Keeping my eyesight clear means keeping my eyes healthy and strong and one of the herbs I use daily to help me do just that is bilberry. However, I do not take this herb in supplement, tea or in tincture forms. Instead, I enjoy getting my daily dose of bilberry by spreading some homemade bilberry jam I enjoy making on some homemade English muffins or whole grain toast for a light breakfast or afternoon snack. The reason why bilberry helps keep the eyes healthy is that the herb contains potent antioxidants in it known as anthocyanosides, which have the ability to fight off free radical cells from damaging our eyesight.
What is bilberry?
Bilberry is a member of the Ericaceae family and you may know it as bogberry. This beautiful shrub like herb with bright reddish pink flowers and deep bluish black berries that are similar to blueberries grow mainly in the deep forest of Northern Europe. Typically, the berries from the bush are harvested in late summer and early fall and used for making syrups, tinctures, teas and jams due to their sweet berry flavor and medicinal properties that help heal and protect the eyes, veins, digestive system and cure mouth sores amazingly.
How do you make bilberry jam properly?
When I make bilberry jam I tend to do small batches and use them up quickly because I want to get all the medicinal properties such as the antioxidants into my body at high amounts. The best way to get high amounts of those antioxidants into my body at high amounts is by always using fresh bilberry jam that has not been sitting around inside your refrigerator or cabinets for weeks or months at a time. The ingredients I use to make bilberry jam are two cups of fresh bilberries, one cup of cane sugar, four tablespoons of water and one tablespoon of pectin powder. Then I simply place all the ingredients into a medium saucepan, bring them to a boil, and leave the ingredients boiling until the ingredients form a thick bilberry jam that is deep bluish purple in color with a sweet tart taste. After, I allow the jam to cool and thicken up more on the countertop for ten minutes and soon after I serve the jam up warm on fork-split English muffins or toasted whole grain bread as soon as I can. Then the jam I have left over I use up throughout the week on baked goods and snack on to help get my daily dose of bilberry into my body to help protect my eyesight naturally.
What are some of the eye diseases bilberry jam can help prevent and treat?
The eye diseases bilberry jam can help prevent and treat are glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and blurred vision due to old age. Now I can honestly say since I have been using this herb daily to help keep my eyes healthy my night vision has improved slightly. Since I was young, I always had trouble seeing in the dark and always found myself running into and tripping over objects when I got up to use the bathroom at nighttime. Since I have been on bilberry for about three years now I can see slightly better at night and do not run into or trip over objects any longer, which to me is a blessing. Therefore, I can honestly say bilberry does improve eyesight greatly when used daily.
What are other health conditions bilberry can help treat naturally?
When I have an upset stomach my favorite thing to eat is bilberry jam on toast because the bilberry helps treat diarrhea while easing nausea and vomiting away naturally. I typically find within fifteen minutes of having just a slice of toast with bilberry jam that my upset stomach has completely gone away, or at least is at ease. Many people even use the herb to help treat swollen veins and mouth sores because the herb provides the body with plenty of antioxidants to help relieve inflammation as well as fight off infections that cause sores.
What are some of the side effects of using bilberry?
Some of the side effects people may see when using bilberry is an allergic reaction, but this typically only happens in high doses and tends to be rare. Otherwise, this herb is generally safe since it is a food, and should cause no side effects at all. With that being said, women pregnant should speak with an herbalist, midwife or doctor before using this herb during pregnancy as an herbal remedy. Since I have been on the herb, I have experienced no side effects at all and would definitely say it is very safe to use.
