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Hawthorn is used to help protect against heart disease and help control high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Both animal and human studies suggest hawthorn increases coronary artery blood flow, improves circulation, and lowers blood pressure. It has also been used on the skin to treat boils and skin sores.
You can add hawthorn to your diet in many ways:
- Raw berries. Raw hawthorn berries have a tart, slightly sweet taste and make a great on-the-go snack. But try not to eat the seeds. Like apple seeds, they contain the toxin cyanide.
- Tea. You can buy premade hawthorn tea or make your own using the plant’s dried berries, flowers, and leaves.
- Jams and desserts. In the Southeastern United States, people commonly make hawthorn berries into jam, pie filling, and syrup.
- Wine and vinegar. Hawthorn berries can be fermented into a tasty alcoholic beverage (for adults) or a flavorful vinegar that you can use to make salad dressing.
- Supplements. You can take hawthorn berry supplements in a convenient powder, pill, or liquid form.
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