Life hack for berry lovers: how to pick lingonberries and preserve their healing properties

Cowberry berries have many healing properties, help in the treatment of various diseases and increase immunity.

The lingonberry harvesting season begins in late August — early September. You can collect lingonberries until November, if we are talking about wild forest berries. Country bushes are usually cut off no earlier than October.

How to harvest lingonberries

Collecting lingonberries is not an easy task. How to speed up this process and preserve the beneficial properties of berries, told the «Most Useful Program».

How to make hard work easier, folk craftsmen came up with. You can assemble a device with your own hands that allows you to collect lingonberries not by one berry, but by whole handfuls. By the way, such a manual «harvester» is useful when collecting blueberries, blueberries and cranberries.

To repeat the gadget and finally forget about many hours of torment, you will need:

• several pieces of plastic
• strong threads,
• steel wire,
• wooden handle.

We assemble a prototype, as shown in the video. We fix all the parts. Hand harvester is ready! Now you can harvest and enjoy delicious and healthy berries.

The benefits of lingonberries

© RIA Novosti / Ilya Timin

The people called lingonberries the berry of immortality or the miracle berry. Eating it helps to strengthen the immune system and cope with various diseases.

The properties of the miracle berry are due to its chemical composition. 100 grams of lingonberries contain: 8.2 g of carbohydrates, 0.5 g of fat, 0.7 g of protein, as well as 95% of the daily norm of organic acids and 16% of vitamin C.

Lingonberries are rich in useful substances, including manganese, iron, vitamins A, B1, B2, B9, PP, C and E. Healing substances are contained not only in the berries themselves, but also in the leaves of the plant.

Thanks to this, lingonberries are used to treat a wide variety of diseases. In folk medicine, it is used for:

• colds;
• problems with the stomach (gastritis with low acidity, stomach tumors);
• diseases of the cardiovascular system (hypertension, anemia, coronary heart disease);
• joint problems (rheumatism and arthritis);
• diabetes
• neurosis and depression;
• urological problems.

Who should not eat lingonberries

Due to the fact that the berry contains a large amount of acids, it is contraindicated in:

• gastritis with high acidity;
• inflammation of the gallbladder;
• low blood pressure (hypotension).

Also, fresh lingonberries are not recommended for people with urolithiasis, stomach and duodenal ulcers.

A decoction of lingonberries to increase immunity

On cold autumn days, to increase immunity and cheer up, you can make a decoction of lingonberries.

Fragrant dessert: Recipe for homemade cranberries and apples

To prepare it you will need:

• 200 g lingonberries;
• 1.5 st. spoons of sugar;
• 400 ml of water.

www.globallookpress.com / Creative Studio Heinemann

The decoction recipe is simple:

1. rinse the berries, put them in a saucepan and mash with a pestle (you can chop the lingonberries in a blender);
2. put the pan with berries on a slow fire so that the lingonberries give juice;
3. add water and sugar and bring the mass to a boil;
4. remove from heat, strain through a sieve or cheesecloth.

After the broth has cooled, you can drink it. The recipe is designed for 3-4 servings, so it can strengthen the immune system of the whole family.