Hawthorn (Crataegus) is traditionally used as a digestive aid for promoting appetite, and relieving indigestion, thirst, flatulence, minor diarrhea and abdominal pain.
If you have bad appetite, or ate too much food and feel uncomfortable, hawthorn may help open your appetite, and relieve distension and stagnation of food in the intestines.
Hawthorn is a small sour fruit. Studies have found that hawthorn contains many active ingredients, such as tannins, flavonoids (including vitexin, rutin, quercetin, and hyperoside), oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs, including epicatechin, procyanidin, and particularly procyanidin B-2), flavone-C, triterpene acids (including ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, and crataegolic acid), and phenolic acids (including caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, and related phenolcarboxylic acids).
Hawthorn is sold as dried berries, juice, capsules and tinctures. In Chinese, hawthorn is traditionally used to produce jams, jellies, juices, alcoholic beverages, and other drinks.
You can find hawthorn products in health supplement stores or Asian grocery stores.
For more information about natural remedies for indigestion, go to Natural Remedies Center: http://www.naturalremediescenter.com/treat/indigestion/
