effect on the entire human body.
With the same composition, there may be a different structure of the substance and, therefore, different properties. Birch sap has a sharply reduced content of rather harmful heavy D2O and super-heavy T2O water, and also has its own special liquid structure, which is very beneficial for health.
This structure begins to gradually change immediately after extracting the sap from the birch and after 2 hours it becomes significantly changed. Until the sticky leaves bloom (approximately a month before the leaves appear and flower, during the snow melting period), birch trees begin to flow sap, called “crying birch.” How to extract juice correctly? You need to cut out a small square of the outer bark and in the cleaned area turn the indentation 3-4 centimeters with a hammer.
But with no less success, the juice can be collected in glass jars or plastic bottles. How to take the sap correctly and not cause harm to the tree. Firstly, it should be taken from trees with a diameter of 20-30 cm; it is better not to touch young and old birches.
A groove made of thin aluminum or plastic is inserted into the slot, through which the juice will flow drop by drop into the container. TIPSThe period of birch sap release depends on weather conditions. For example, if during the March thaw the sap has already begun to flow, and frosts unexpectedly hit, it may stop secreting for some time.
Last season I collected 40 liters per day. Instead of a screwdriver, I used a hand drill and a 14 or 15 gauge drill bit that fits under the plastic dropper. Spring is in the middle zone, tomorrow I’m going to buy birch sap. Systematic intake of birch sap has a general strengthening and tonic effect. My father-in-law prepares 100-150 liters per 40l. tubs with raisins. While birch sap is pouring into our cups, bottles and jars, we walk through the forest and carefully get acquainted with the surrounding nature.
“There is a tree about four things: the first thing is to illuminate the world; Another thing is that a cry consoles; the third thing is that he heals the sick; the fourth thing is to maintain cleanliness.” This is what people say about birch.
The birch forest not only fills us with clean air, but also, by giving away its energy, strengthens the body and spirit. Birch phytoncides perfectly stimulate the respiratory system. The odorous substances of young leaves relieve overstrain of the nervous system. They are very useful for children.
Everything in birch is healing: buds, sap, pollen, leaves, wood from which charcoal and tar are obtained, birch mushroom (chaga).
Following the first thaw, during the period of swelling of the birch buds, intensive movement of sap begins. At this time it needs to be drunk and stored for future use. If you do this wisely, you will not cause any harm to the tree, and the health benefits will be invaluable. You can drill a hole to a depth of several centimeters with a gimlet and insert a groove into it, through which the juice will flow into the dish.
Juice collected in the middle of the sap flow has higher healing properties than that collected at its beginning or end. It should also be borne in mind that the higher the hole from which the juice is taken is located, the more healing it is.
Birch sap cleanses the blood, has a hematopoietic and regenerative effect, improves metabolism in the body, and promotes its rapid release from decay products, in particular in cases of cancer. Birch sap stimulates the acid-forming function of the stomach, so it is useful to drink it for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract accompanied by a decrease in acid formation.
Externally, birch sap is used for skin diseases: acute eczema, neurodermatitis, psoriasis, itchy skin and others.
It is useful to mix birch sap with any fruit and vegetable juices, infuse herbs into it (St. John's wort, mint, fireweed, basil, hyssop, etc.). The healing properties of medicinal plants, vegetables and fruits complement the healing properties of birch sap. For example, a strong dry cough is soothed by birch sap mixed with carrot juice and sugar syrup in a 1:1:1 ratio. Drink slowly, in small sips, 1/3 glass 5-6 times a day (children - 1-2 tablespoons).
Birch-oat drink
Pour one glass of well-washed oats into 1.5 liters of birch sap, leave in the refrigerator for 10–12 hours, put on fire, bring to a boil and cook in a sealed container over low heat until half the sap has boiled away, then strain. Take 100–150 ml 3 times a day 30 minutes before meals for a month. This drink is especially recommended for those who have gastric disease aggravated by chronic hepatitis or pancreatitis.
Birch is considered a native Russian tree. About the medicinal properties of birch and birch sap there are legends. Many people come to the birch forest to gain strength by simply standing under the trees or sitting with their backs against them. Birch sap has also been known for a long time. It is widely used by both cooks and traditional healers. In the old days in Rus', the birch tree was elevated to a kind of deity that was worshiped. The tree has also found its use in traditional medicine. To treat many ailments, not only birch sap is used, but also birch buds and leaves.
Indications for use of birch sap
However, the most common birch sap is a folk remedy. It is included in infusions and other juices. For example, birch sap cleanses the body well of waste and toxins, relieves pain during migraines, promotes the resorption of salts during arthritis, rheumatism, improves metabolism, which is useful for constipation, intestinal colic and spasms, as well as obesity and chronic gastritis.
For these purposes, a combined drink is prepared. Take 150 grams of lingonberry berries, mash with a wooden spoon, squeeze out the juice, then add a liter of birch sap and cook in an enamel bowl over low heat for 5 minutes. Then the mixture is filtered and a tablespoon of honey is added to it. Birch-lingonberry drink is taken warm three times a day, a tablespoon 30 minutes before meals for 3 days. Then you can take a break and repeat for another period of time. For chronic inflammation of the liver and pancreas, you can prepare a birch-oat drink. A glass of washed oats is poured with one and a half liters of birch sap, then left in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
Then pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat until half of the broth has evaporated. Then they let it sit to room temperature and filter. Drink daily 3 times a day half an hour before meals for up to 3 months. By the way, birch sap is an excellent diuretic, which is indicated for removing stones and sand from the kidneys and bladder. A liter of birch sap is added to the crushed wheatgrass roots and boiled over low heat until the volume is halved. Drink a tablespoon of the decoction every hour up to 10 times a day.
Properties of birch sap
For colds, flu, sore throat, bronchitis and pneumonia, it is recommended to gargle with birch sap. You can use drops for sinusitis fresh birch sap 5 drops in each nostril three times a day. For cough attacks, calamus-birch decoction helps. To prepare it, take a tablespoon of calamus rhizome, which is boiled in a container with a well-closed lid for 15 minutes. First, the rhizomes are filled with 3 glasses of birch sap. The decoction is infused for 2 hours, then filtered and taken warm three times. Give half a glass half an hour before meals. It is useful to add a tablespoon of honey to the decoction.
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