Evergreen spruce is considered to be a “green first-aid kit”. The richest vitamin (D, K, P, PP, B1, B2, B3, B6, E, C) and mineral (copper, manganese, chromium, iron) composition, as well as the presence of essential oils, succinic acid and tannins in needles, cones and young shoots, makes this plant very valuable for the treatment and prevention of many ailments. Any kind of spruce has healing properties for the body.

Useful properties of spruce

The benefits of spruce preparations for the human body are due to their rich vitamin and mineral composition.

The bactericidal property of spruce is the most familiar and practiced by humans.. The plant contains terpenes, which are called essential oils. Terpenes are volatile action compounds. Essential oils are volatile. The higher the temperature, the more phytoncides the spruce produces. Substances kill harmful bacteria, putrefactive fungi and their spores and part of unicellular microorganisms. It is useful to breathe with coniferous aroma, it strengthens the human immunity. Despite the fact that essential oils destroy pathogenic microbes, they thereby contribute to the development of beneficial microflora in the body.

Spruce also benefits plants near which it grows, relieving them of diseases and strengthening protective functions.

In agriculture, coniferous preparations are harvested for the winter and used as a vitamin supplement for birds and livestock.

For humans, preparations based on spruce needles have antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, choleretic, diuretic, antibacterial properties. Also, the plant can help establish metabolism and brain activity, relieve scurvy and anemia. Coniferous baths and inhalation of essential oils of spruce contribute to soothing and relieve fatigue.

Did you know? Vitamins are worse in dried cones and needles than in cooked tincture.

Use of spruce

• Needles can have a versatile effect on the human body:
• stimulation of the immune system;
• tonic effect on the body as a whole;
• recovery of the nervous system after stress;
• sleep improvement;
• wound healing effect (burns, cuts, ulcerations);
• normalization of the cardiovascular system;
• stimulation of the growth of beneficial microflora in the intestine;
• bactericidal effect on the respiratory system.

Most often, needles, cones, shoots are used for treatment. Quite rarely, drugs are made on the basis of bark, resin, wood.

Spruce is applicable for the treatment of many ailments:

• respiratory diseases (pneumonia, tuberculosis);
• diseases of the kidneys, urinary system;
• phlebeurysm;
• gastrointestinal diseases (gastritis, erosion, diarrhea, colitis);
• fungal lesions of the skin and nail plates;
• infections in the oral cavity;
• runny nose
• pharyngitis;
• laryngitis;
• sinusitis.

In traditional medicine, spruce is mainly used to treat atherosclerotic disorders, fungi, urolithiasis, as well as anemia and potassium deficiency.

Did you know? Modern researchers have shown that in a pine planting there are several times fewer bacteria and fungal spores than where deciduous trees grow.

In folk medicine

Especially common is the use of spruce components in traditional medicine.

• From ancient times healers praise the healing qualities of needles:
• when treating bronchial asthma, tracheitis, as well as inflammatory processes in the kidneys and bladder, young "legs" of light green color were used;
• with rheumatism and inflamed joints, coniferous baths are used;
• spruce potion, in the form of jam from shoots, was treated in folk medicine for cough, microinfarction, myocarditis;
• decoction of spruce needles in milk healers treat dropsy patients;
• with acute respiratory infections, flu, inflammation in the oral cavity, it is recommended to chew spruce needles;
• with scurvy, anemia and a general breakdown, a vitamin drink is prepared, for which they pound needles in a mortar, dilute it with water and lemon juice;
• tuberculosis is treated with ground shoots infused for 2 weeks with honey;
• Spruce juice is considered to be a medicine for almost all ailments of the respiratory tract and the genitourinary system, as well as a general restorative. It is prepared from young cones and shoots collected in May and sprinkled with sugar in a jar. The mixture stands in the sun for ten days. On the eleventh day, the juice is poured into dark bottles and stored at room temperature.

Tincture

You can prepare tinctures from different parts of the plant.

Needles tincture

Ingredients:

• needles or young shoots with young buds ate: 250 g;
• vodka: 0.5 l.

Step-by-step cooking instructions:

1. Needles or shoots with buds should be washed and dried with a towel.
2. Chopped washed raw materials with scissors or a knife.
3. Fold chopped branches and buds into a container, pour vodka and tightly clog.
4. Insist all 14 days at room temperature in a dark place.
5. After 14 days, strain the tincture.
6. Store in the refrigerator door or in the cellar (in cool and dark) for no longer than 1 year.

It helps with tracheitis, bronchitis, acute respiratory infections, flu, insomnia, loss of strength, vitamin deficiency for 1 tbsp. l 3 times a day, regardless of food intake.

Spruce cones tincture

Ingredients:

• young cones (harvest late June - July): 100 g;
• vodka: 1 l;
• honey: 2 tbsp. l .;
• propolis: 5–7 g.

Step-by-step cooking instructions:

1. Wash the cones, dry with a towel and grind into small pieces of arbitrary shape.
2. Place chopped cones, honey, propolis in a container and pour vodka over everything.
3. Mix all ingredients until honey is dissolved and close tightly.
4. Insist 14 days in the dark at room temperature.
5. After two weeks, drain the tincture, pour into a bottle and cork.
6. Store in a cool dark place (refrigerator or cellar).
7. Shelf life 12 months.

Tincture is used for colds, coughs, tracheitis, anemia, muscle atony, scurvy, nervous disorders, 1 tbsp. 3 times a day after meals

Wormwood-coniferous tincture

Ingredients:

• dry chopped wormwood leaves: 3 tbsp. l .;
• vodka: 500 g;
• needles: 1 tbsp. l .;
• boiling water: 200 g.

Important! All tinctures may be mixed with warm tea and milk, as in its pure form, strong alcohol is not shown to everyone.

Step-by-step cooking instructions:

1. Wormwood mix with vodka and insist for 10 days.
2. After 10 days, strain the wormwood tincture.
3. Pine needles with boiling water and insist for 1 hour in a thermos.
4. Drain the cooled steamed needles.
5. In wormwood vodka add 6 tbsp. coniferous broth, mix and close tightly.
6. Put wormwood-coniferous vodka in a dark place for 1 day.

This tincture is a very strong expectorant, used for dry cough. Take 1-2 tbsp. 2 times a day after meals (in the evening no earlier than 2 hours after meals)

Decoction

Ingredients:

• spruce needles: 2 tbsp. l .;
• boiling water: 200 g.

Step-by-step cooking instructions:

1. Chop the spruce needles with scissors, fold them into a saucepan and pour boiling water.
2. Boil needles for 20 minutes. over low heat.
3. Insist in a thermos for 3 hours.
4. Strain and drain into a clean bottle.
5. Store in the refrigerator for no more than 3 days.

This broth cleanses the blood, helps with vitamin deficiency, inflammation of the urinary tract. Drink 1/4 cup 2 times a day with honey or sugar

Syrup

Check out three popular syrup recipes.

Shoot syrup

Ingredients:

• young shoots ate: 1 kg;
• water: 3 l;
• sugar: 1.5 kg.

Step-by-step cooking instructions:

1. Put the shoots in a pan, pour clean fresh water, put on fire and boil for 15 minutes.
2. Insist the broth for 2 hours.
3. Trace the shoots and let the broth stand for half an hour.
4. Strain the cooled liquid through cheesecloth.
5. Pour all the sugar into the resulting product.
6. Put the contents of the pan over low heat and boil for 40 minutes.
7. It will turn out quite a thick syrup.
8. It should be stored in hermetically sealed containers in a dark, cool place for no more than a year.

Apply with cough and inflammatory processes in the respiratory tract for adults and children 1-2 tbsp. 3 times a day

Syrup from the "legs" ate without cooking

Ingredients:

• young shoots: 600 g;
• sugar: 1.5 kg.

Step-by-step cooking instructions:

1. Rinse young needles and dry with clean gauze.
2. Put the shoots and sugar in layers in a three-liter jar for two-thirds.
3. Pour sugar over the top layer. All layers are very compacted.
4. Put the contents of the jar on the windowsill so that it is exposed to sunlight for a week.
5. After a week, drain the resulting syrup, filtering it through cheesecloth.
6. Pour the resulting drug into a bottle and close tightly.
7. Keep in the refrigerator for no more than a month.

Use as a general strengthening agent to improve brain activity, also for coughing, acute respiratory infections, for insomnia, for depressive states, for varicose veins

Fir cone syrup

Ingredients:

• young cones: 1 kg;
• water: 3 l;
• sugar 1.5 kg.

Step-by-step cooking instructions:

1. Rinse the cones, add water and cook for half an hour over low heat.
2. Discard the resulting broth and stand for half an hour.
3. After half an hour, strain the liquid through cheesecloth.
4. Add sugar to the pan and boil the syrup for 50 minutes. over medium heat.
5. Allow to cool and drain into a sterile bottle.
6. Seal the syrup tightly and store in a cool dark place for a year.

The syrup helps with coughing, anemia, with diarrhea and bloating, with insomnia, and promotes hematopoiesis. Take in 20 minutes. before meals 3 times a day for 1 day for adults and 1 hour for children

Ointment

At home, you can prepare an ointment based on spruce needles. It has a bactericidal, wound healing properties. It is used in traditional medicine from burns, scratches, cracking soles, to eliminate irritation, redness, dry skin, with hemorrhoids.

Ingredients:

• butter 82%: 250 g;
• spruce needles: 50 g.

Step-by-step cooking instructions:

1. The needles are slightly drained in the mortar, so that they give juice more easily.
2. In a clay pot lay layers of oil, needles and oil again.
3. Cover and cover with dough (flour + water) the cracks.
4. Put the pot in the oven, heated to 90 ° C.
5. Reduce the temperature in the oven to 70 ° C.
6. Strain the contents of the pot for 8 hours.
7. After 8 hours, remove and open the pot. If the needles have become khaki and become soft - the ointment is ready.
8. Drain the hot oil through a sieve or cheesecloth into a clean container.
9. Allow to cool.
10. Remove foam.
11. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months, and the ointment is stored in the freezer for a year.

Another warm ointment can be poured into small molds or filled with it an empty case from lipstick. Apply directly to affected areas of the skin.

In cosmetology

Cosmetic preparations containing the ingredients of spruce needles, able to enrich the skin with vitamins and establish a water-fat balance. Ointments with spruce extract may be fat and water soluble. They contain tannins, essential oils, carotenoids, flavonoids, serines, polyprenol, organic acids, many vitamins and minerals. Such funds are used by cosmetologists.

Coniferous extracts are often used to make masks, gels, shampoos, soaps.. All cosmetics based on needles have a pleasant specific aroma and bactericidal effect. Such drugs give a preventive effect from fungal diseases, and also contribute to wound healing.

The presence of coniferous components in masks, lotions and shampoos strengthens the hair and eliminates dandruff and loss

All remedies with spruce extracts help improve blood circulation, metabolism, enrich the skin with vitamins and minerals, eliminate inflammation and restore the affected areas.

Needles ate like fertilizer in the garden

The use of spruce needles can also help in the fight against harmful insects and plant diseases. It will also help increase soil fertility and achieve a large crop.

For spraying from insects and diseases, as well as fertilizer applied to planting rows between apples, currants, strawberries, tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, radishes, radishes, rutabaga, use coniferous infusion. A preparation is prepared from 2 kg of spruce needles per 10 liters of water, everything needs to be insisted in a dark place for 7 days. For spraying and watering the aisles, the infusion is diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 5. After this treatment, the plants do not get sick and give a much more abundant crop than before.

Important! In order that the coniferous components do not acidify the soil, ash and a soap solution are added to them. Take 300 g of ash and 200 g of soap solution per 10 l of coniferous infusion.

You can also mulch trunks of trees and shrubs with spruce needles, which will help get rid of fungi and insects while maintaining moisture on hot days.To feed tomatoes and potatoes a mixture is prepared: 2 kg of needles, 1 kg of ash, 3 l of water. Boil everything. Strain the broth and dilute with water 1: 5. Plants are treated with this solution twice with an interval of 7 days.

You can also improve the condition of potatoes by adding needles, sand, humus and ash in equal parts to the soil. Spruce needles can be poured into the compost pit along with other components. After ripening, spruce needles are suitable for feeding any kind of plant.

Contraindications

Inhalation of the respiratory tract with coniferous essential oils is very beneficial for humans.. However, there are situations when such a fragrance, as well as the use of drugs based on spruce components, can cause serious health problems.

• Spruce components, and especially their alcohol infusions and highly concentrated extracts, are not recommended for use:
• during pregnancy and lactation (alcohol-containing drugs harm the fetus, the presence of a large amount of vitamin C and tannins can provoke a miscarriage, also mother's milk can become bitter and get the smell of essential oils);
• children under 12 years of age (a very strong effect on the body of the active substances contained in the needles can harm);
• with liver and kidney disease (difficult to remove from the body);
• with stroke and heart attack (the presence of a large number of biologically active substances contributes to an excessive increase in blood pressure);
• with individual allergic reactions (danger of anaphylactic shock).

Familiar to everyone since childhood, spruce is not only a beautiful tree, but also a medicinal plant that can cure many diseases and significantly improve a person’s mood. Knowing its healing properties and simple folk recipes, you can greatly improve the quality of life of your and your loved ones.