Remember the great taste from childhood - Birch juice? Yes, three-liter cans were stuffed with the shelves of shops in the post-Soviet space. All children drank birch sap with pleasure, but few knew that this drink had nothing to do with natural birch sap. And he resembled him only in color. It's all to blame for the hydrochloric acid used in preservation, which turns this drink into absolutely useless.
The birch got its name for its beautiful appearance - a white-trunked slender tree, not to be confused with any other. In Indo-European languages, the words "clear, light" have the root "ber". The word "birch bark" also originated from this root. And the "birch tears" themselves are light and transparent in color. By the way, the juice becomes cloudy white when it begins to ferment, therefore it is recommended to drink it freshly harvested. A real Russian beauty, if it grows in a sunny meadow, or on a hill, at the edge of a forest, will delight you with the sweetest, wholesome juice. It contains such treasures for the body as vitamins, enzymes, iron, potassium and calcium salts, organic acids, glucose, plant hormones, phytoncides and, of course, from 0.5 to 2% sugar.
Gather Birch juice Better from early March to late April, until the leaves appear. It is at this time that its most intense inflow is carried out from the roots along the entire trunk to each branch. Violating all the laws of physics, the law of life awakens the tree after hibernation, and an active circulation of nutrients begins, which are directed to the future foliage.
Birch juice indispensable for people suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, diseases of the upper respiratory tract, rheumatism. Gout, arthritis, sciatica, headaches are also treatable with this living substance. Often, birch sap is taken for general strengthening of the body and blood purification, to increase immunity and as a dietary aid. "Berezovitsa", as the juice of the white-horned tree is also called, relieves people even of diseases such as impotence and improves well-being during menopause. Fresh juice should be taken as a remedy (a glass 3 times a day half an hour before meals).
How I would like the medicines to be tasty and at the same time useful! Why go far. Scientists recently discovered that birch sap, thickened to a syrupy consistency, is an excellent prophylactic against scurvy and tooth decay. It can also be taken by children in the form of sweet candies.
If you want to stock up on birch sap for a long time, pour it into bottles, add 2 teaspoons of sugar to each and put in a dark, cold place.
Would you like to get something stronger? Then prepare birch balsam: put 3 kilograms of sugar, 4 crushed lemons and 2 liters of wine on a bucket of juice. Let the drink ferment in the cellar for two months, then bottle and age for another 3 weeks. Drink, enjoy and be healthy!
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As soon as the rapid melting of snow begins, birches begin to wake up. Life-giving juices flow from the depths of the earth along the roots and trunks to thin branches with swelling buds. To drink this moisture, a person learned to make notches on the trunks, from which the juice is collected in 15-20 days from the moment of active sap flow. The best juice in the first half of the sap flow, when it is clean and transparent. As soon as the buds begin to burst, the juice becomes cloudy and tasteless.
How to collect juice correctly. Choose a strong tree. The birch should not grow near a highway, railroad or industrial plant. At a height of 50-100 cm from the soil, use a thin drill to drill a shallow (3-4 cm) hole. Insert a groove, gauze flagellum or tube into it. It is better to collect it in glass or enameled (no chips or cracks) dishes, which, for reliability, should be tied with tape or soft wire to the barrel. I always wrap the neck with gauze so that it sags strongly inward. Those. already at the stage of collecting the juice, neither litter nor insects get into the dishes.
After collecting the juice, you must tightly cover the incision with plasticine, wax, laundry soap, or clog it with moss. This will prevent bacteria and fungi from entering the tree.
Birch sap is drunk fresh, kvass and, of course, syrup are made from it. Well, and they also make a low-alcohol drink from it - birch. The point of buying or preserving birch sap yourself is very illusory. In the course of such processing, almost all useful substances are destroyed.
Natural birch sap is known for its healing properties. For medicinal purposes, two types of birch are often used - drooping and spreading. They use buds, leaves, juice, activated carbon, tar obtained by dry distillation of wood, xylitol, a sugar substitute for diabetes patients, obtained from wood waste, all of which are widely used in medicine.
Birch sap contains a large amount of useful substances, therefore it has a beneficial effect on the human body, has a regenerating, strengthening, anti-inflammatory and diuretic effect, and stimulates metabolism. Of course, such a life-giving juice can only be collected in an ecologically clean place, away from megacities, railways and highways, and industrial enterprises. It is important to remember that juice can be stored for 2 days only at a temperature of +5 degrees and only in glassware.
For indigenous villagers, birch sap is a familiar drink for children, and from a very early age. Indeed, birch sap is useful for the child's body, because it enhances immunity and contains a large amount of potassium.
But there is a dose for every age. For example, a one-year-old baby can safely be given up to 100 ml of juice a day, and a 10-year-old child can drink up to 2.5 glasses a day. Of course, juice is collected for children in the first half of the sap flow. The juice collected for baby food is stored for no more than 3-4 hours and must be well filtered. It can be used to make cocktails with cranberry juice or rosehip infusion. Hence the conclusion: take the children and leave for the village at least for the weekend to drink the life-giving power of the Russian birch.
Natural birch sap is a unique drink that cannot be classified as either fruit or vegetable juices. It is mined in the spring months and the harvesting period is short.
Fresh birch sap is sweetish, with a characteristic aftertaste and delicate aroma of a spring forest. And how many recipes exist based on it - from all kinds of kvass to alcoholic homemade drinks.
In general, the value of this gift of nature is not only culinary - it is also very effective for medicinal and cosmetic purposes. And if you know how to properly harvest, store and use birch "tears", then you can fully enjoy all their unique properties.
Useful qualities of birch sap
The composition of birch sap contains a huge amount of vitamins, minerals, fruit sugars, organic acids and other useful substances. It is they who explain its many beneficial properties.
Chemical composition, benefits and harms
Outwardly, birch sap resembles ordinary water - a clear, colorless liquid. Very rarely it has a yellowish or even dark brown tint, which is explained by the peculiarities of the soil or the type of tree. Sometimes the liquid is cloudy - it's not scary, you can drink it.
Regular consumption of fresh birch sap makes it possible to help the body survive the spring lack of vitamins, improve immunity, normalize the work of all systems and organs, and cleanse them from slagging. Even children after a year, pregnant and lactating women, this drink is recommended for use. But there are also contraindications to the use of birch sap.
You cannot drink it if:
- there is an allergic reaction to birch pollen;
- diagnosed with a stomach ulcer, duodenal ulcer;
- found stones in the bladder and kidneys;
- there is an individual intolerance.
In all other cases, it is truly magical nectar! And even those who are losing weight should not give it up, because the calorie content of the product is very low - a little more than 20 kcal per 100 g. That is, a glass a day will not hurt even with a strict diet.
Treatment and cosmetology
Let us dwell in a little more detail on the treatment with the help of birch "tears". Of course, this is not a medicine in its pure form, but as an adjuvant, they are indispensable for such diseases:
- arthritis, gout, sciatica and other joint problems;
- vascular and heart disease;
- oncological diseases;
- inflammatory processes of any nature;
- intoxication;
- depression, increased fatigue, chronic fatigue, etc.
For diabetes, juice in moderation is also extremely beneficial. And here a completely natural question may arise about how much birch "nectar" you can and should drink, and most importantly - how and when. There is no universal answer, it all depends on a lot of factors, so the recommendation of doctors will not be superfluous.
Important! The benefits of birch sap will be maximum only if it is a fresh natural product collected in an ecologically clean forest.
The female half of humanity will use this drink for home care of the skin of the face and body, hair. There are, of course, foods richer in vitamins and minerals, but freshly harvested tree sap is real living water, it is so biologically active. A regular hair wrap or a simple face massage with cubes of frozen juice gives incredible results!
When and how birch sap is harvested
Unfortunately, the period for harvesting birch sap is very short. The first sap begins to flow in the spring from the moment the thaws begin and before the buds begin to bloom. It is clear that the farther south the region is, the earlier you can enjoy the "nectar". Much also depends on the specific weather conditions - if the spring is protracted, with a gradual increase in temperature, then the collection period can take several weeks. A sharp warming, on the contrary, shortens this period. 
If you decide to collect juice with your own hands, then remember a few tricks, thanks to which you will get the tastiest and sweetest drink:
- collect from those trees that grow on a hillock or just an area open to the sun - these birches wake up first;
- the higher the hole is made, the richer the taste;
- the optimal collection time is from 11 to 17 hours, since it is then that the sap flow is the strongest;
- take the juice on the south side of the trunk - it flows better and tastes sweeter.
Collection rules
It is clear that the juice collected by oneself will be of the highest quality and freshest. You just need to remember that birch is a living organism, and sap intake is stress for it. That is why try to stick to the rules so as not to harm the tree.
The tools you need are very simple: cocktail straws, a hand or power drill with a suitable drill bit, bottles or cans. 
It is better to extract sap from healthy adult trees, the trunk diameter of which is at least 20 cm.
Having chosen a birch, we drill a hole. You don't need to go too deep - the sap flow takes place in the layers of wood directly under the bark. You will feel when the drill hits a dense layer of wood. We stop drilling, insert a straw and fix the container. When 1-2 liters have run up, the hole must be wiped with earth or caulked with moss. You can drive in a branch of a suitable diameter.
Why don't you need to take more than 2 liters? If you take a lot of liquid from one tree at once, then, of course, it will not die, but it will take a long time to recover. And the taste of such juice will be too watery.
How to keep for a long time
So, we have collected "living water", but how can we store it? It is believed that fresh birch sap can be kept in the refrigerator for about 2 days, retaining almost all of its usefulness. After this time, it can turn sour, ferment, or even become thick like jelly. It is better not to drink such a drink.
To avoid spoilage of such a valuable product, it is better to make the fermentation process controlled, or, more simply, to prepare kvass. In this way, not only will the main healing properties of the juice be preserved, but also a delicious refreshing drink will be prepared, in which additional usefulness will appear due to fermentation. 
There are many recipes for kvass - with lemon, orange, dried fruits, bread, barley, etc. Choose what you like. I like the simplest kvass with raisins.
We pour fresh juice into plastic bottles, throw 5-10 berries, twist tightly and hide for 2.5-3 months in the cellar or just in the refrigerator.
This also quenches thirst and is suitable for making cold refreshing soups, for example, it turns out to be incredibly tasty.
Canning
You can also preserve birch sap. Boiling, sterilizing and adding sugar will extend the shelf life. The easiest way is to bring the juice to almost a boil, pour it into jars, roll up and wrap it overnight.
It is very tasty to add additives such as mint, citrus fruits, etc. An unusual drink is obtained with duchess sweets (3-4 pieces per 3 liter can). I recommend using. 
An interesting way to prepare a syrup concentrate. To make it, the juice must be boiled until its volume decreases 7-8 times. We roll the resulting liquid into jars, and then serve it with pancakes, pancakes.
Such blanks can be made even for the winter - they have a fairly long shelf life. But there will be little benefit from canned juice - all active substances, unfortunately, disappear under the influence of temperature.
Is it possible to freeze?
If possible, it is better to freeze fresh birch sap. So unique substances will not go anywhere, and you can store it for about 3 months.
It is better to freeze in plastic bottles. Just do not pour it all the way and squeeze the container a little before sending it to the freezer. The liquid expands when it freezes, and the plastic can simply burst. After that, it remains to defrost the portion and enjoy a tasty and healthy drink!
Finally, I propose to watch a video on how it is easy and without harm to a birch to collect sap, without even having a drill at hand:
The benefits and harms of birch sap were well known to our ancestors. More precisely, they knew more about its beneficial, medicinal properties. They also knew when and how to collect this medicine, how to properly prepare it in order to preserve the healing substances as much as possible. There are few contraindications for this forest drink, but nevertheless they are, and are established by traditional medicine after a series of observations of patients suffering from urolithiasis and stomach ulcers.
For the 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. And the volume of its industrial procurement has significantly decreased. However, there are keepers of traditions, there are many recipes in folk herbalists and many confirmations 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 he have any contraindications? When to start collecting, what are the ways to harvest the juice yourself?
Harvesting birch sap
Industrial harvesting and canning of birch sap is carried out mostly in Belarus, less in Russia and Ukraine. This drink was especially popular during the Soviet era. The older generation perfectly remembers how, in the era of shortages, three-liter cans of this drink filled empty shelves. It can also be seen on modern counters (in three-liter, one and a half liter cans and tetrapacks), but its production has noticeably decreased.
- When to collect? They are harvested in early spring, when the juices begin to rise from the root up the trunk of the tree. During a thaw, sap flow may begin earlier - in February. The sap is collected until the buds of the birch have blossomed, which also depends on weather and climatic conditions. It is also better to collect the liquid during daylight hours, because at night the trees "sleep" and the movement of the sap stops.
- How to collect birch sap correctly? There are several rules to follow: do not use young trees; after collecting, you should cover the hole or slot with wax, laundry soap or a special garden pitch, which prevents wood from rotting from various lesions. In extreme cases, the hole is tightly closed with moss or a twig is stuck into it, it is saturated with liquid, swells and does not allow it to flow out. This forest food resource (and this is how it is called in the legislation) can be obtained in 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 the plastic tip from the dropper system into it, and lower the other end into the container. Third, young branches are cut off, wrapped in a plastic bag, where the liquid flows. Sometimes the sap is collected from the stumps after the sanitary felling of a section of the forest.
- Some "tricks" of the collection... You need to start collecting in the southern parts of the grove, and as the snow melts and warms, move deeper into the forest. They try to make incisions on the northern side of the trunk - there is more juice here. A slot or hole is made about 50 cm from the ground. Do not make a deep hole. First, it is life-threatening for the tree. Secondly, the sap moves between bark and 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 it is collected in plastic bottles, then after filling it must be immediately poured into glassware. Raw meat can stand in the refrigerator for no more than 3 days. It is advisable to drink it by this time, then it becomes cloudy, bubbles appear in it, and fermentation processes begin. Further, you can already make kvass or wine from it. For long-term storage, fresh juice is canned and frozen in small portions.
One large tree can give up to 7 liters of valuable liquid per day, a small one - 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 - you can make two holes, 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, rather than 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 proportions of glucose and sucrose);
- organic acids;
- proteins;
- carbohydrates;
- essential oil;
- phytohormones;
- phenols;
- derivatives of urea;
- saponins;
- tannins;
- group of B vitamins;
- vitamin C;
- rich composition of trace elements (copper, potassium, sodium, manganese, magnesium, iron, silicon).
Pharmachologic effect:
- diuretic;
- secretory;
- anti-inflammatory;
- tonic;
- fortifying;
- blood-purifying;
- antioxidant.
Increasingly, they talk about the antitumor properties of raw birch, although there is no scientific evidence for this. He can be prescribed for rehabilitation, recovery of the body after difficult procedures in oncology.
What diseases is indicated
- Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Relieves spasms, stomach and intestinal colic, treats diseases of the stomach, liver, gallbladder, acts as a mild pain reliever, anti-inflammatory medicine. Restores microflora, appetite, digestion.
- urinary system... One of the most effective folk remedies for urolithiasis. It is advisable to drink it fresh, 6 glasses a day. The juice helps to break up kidney stones and remove them. The course of treatment is carried out under the strict supervision of a physician, painful conditions are likely.
- Rheumatic diseases... An effective remedy for gout, articular arthritis, atherosclerosis. It is 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 tuberculosis.
- Metabolic disorders... With diabetes mellitus, blended birch sap is useful in complex treatment and with a strict diet. On its basis, a medicinal drink is prepared, it contains 35% of raspberry, currant, blackberry, blueberry, elderberry juice. 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 2-3 glasses of juice a day before meals.
- Avitaminosis. Birch sap contains half of the periodic table. It is prescribed for spring vitamin deficiencies, weakened immunity, after severe illnesses, for the prevention of ARVI, 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 reduce the temperature and acts as a diaphoretic in combination with rosehip decoction and lemon juice. The drink also helps with a hangover, relieving stomach discomfort.
- External 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 it for scabies, psoriasis, neurodermatitis, eczema, ulcers. It helps well with non-healing wounds.
This medicinal drink has few contraindications: individual intolerance and allergic reaction. It is important to remember that with an exacerbation of stomach and duodenal ulcers, as well as in an acute form of urolithiasis, self-treatment with juice can lead to an even greater exacerbation. Therefore, medical supervision and observation is so important. Due to its high glucose content, birch sap can be harmful to the body if it is not properly dosed and diluted.
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. If any side effects appear (primarily from the digestive system - diarrhea), you should cancel the treatment and consult a doctor.
How to use
How much juice can you drink per day?
- A glass 3 times a day is a "universal" dosage.
- Some herbalists recommend drinking the juice diluted, especially if there are exacerbations and diabetes mellitus.
- As a preventive measure, you can drink for a long time, but little by little.
- The treatment course may be shorter, but with a higher dosage, in this case, a break in therapy is required.
Cooking recipes
Recipes for harvesting birch sap are impressive in their variety. You can harvest pure raw, or you can prepare soothing infusions from it with the addition of mint, fortified ones with black currant and rose hips. Also, delicious kvass, wine, low-alcohol drinks, syrup are obtained from raw birch.
- 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 there are no more than two dozen manufacturers of this delicacy in the world. 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, where natural birch sap, sauce, kvass, and chaga are also produced. Here you can buy frozen raw.
- Wine. In the USSR, the production of birch wines was established, but now this is a great rarity. Raw birch yielded high-quality sparkling (carbonated) wine. It can also be prepared at home according to old Russian recipes.
Carbonated drink recipe
- Pour raw birch into a three-liter jar and keep warm for 2 days.
- Put 6 tsp in the jar. Sahara.
- Add some raisins and lemon zest.
- Close the lid and hold for 2 days.
It turns out a pleasant carbonated drink with sourness (in fact, kvass). If the fermentation process is active, you need to open the lid or use a lid with a hole. To reduce fermentation processes, the drink is stored in the refrigerator.
Yeast Birch Kvass Recipe
- Heat raw birch to 35 ° C.
- Add 15 g of yeast (per 1 liter of juice), a little raisins, lemon zest.
- Close with a tight lid.
- Incubate for 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 toasted rye bread in it.
- For flavor, add currant and cherry leaves.
- Cover the jar with gauze and stand for 14 days.
Malt kvass recipe
- Pour 5 liters of raw birch into a large bottle.
- Incubate for 2 days.
- Add 30 g of barley malt.
- Soak for at least 10 days.
Earlier in Russia, kvass was prepared in large barrels. It was one of the most popular drinks at festive feasts. To keep the 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 rowan, rosehip, cherry, blueberry, and apple juice.
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 in an enamel bowl for 5 minutes.
- Pour into a sterilized jar, roll up.
You can use an orange instead of a lemon. A sprig of mint or lemon balm will give the juice a pleasant taste. It used to be that industrial birch sap was diluted with citric acid and water. Painfully a lot of it was produced in the USSR. In fact, you can add a little lemon as a preservative to a recipe drink.
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 attacks of nausea and vomiting in case of 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 beneficial 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 baby's reaction.
- Childhood . The question arises: can children 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 in a diluted form. Later, you can try to introduce raw materials into the diet, also in small doses. Juice is valuable for children with glucose, phytoncides, organic acids, unique compositions of micro- and macroelements, 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?
- As lotion and hair mask... It strengthens the roots well, eliminates dandruff, increased fat content. The 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.
- Ingestion. 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 made from birch sap is used. To do this, it is poured into small molds, frozen, daily wiped on the skin with pieces of ice.
What are the main medicinal properties of birch sap? First of all, it is a mild diuretic and choleretic agent. Also, the drink has 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.
Birch tears- so called birch sap in the old days. In Russia, in the spring, he was the most popular drink. In April, the trees wake up from their winter sleep, and life-giving sap begins to rise from the roots to the branches, giving strength to bloom the leaves. And not only is he capable of giving strength to a birch tree, but also to you and me. The birch is crying tears sweet as nectar. And there are so many benefits in them that having drunk just a couple of glasses in the spring, you can stock up on health until late autumn! Why is this miracle elixir so useful?
About the benefits of birch sap.
Birch sap - a storehouse vitamins(C, group B) and mineral substances (potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron and about ten more!) It contains enzymes, phytoncides, tannins, essential oils and more than 10 useful organic acids! Birch sap has a diuretic, choleretic, tonic and immunostimulating effect, has antiseptic and antitumor properties, improves metabolic processes and removes harmful substances from the body (salts, trans fats, toxins, carcinogens, radionuclides)... The life-giving elixir tones the body tired during the winter, fights against avitaminosis, drives away drowsiness, migraines, and depression. Birch tears are especially useful:- with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract (ulcers, gastritis, cholecystitis, pancreatitis);
- genitourinary system (urolithiasis, cystitis, urethritis);
- respiratory organs (bronchitis, tracheitis, tonsillitis, pulmonary tuberculosis);
- musculoskeletal system (arthritis, arthrosis).
Real birch sap slightly cloudy and slightly sweetish in taste. It is very difficult to keep it fresh - it begins to ferment on the second day. But there are still options, I will talk about them later. Fresh juice is sold for only 3-4 weeks in April and early May. Naturally, it is the most useful one. Sometimes on sale there is a drink based on birch sap with the addition of citric acid and sugar. It is sweeter, more transparent, but also less useful.
How and when to collect birch sap.
In our republic, the period of active sap flow falls on April - early May. Juice can be collected as long as until the buds have blossomed. To do this, a shallow (2-3 cm) a hole at a height of about 1 meter and insert a wooden chip or a special metal groove into it. A can, a balloon or a plastic bag is attached under it. From one birch you can collect from 1 to 7 liters of juice. In order not to harm the tree, it is better will be limited to 1-3 liters and collect only from large mature trees. After collecting the wound carefully covered with garden var. The juice should be collected in ecologically clean areas. And if you buy, then not on the market, but in specialized pharmacies.
You can also harvest the sap from Ash-leaved Maple (American). But this species does not grow in Bashkiria as massively as birch. It is especially popular in its homeland, in America, where the famous maple syrup is prepared from maple sap.
Useful recipes from birch sap.
- Berezovitsa (birch, birch, birch)- the oldest drink known since the time of the Scythians. Birch sap was poured into wooden barrels and left to ferment naturally. After 2-3 days, a sweetish low-alcohol drink was obtained, which retains the beneficial properties of the juice.
- Kvass appeared in Russia only in the X-XI century. To prepare it, you need to add rye crackers or a handful of raisins to birch sap (optional, some sugar)... Vigorous birch kvass will be ready in a couple of days. Okroshka on such kvass - just delicious!
- Syrup can be cooked by simmering birch sap for a long time over low heat until the liquid evaporates by about 2/3. The syrup will contain fewer useful properties, but it can be stored for a long time.
- Lollipops can be made from syrup. Birch sugar - levulose - does not harm baby teeth (Finnish doctors state this with full responsibility). To do this, a small amount of syrup must be continued to evaporate until it acquires a golden color and thickens.
- Birch ice. Birch sap begins to ferment very quickly, but it can be saved by freezing it directly in plastic containers. When frozen, it almost does not lose its healing properties and perfectly quenches thirst in the summer heat. You can also freeze birch sap cubes and wipe your face with them - great
- Nourishing birch sap mask. Mix 2 tablespoons of birch sap and 1 tablespoon of sour cream (you can add 1 teaspoon of honey). Apply to face for about 10 minutes. Rinse off with warm water. The skin will take on a pleasant matte finish. And also, birch sap good to wash your hair- helps well from dandruff.
