Bearberry

When talking about a bearberry we are basically referring to one of three different species in Arctostaphylos genus of dwarf shrubs. The main difference between this plant and other Arctostaphylos species stands in the fact that it has adapted well to sub Arctic and Arctic climates. Nowadays we can notice bearberries in an interesting circumpolar distribution along Europe, Asia and North America. The biggest number of bearberry plants is found in Central America.

The popular term of “bearberry” has become popular because people say that the fruit is really enjoyed by a bear. All bearberries are edible. Also, leaves and fruits can even be used with herbal medicine. The three species that are considered to be bearberries are: the Common Bearberry, the Red Bearberry and the Alpine Bearberry. You might also have heard about fruits like Mountain Cranberry, Upland Cranberry, Mountain Tobacco, Bear’s Grape, Arberry, Crowberry or Hog Cranberry. These terms (as well as different others) are basically synonyms for bearberries. This means that whenever you read about such fruits you should know that you are reading about a bearberry.

The most interesting topic when talking about bearberries stands in their medicinal uses. The bearberry plant contains methylarbutin, arbutin, ursolic acid, gallic acid, resin, a number of essential oils, tannic cid, phenolic glycosides, flavonoids, tannins and hydroquinones. The plant’s leaves are picked during summer and then dried so that they can be used in liquid extracts, tablets, tea bags and infusions. Nowadays there are a lot of claims that are used by manufacturers in order to convince people to buy products that contain blueberry extracts. This includes properties like aromatic, anti-lithic, sedative, tonic, stimulant, disinfectant, urinary antiseptic and lithontripic. Herbal solutions that include bearberry have been utilized in the past in order to deal with back pain, bile problems, bed wetting, arthritis, bloating, bladder infections, cystitis, diarrhea, diabetes, bladder carrarh, gonorrhea, indigestion, kidney infections, kidney stones, lung congestion, liver problems, pancreatitis, obesity, vaginal discharge, water retention, vaginal diseases and a lot more.

Different people claim that bearberries will strengthen your hear muscle in a combination with your urinary tract getting stronger as well. The problem is that you can not expect miracle results when taking such herbal medicine. The good news is that you should not get any negative side effects. Problems can only appear when taking doses that are too large. In this case you might end up with green urine, vomiting, chills, fever, ear ringing, back pain, nausea and skin color changes. Unfortunately we have seen people that can resist to taking 20 grams of bearberries while others start showing some of the above mentioned symptoms after taking in 1 gram. We can say that a safe measure would be situated around 7 grams but as soon as side effects appear you should stop.

We also have to point out the fact that pregnant women or women that are currently breast feeding should not use bearberry based herbal medicine. This is also a reality when treating children under the age of 12 and any patient that is suffering from a kidney disease. Some studies have shown negative interactions with diuretics and various other medications that will interfere with making urine acid. This includes Urex and ascorbic acid. We warmly recommend that you consider such herbal medication only in the event that you have consulted a doctor first. It is always better to stay under monitoring so that you can make sure that no problems appear. Even if the side effects are not serious, it is still not a pleasure to have them. Bearberries might be great for you but they might also cause some unwanted problems.