Caloric content and chemical composition of lemon balm. Useful properties, harm and contraindications to the use of the plant. Recipes for drinks and dishes from lemon mint and interesting facts about it.
Useful properties of the peppermint
This plant is the main component of many medicines. However, the desired health-improving effect can be achieved by using the product exclusively for gastronomic purposes. The main benefit of lemon balm, as we have already noted, lies in the essential oils contained in the shoots of the plant.
By consuming lemongrass regularly, you can:
- Normalize the work of the nervous system … This is the main property of the swarm. Neuralgia, neurasthenia, insomnia go away - those diagnoses that people who regularly use lemon balm will never have. It cures dizziness, relieves headaches, anxiety, fear, seizures. It has a strong sedative effect.
- Strengthen the heart muscle … The use of drinks with this plant for heart disorders helps relieve pain in the heart, treats tachycardia, and lowers blood pressure.
- Support the respiratory system … The product helps with phthisiatric disorders, asthma, shortness of breath, frequent bronchitis and tracheitis.
- Improve the functioning of the digestive tract … The honeybee normalizes the digestive function, improves appetite, increases the production of enzymes necessary to break down heavy food, soothes vomiting, and prevents reflux.
- Adjust bowel function … Peristalsis improves, the tendency to constipation goes away, since the plant has a slight laxative effect. Colic gets rid of with increased gas formation.
- Remove small kidney and bladder stones … The work of the kidneys improves, and thanks to the diuretic effect, the formation of sand is prevented, or if there are already stones, they are gently excreted. Stagnation of water goes away, puffiness decreases.
- Improve the oral cavity … Untaculum helps with toothache, gum disease, is an excellent prophylactic against periodontitis, periodontal disease and other dental diseases.
- Improve the condition of joints, skin, hair and nails … Essential oils have the most positive effect on the condition of joints, cartilage, connective tissue, and also take care of the health of the skin.
- Reduce menstrual discomfort … The plant significantly eases painful sensations with periodic pain in women, normalizes the menstrual cycle.
- Relieve sexual arousal … With increased sexual excitability in men and women, lemon balm tea will help. However, it will not reduce sperm motility and will not affect their ability to fertilize an egg.
- Remove helminths … Many parasites living in our body have an extremely negative attitude towards essential oils. The roundworms, which are so often found in children, especially do not like lemon balm.
Contraindications and harm of lemon mint
Despite the serious health-improving effect that can be achieved by eating the plant, proven for millennia, there is also quite specific information about the dangers of lemon balm. It is recommended to refrain from using the product:
- People with food allergies … This product is a fairly strong allergen due to the presence of the same essential oils in it. Here's an interesting feature: the same component can help someone and harm someone.
- Those with gastrointestinal diseases in the acute stage … Increased production of enzymes can harm with stomach ulcers, duodenal ulcers, erosive conditions and other diseases, the localization of which is located in the digestive organs and intestines.
- Children under 3 years old … The child's body is not able to fully process lemon balm, since it does not have the required amount of enzymes.
- Suffering from alcohol addiction … Since the product contains ether, it can provoke the use of alcoholic beverages. Therefore, lemon balm is not recommended not only for those who suffer from alcohol addiction at the moment, but also once coded from an addiction.
- Prone to diarrhea … This category of people can be harmed by the mild laxative effect of the plant.
- Have large kidney or bladder stones … The diuretic effect can provoke their release and lead to a severe attack of colic.
- Hypotonic … A pronounced sedative effect can affect the blood pressure of those who have it low. There is a slowdown in the heart rate, up to cardiac arrest.
However, these recommendations apply exclusively to live or dried plants that are used in cooking. Medicines with lemon balm have their own contraindications and application features. A striking example of this is alcoholism. Melissa can not be used in live form, and tableted melissa is used as a complex therapy in the treatment of addiction.
Melissa Drink Recipes
Aromatic and spicy drinks with lemon mint quench thirst in summer and warm in winter. Let's consider the most delicious of them:
- Tea … It is the most popular drink from this plant. There are a great many ways to prepare it. We bring to your attention a classic recipe for lemon balm tea. Take one teaspoon of chopped fresh leaves, pour a glass of boiling water and leave for an hour. If you take dried lemon balm, then you need it a little less, about 2/3 teaspoon per 200 ml of water. Note that sugar, honey, jam, and other sweets reduce the medicinal properties of tea. But the serving temperature does not affect the medicinal qualities of the product.
- Sorbet … You will need a medium bunch of the plant. Rinse it under running water, dry it with a waffle towel or a special centrifuge for drying herbs. If you brew wet shoots, the drink will not be as aromatic. Place lemon balm in a saucepan, add half a coarsely chopped lime or lemon to it. Pour a liter of boiling water over the bee with citrus, cover with a towel and let it brew for 15-20 minutes. Strain, add 3 tablespoons of honey, pour into ice cube trays and freeze in the freezer for 1 hour. Take out, crush the ice with a blender. Divide into bowls, add 100 ml of orange juice to each serving, ideally fresh. Stir well, serve, garnish with a leaf of fresh lemon balm.
- Compote … For its preparation, take 1 kg of grapes. Isabella is the best choice due to its nutmeg flavor. Pour 1.5 liters of water over the grapes, add 100 g of sugar, bring the berries to a boil and cook for 20 minutes over low heat. Finely chop a bunch of lemon balm, add two tablespoons of sugar, knead thoroughly in a mortar until the sugar dissolves. Strain the grape broth, add the mint-sugar mixture, stir and leave for an hour. Strain again. Serve over ice in summer, and use as a base for mulled wine in winter.
Lemongrass recipes
The medicinal plant is used not only for making drinks, but also for making excellent dishes. We recommend paying attention to the following recipes with lemon balm. You will certainly love these dishes:
- Grapefruit salad … Especially good for large feasts, when you need to help the body digest fatty foods. Remove the zest from the grapefruit. You will need a small amount that fits on the tip of your knife. Add two teaspoons of vegetable oil to it, leave for 20 minutes. Peel the citrus, remove the seeds, the skin of the septum. Cut each slice into 4 pieces. Finely chop a bunch of lemon balm, send it to the grapefruit, add half of finely chopped chili without seeds. Season with salt and pepper, season with butter and zest.
- Fish with white sauce … You will need any fish fillet. Pike perch is especially tasty in this dish. Take 700 g of fish fillets, pour with lemon juice, sprinkle with ground pepper, salt and leave to marinate for 30 minutes. Then fry the fish in hot vegetable oil. In a separate frying pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter, add 2 tablespoons of flour to it, fry for 1-2 minutes and pour in 500 ml of any broth. Stir well to avoid clumping. Add a bunch of finely chopped lemon balm, let the sauce simmer for 5-7 minutes. Drizzle over the fish, serve with a handful of pine nuts.
- Spicy meat … Take 700 g of pork, remove the films, excess fat, cut into pieces, as in beef stroganoff. Season the meat with salt and pepper, add 2 tablespoons of olive and butter, a bunch of finely chopped mint and lemon balm. Let it brew for 1-2 hours. Finely chop the onion, save in a skillet with 1 teaspoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon butter. When the onion turns golden, add 1 clove of finely chopped garlic and cook for a minute. Cut 300 g of tomatoes into thin slices, send to the onion with garlic, salt and pepper, simmer for 5-7 minutes, add lemon zest on the tip of a knife. Remove the meat, send it to a baking dish, pour over the sauce, sprinkle with balsamic vinegar on top, bake in the oven at 200 ° C for 30-40 minutes.
- Fruit and coconut dessert … Take 500 g of apricots, peel, cut into small cubes. Pour in 100 ml of orange juice and simmer for 3 minutes, cool. Mix in a blender 250 g of natural yogurt, 100 g of coconut milk, 4 tablespoons of sugar, juice of 1 lemon, a small bunch of lemon balm. Combine this mixture with 100 ml of whipped cream and 1 beaten egg white. Do this gently to keep the dessert fluffy. Place the mousse and apricot sauce in layers in a serving bowl and sprinkle with chopped meringue on top.
Interesting facts about melissa
For the first time he described the swarm in the monumental botanical treatise Theophrastus, who, together with Aristotle, created the first botanical garden, where he was engaged in the selection and study of plants. One of the names of the plant contains the word "mint", but scientists consider the similarity of lemon balm to this plant to be very distant, since they belong to different families and are very different in chemical composition.
The very same word "lemon balm" is a derivative of the word "bee", since the plant has always attracted the latter very much. Honey from this plant is still considered very tasty and healthy.
And it was Melissa who was the name of the daughter of the Greek god, who gave Zeus milk and honey and taught people how to get a sweet product. It is believed that she was so beautiful that the gods wanted to make her their mistress. For which the goddesses turned her into a bee.
Watch a video about melissa:
Today, the bee is no longer endowed with magical properties, but it is still very useful and tasty. There are a great many recipes for drinks and dishes from lemon balm. Which one to choose is a matter of taste. But it is imperative to try something.
