In article . net, Knack
wrote:

I take the liquid extract of hawthorn berry every morning. I take it to
improve blood circulation and for protection against cardiovacular
disease, which I have a genetic predisposition for developing.

It's good for controlling high blood pressure, strengthening heart
function, and reinforcing a normal heartbeat. Hawthorn’s
cardio-protective benefits work in three ways: dilates blood vessels to
improve blood flow and lower blood pressure, deters certain enzymes that
can deteriorate heart muscles, thus correcting irregular heartbeat,
prevents plaque buildup in the coronary arteries by working as an
antioxidant (inhibits the sticky oxidation of the body's LDL cholesterol).

Pharmaceutical grade hawthorn extract has evidence of the cardiovascular
benefit you suggest -- IF cardiovascular disease actually exists, IF the
extract is pharmaceutical grade & IF it is used in conjunction with
conventional treatments. Without concurrent use of conventional treatment
the efficacy drops to about that of a placebo. Without actual chronic need
of medical treatment there is no evidence of preventative value to
individuals in good health.

Pharmaceutical grade extracts are available with prescription in Germany;
though their use alone is probably no more beneficial than eating some
blueberries, when the extracts are taken in conjunction with conventional
treatments there is an improvement over conventional treatments alone,
evidenced in about a dozen randomized doubleblind placebo-controlled
studies (studies wildly misappropriated & wildly misrepresented by
promoters & vendors of herbal products).

Pharmaceutical tinctures of hawthorn are usually derived from C.
oxyacantha. Not all species have the same chemical components, but what is
bought in healthfood stores is neither pharmaceutical grade nor
necessarily the correct species (C. ambigua being a cheaper low-end
produce more apt to be processed by herb vendors who are at the bottom of
the commercial food chain & absent from the pharmaceutical chain).

Over-the-counter preparations sold in healthfood stores are not
pharmaceutical grade, not predictable as to species of hawthorn, not
predictable as to freshness, are nearly always adulterated with other
ingredients, & are completely unpredictable as to their chemical
constituants, so that predictable benefit is impossible.

In summation: Objective health improvements have been shown in randomized
doubleblind placebo controlled studies of acutely ill persons when
hawthorn extracts were of pharmaceutical grade & administered in addition
to a chemical-synthetic medication, having otherwise the value of a
placebo [see for example Habs, 2004; Wold et al 2005].

In the context of foods high in antioxidants, hawberries rate right up
there with blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, almonds, & russet
potatoes. Eating any of these things in the form of small pills will not
correct a poor diet, but eating fruits & vegetables high in antioxidants &
excluding unhealthy foods would provide the antioxidant value without need
of food supplement pills. The stale adulterated rubbish bought as food
supplements are too unpredictable to have value. The pill-popping habits
of gullible herb customers require faith or delusion, counting on specific
& predictable health benefits that the products wisely do not promise
anywhere on the label because it isn't there.

-paghat the ratgirl
--
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