Horse Chestnut

Herbal Remedies and Medicinal Cures for Diseases, Ailments & Illnesses that afflict Humans and Animals
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Horse Chestnut Fruits

Dietary supplement is a product that contains vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, enzymes, and/or other ingredients intended to supplement the diet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has special labeling requirements for dietary supplements and treats them as foods, not drugs. Manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients are prohibited from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded. That means that these firms are responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of their products before marketing to ensure that they meet all the requirements of DSHEA and FDA regulations.

Wars of ancient history were about possessions, territory, power, control, family, betrayal, lover's quarrel, politics and sometimes religion. But we are in the Modern era and supposedly more educated and enlightened . Think about this. Don't just brush off these questions. Why is RELIGION still involved in WARS? Isn't religion supposed to be about PEACE? Ask yourself; What religion always campaign to have its religious laws be accepted as government laws, always involved in wars and consistently causing WARS, yet insists that it's a religion of peace? WHY?? There are only two kinds of people who teach tolerance: The Bullies. They want you to tolerate them so they can continue to maliciously deprive you. Do not believe these bullies teaching tolerance, saying that it’s the path to prevent hatred and prejudice. The victims who are waiting for the right moment to retaliate. They can’t win yet, so they tolerate.

Horse Chestnut Tree

Horse Chestnut

The medicinal herb Horse Chestnut as an alternative herbal remedy - Horse chestnut trees are native to the Balkan Peninsula (for example, Greece and Bulgaria), but grow throughout the northern hemisphere. Although horse chestnut is sometimes called buckeye, it should not be confused with the Ohio or California buckeye trees, which are related but not the same species.Common Names--horse chestnut, buckeye, Spanish chestnut

Latin Names--Aesculus hippocastanum

What Horse Chestnut Is Used For

• For centuries, horse chestnut seeds, leaves, bark, and flowers have been used as an herbal remedy for a variety of conditions and diseases. *Horse chestnut seed extract has been used as an herbal remedy to treat chronic venous insufficiency (a condition in which the veins in the legs do not efficiently return blood to the heart). This condition is associated with varicose veins, pain, ankle swelling, feelings of heaviness, itching, and nighttime leg cramping.
• The seed extract has also been used for hemorrhoids. How Horse Chestnut Is Used Horse chestnut seed extract standardized to contain 16 to 20 percent aescin (escin), the active ingredient, is the most commonly used form. Topical preparations have also been used.

What the Science Says about Horse Chestnut

• Small studies have found that horse chestnut seed extract is beneficial in treating chronic venous insufficiency and is as effective as wearing compression stockings.
• There is not enough scientific evidence to support the use of horse chestnut seed, leaf, or bark for any other conditions.

Side Effects and Cautions of Horse Chestnut

• Homemade preparations of horse chestnut should not be used. Raw horse chestnut seeds, leaves, bark, and flowers contain esculin, which is poisonous.
• When properly processed, horse chestnut seed extract contains little or no esculin and is considered generally safe. However, the extract can cause some side effects, including itching, nausea, or gastrointestinal upset.
• Tell your health care providers about any herb or dietary supplement you are using, including horse chestnut. This helps to ensure safe and coordinated care

News About Horse Chestnut

The Benefits of Horse Chestnut

• Source:https://www.verywell.com/the-benefits-of-horse-chestnut-89570

By Cathy Wong, ND (Reviewed by a board-certified physician)

Health Benefits, Uses, and More

What Is Horse Chestnut?

Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) is a type of tree that grows throughout the Northern Hemisphere. In herbal medicine, horse chestnut seeds, leaves, bark, and flowers have long been used to treat various health conditions.

Horse chestnut contains a compound called aescin, which has been found to produce an anti-inflammatory effect.

Health Benefits of Horse Chestnut:

1) Chronic Venous Insufficiency

Research suggests that horse chestnut seed extract may be useful in treating chronic venous insufficiency.

In a systematic review published in 2006, for instance, researchers analyzed seven clinical trials and concluded that horse chestnut seed extract is "an efficacious and safe short-term treatment" for chronic venous insufficiency.

A condition in which the veins do not efficiently return blood from the legs to the heart, chronic venous insufficiency is linked to problems such as varicose veins, ankle swelling, and nighttime leg cramping.

2) Varicose Veins and Hemorrhoids

According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, there is not enough scientific evidence to support the use of horse chestnut seed, leaf, or bark for any conditions besides chronic venous insufficiency. However, a review published in 2001 concluded that supplementation with horse chestnut "may prevent time-consuming, painful, and expensive complications of varicose veins and hemorrhoids."

Uses for Horse Chestnut

In folk medicine, horse chestnut is used to relieve symptoms such as swelling and inflammation and strengthen blood vessel walls. Health claims for horse chestnut include the treatment of the following problems:

• circulatory disorders

• diarrhea

• hemorrhoids

• varicose veins

Caveats

Horse chestnut extract may produce a number of adverse effects, including itching, nausea, or gastrointestinal upset.

In order to ensure the safe use of horse chestnut, make sure to consult your physician if you're considering using the herb to treat chronic venous insufficiency (or any other chronic health condition).

Manufacturers of horse chestnut products remove the toxic component, esculin. These products appear to be safe, as there have been few reports of harmful side effects despite being widely used in Europe.

Supplements haven't been tested for safety and due to the fact that dietary supplements are largely unregulated, the content of some products may differ from what is specified on the product label. Also, keep in mind that the safety of supplements in pregnant women, nursing mothers, children, and those with medical conditions or who are taking medications has not been established.

People with kidney or liver disease and bleeding disorders should avoid horse chestnut.

Horse chestnut should not be combined with aspirin, Plavix® (clopidogrel), Ticlid® (ticlopidine), Trental® (pentoxifylline), Coumadin® (warfarin), and other anticoagulant or anti-platelet ("blood-thinning") drugs unless under medical supervision as these medications may increase the effect of the medication.

Using Horse Chestnut for Health

Due to a lack of supporting research, it's too soon to recommend horse chestnut for any condition. If you're considering using it, talk with your primary care provider first. Self-treating a condition and avoiding or delaying standard care may have serious consequences.

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Horse Chestnut Healing

• Source:http://www.motherearthliving.com/health-and-wellness/heal-with-horse-chestnut.aspx

By Steven Foster

This powerful, safe herb might be one of Europe's best-kept secrets.

What do the Germans know that we don’t? If you looked into the first-aid kit of most soccer teams in Europe, you would find a tube of horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) gel, ready to ease pain, bruising and swelling from sprains and other contusions or sports injuries.

In the United States, you have to search a little harder to find topical horse chestnut products. For more than a decade, the ever-present tube of gel in my home medicine chest has come from Germany. This product (Reparil) contains the single most dramatic phytomedicine that my family has used. Whenever my children (or I) close a finger in a door, twist an ankle, drop something on a foot, or suffer other types of injuries that cause bruising or swelling, we head straight for the horse chestnut gel. It reduces pain and swelling almost immediately and prevents bruising.

In Germany, horse chestnut extracts are used for another purpose as well—to treat vascular problems. The extracts reduce phlebitis (vein inflammation) and increase vein tone in cases of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). CVI is a condition characterized by leg tiredness, tension and heaviness, as well as nocturnal cramping of calf muscles, itching, pain and swelling. Horse chestnut extracts also can help improve symptoms of leg swelling and pain associated with varicose veins, which can be an early sign of CVI.

Convincing Clinical Evidence

The clinical research on horse chestnut focuses on CVI. At least 13 such studies—all placebo controlled and double-blind—have been published since 1973. Most used 600 mg of an extract (equivalent to 100 mg a day of aescin, the group of compounds thought to be biologically active) and showed positive results.

A recent review of these studies concluded that horse chestnut seed extract is safe and effective for decreasing symptoms of CVI, including reducing lower-leg volume (circumference at the calf and ankle), leg pain, itching, fatigue and muscular tension in the legs. Five of these clinical trials compared horse chestnut extract against treatment with a standard drug. The reviewers concluded that horse chestnut extract was superior to placebo and just as effective as the standard (European) treatment. Another trial suggested that horse chestnut extract is as effective as compression stockings.

Where to Find Horse Chestnut

So how can you find this herb in the United States? Well, it’s not always easy. In the rest of the world, topical horse chestnut extract products usually are sold as over-the-counter drugs. In the United States, they’re primarily found as cosmetics because of labeling restrictions. Oral horse chestnut forms are becoming increasingly common and can be found in health-food stores and even some grocery stores. These products are intended to reduce venous insufficiency and are marketed to help reduce varicose veins. A few pharmacological studies show that horse chestnut can both prevent and treat varicose veins. However, treatment for varicose veins with horse chestnut has not been adequately addressed in human clinical studies.

Here are some tips for selecting good horse chestnut products.

Start with standardization. Horse chestnut seed extracts, used in both oral and topical forms, are complex phytomedicine. Extracts are made through an exacting process that can’t be duplicated by consumers in the kitchen or by backyard herbalists.

The extract is made from the seeds of the European horse chestnut. It is then calibrated to contain 16 to 20 percent of a group of compounds called triterpene glycosides. This group of compounds collectively is known as aescin (also spelled escin).

•Tablets and capsules.

An average therapeutic dose of horse chestnut should contain 100 mg of aescin, according to the German Commission E monograph on horse chestnut. This amount of aescin commonly is found in formulations of 250 to 312 mg and usually is split into two doses per day. The extract usually comes in timed-release tablets.

•Gels, creams and balms.

Topical products containing aescin act by diminishing the number or diameter of tiny openings in capillary walls, helping to "seal" the outflow of fluid surrounding tissue, hence thwarting swelling and bruising. This unique mechanism of action makes it very useful for the topical treatment of bruises, sprains, and contusions. Look for aescin on the label. If it’s not there, you don’t know how much you’re getting.

•Tinctures.

How Aescin Works

The "cement" between cells can be broken down by lysosomal enzymes, which in turn leads to increased capillary permeability and edema (collection of fluids in tissue). Aescin has been shown in various pharmacological studies to inhibit these enzymes, shrinking the size and quantity of tiny pores in capillary walls that regulate the flow of fluids. German and Italian researchers also suggest that, in cases of CVI, the lysosomal enzymes increase the number of white blood cells in the blood, a condition similarly reduced by aescin.

In addition, horse chestnut extract improves vein tone by helping to increase the contraction of elastin fibers in the vein walls. This activity, called a venotonic effect, counteracts a relaxation of vein tissue that can lead to varicose veins.

Safety Matters

CVI is a serious health problem that requires medical attention. Horse chestnut seed extracts are scientifically based herbal medicines that, in proper formulas and controlled dosages, have proven effective and safe. Don’t combine horse chestnut with warfarin (Coumadin) unless you are supervised by a knowledgeable health-care provider, and don’t use it during pregnancy or while nursing. In rare instances, oral forms might cause stomach upset, nausea or itching. Timed-release tablets reduce the chance of stomach upset.

Caution: Unprocessed horse chestnut (including bark, leaves and seeds) potentially can be toxic, and fatalities have been reported from eating relatively small amounts of the raw seeds. Use standardized, manufactured preparations only.

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Horse chestnut seed extract for long-term or chronic venous insufficiency

• Source:http://www.cochrane.org/CD003230/PVD_horse-chestnut-seed-extract-for-long-term-or-chronic-venous-insufficiency

By Pittler MH, Ernst E

Poor blood flow in the veins of the legs, known as chronic venous insufficiency, is a common health problem, particularly with ageing. It can cause leg pain, swelling (oedema), itchiness (pruritus) and tenseness as well as hardening of the skin (dermatosclerosis) and fatigue. Wearing compression stockings or socks helps but people may find them uncomfortable and do not always wear them. A seed extract of horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum L.) is a herbal remedy used for venous insufficiency. Seventeen randomised controlled trials were included in the review. In all trials the extract was standardised to escin, which is the main active constituent of horse chestnut seed extract.

Overall, the trials suggested an improvement in the symptoms of leg pain, oedema and pruritus with horse chestnut seed extract when taken as capsules over two to 16 weeks. Six placebo-controlled studies (543 participants) reported a clear reduction of leg pain when the herbal extract was compared with placebo. Similar results were reported for oedema, leg volume, leg circumference and pruritis. The other studies which compared the extract with rutosides (four trials), pycnogenol (one trial) or compression stockings (two trials) reported no significant differences between the therapies for leg pain or a symptom score that included leg pain. The herbal extract was equivalent to rutosides, pycnogenol and compression on the other symptoms with the exception that it was inferior to pycnogenol on oedema.

The adverse events reported (14 trials) were mild and infrequent. They included gastrointestinal complaints, dizziness, nausea, headache and pruritus, from six studies.

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Massive tree in Bucks is now the largest Horse Chestnut in the UK

• Source:http://www.getbucks.co.uk/news/local-news/massive-tree-bucks-now-largest-8212455

By Graham Spence

A 300 year old tree on the National Trust’s Hughenden estate in High Wycombe is the largest horse-chestnut in the country.

The veteran tree which stands in 275 hectares (680 acres) of Hughenden parkland, has a girth of over 24 feet - and it’s this enormous circumference which clinched its champion tree status on the National Tree Register.

Steve Kirkpatrick, National Trust Ranger for Hughenden says: “We are so proud of this tree. It’s impossible to date precisely but it’s certainly over 300 years old, so it pre-dates many of the other trees at Hughenden which were planted by our former Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, who lived here for 33 years in the 19th Century.

“Disraeli loved trees. He famously said, ‘When I come to Hughenden I pass the first week sauntering about the park examining all my trees, and the second examining my books’.

“He loved to plant trees around the estate and during his time here tripled the size of the parkland. Although few remain now, the landscape still reflects what he set out to do in terms of creating a parkland full of wonderful specimens to include cedar of Lebanon and Deodar cedar.”

Until the Hughenden chestnut tree claimed this crown, the largest known was at Whitchurch in Hampshire which is 13 centimetres smaller at 7.20 metres.

Steve continues: “Hughenden’s new champion has reached this size because it’s been allowed to grow unhindered, was planted in good soil; and because it’s on the flood plain it has benefitted from plenty of nutrients over the years.”

The estate of Hughenden with its open parkland, chalk stream and beech woodlands are one of the most popular beauty spots in the area, with beautiful walks through unspoilt Chilterns countryside.

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Plant a conker and grow a Horse Chestnut Tree for the future

• Source:https://gardeningwithchildrenblog.co.uk/2013/11/15/plant-a-conker-and-grow-a-horse-chestnut-tree-for-the-future/

(Gardening With Children)

This year has been a good year for conkers, as well as most other fruits and nuts, when we visited our local Horse Chestnut trees in October there was an abundance of spikey green shells hanging on tightly in the chilly north easterly wind, we collected about thirty beautiful, shiny brown nuggets that had fallen on the ground, enough for Thomas to play conkers with and some to plant as well.

The first record of the game of conkers is from the Isle of Wight in 1848, they originally played with snail shells! Click here to learn how to play the game of conkers.

Horse Chestnut trees were introduced from the Balkans in the late 16th Century, in the UK we have over two million trees, even though this year has been a good year for conkers the Horse Chestnut tree is under threat.

Nearly a million of our trees are infected by the tiny invasive moth larvae, known as the horse chestnut leaf miner, they burrow in the leaves which then turn brown, reducing the amount of food that the tree can absorb through photosynthesis, as well as the threat from the leaf minor another serious disease called bleeding canker is spreading too and can cause the death of the tree.

The Horse Chestnut Tree is spectacular throughout the year and one of our national treasures, if you want to help maintain the poulation why not plant some of your spare conkers.

How to grow your Horse Chestnut trees

1. Place your conkers in a container of water, discard the ones that float these have dried out.
2. Using only the conkers that sink, plant them about 2cm deep individually in pots of soil/compost, between now and the end of November.
3. Water well and place in a sheltered spot outside.
4. Protect the pots from predators i.e. squirrels, mice etc. and from hard frosts, a cold frame is ideal, keep checking them to see if they need watering, but don’t overwater.
5. The conkers will need to go through a period of cold temperatures to encourage them to germinate in the spring.
6. Keep your young trees watered and re-pot as they grow bigger.
7. Ask the landowners permission before you plant your new trees into the big wide world, they can grow very large.

We already have two healthy young trees waiting for a new home.

Happy planting

Gill

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Europe's Best Kept Secret: Horse Chestnut

• Source:http://www.motherearthliving.com/plant-profile/horse-chestnut.aspx

By Steven Foster

What do the Germans know that we don’t? If you looked into the first-aid kit of most soccer teams in Europe, you would find a tube of horse chestnut gel, ready to ease pain, bruising, and swelling from sprains and other contusions or sports ­injuries.

In the United States, you have to search a little harder to find topical horse chestnut products. For more than a decade, the ever-present tube of gel in my home medicine chest has come from Germany. This product (Reparil) contains the single most dramatic phytomedicine that my family has used. Whenever my children (or I) close a finger in a door, twist an ankle, drop something on a foot, or suffer other types of injuries that cause bruising or swelling, we head straight for the horse chestnut gel. It reduces pain and swelling almost immediately and prevents bruising.

In Germany, horse chestnut extracts are used for another purpose as well—to treat vascular problems. The extracts reduce phlebitis (vein inflammation) and increase vein tone in cases of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). CVI is a condition characterized by leg tiredness, tension, and heaviness, as well as nocturnal cramping of calf muscles, itching, pain, and swelling. Horse chestnut extracts may also help improve symptoms of leg swelling and pain associated with varicose veins, which may be an early sign of CVI.

Clinical Evidence

The clinical research on horse chestnut focuses on CVI. At least thirteen such studies—all placebo controlled and double-blind—have been published since 1973. Most used 600 mg of an extract (equivalent to 100 mg/day of aescin, the group of compounds thought to be biologically active) and showed positive results.

A recent review of these studies concluded that horse chestnut seed extract is safe and effective for decreasing symptoms of CVI, including reducing lower-leg volume ­(circumference at the calf and ankle), leg pain, itching, ­fatigue, and muscular tension in the legs. Five of these clinical trials compared horse chestnut extract against treatment with a standard drug. The reviewers concluded that horse chestnut extract was superior to placebo and just as effective as the standard (European) treatment. Another trial suggested that horse chestnut extract is as effective as compression stockings.

Finding Horse Chestnut

So how can you find this herb in the United States? Well, it’s not always easy. In the rest of the world, topical horse chestnut extract products are usually sold as over-the-counter drugs. In the United States, they’re primarily found as cosmetics because of labeling restrictions. Oral horse chestnut forms are becoming increasingly common and can be found in health-food stores and even some grocery stores. These products are intended to reduce venous insufficiency and are marketed to help reduce varicose veins. A few pharmacological studies show that horse chestnut may both prevent and treat varicose veins. However, treatment for varicose veins with horse chestnut has not been adequately addressed in human clinical studies.

Here are some tips for selecting good horse chestnut ­products.

Start with standardization. Horse chestnut seed extracts, used in both oral and topical forms, are complex phytomedicine. Extracts are made through an exacting process that can’t be duplicated by consumers in the kitchen or by backyard herbalists.

The extract is made from the seeds of the European horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum). It is then calibrated to contain 16 to 20 percent of a group of compounds called triterpene glycosides. This group of compounds is collectively known as aescin (also spelled escin), which is the term you want to look for on the label.

Tablets and capsules. An average therapeutic dose of horse chestnut should contain 100 mg of aescin, according to the German Commission E monograph on horse chestnut. This amount of aescin is commonly found in formulations of 250 to 312 mg and is usually split into two doses per day. The extract usually comes in timed-release tablets.

Gels, creams, and balms. Topical products containing aescin act by diminishing the number or diameter of tiny openings in capillary walls, helping to “seal” the outflow of fluid surrounding tissue, hence thwarting swelling and bruising. This unique mechanism of action makes it very useful for the topical treatment of bruises, sprains, and contusions. Look for aescin on the label. If it’s not there, you don’t know how much you’re getting.

Tinctures. In both the European and American markets, product forms such as liquid extracts that differ from those stated in the German regulatory text are formulated to deliver an equivalent amount of aescin. Research has focused on standardized extract forms, but non-standardized tinctures are also made in the United States. Follow label instructions on any product you use.

How Aescin Works

The “cement” between cells can be broken down by lysosomal enzymes, which in turn leads to increased capillary permeability and edema (collection of fluids in tissue). Aescin has been shown in various pharmacological studies to inhibit these enzymes, shrinking the size and quantity of tiny pores in capillary walls that regulate the flow of fluids. German and Italian researchers also suggest that, in cases of CVI, the lysosomal enzymes increase the number of white blood cells in the blood, a condition similarly reduced by aescin.

In addition, horse chestnut extract improves vein tone by helping to increase the contraction of elastin fibers in the vein walls. This activity, called a venotonic effect, counteracts a relaxation of vein tissue that can lead to varicose veins. Safety

CVI is a serious health problem that requires medical attention. Horse chestnut seed extracts are scientifically based herbal medicines that, in proper formulas and controlled dosages, have proven effective and safe. Don’t combine horse chestnut with warfarin (Coumadin) unless you are supervised by a knowledgeable health-care provider, and don’t use it during pregnancy or nursing. In rare instances, oral forms may cause stomach upset, nausea, or itching. Timed-release tablets reduce the chance of stomach upset.

Caution: Unprocessed horse chestnut (including bark, leaves, or seeds) potentially can be toxic, and fatalities have been reported from eating relatively small amounts of the raw seeds. Use standardized, manufactured preparations only. Avoid homemade horse chestnut preparations.

Injectable forms of horse chestnut seed extracts are used in German trauma centers for the treatment of acute head injuries or brain trauma. What’s so great about herbs used in Germany?

Before herbs such as echinacea, garlic, ginkgo, St. John’s wort, and saw palmetto were best-sellers in the American market, they had been sold for years, sometimes decades, in Germany. There, herbal medicines are not considered “complementary” or “alternative” medicine; they’re simply another aspect of conventional medical treatment. This trend is ever so slowly beginning to emerge in the United States as well.

All the best-selling herbs in Germany are covered by therapeutic monographs. These monographs, called the German Commission E monographs, serve as the basis for labeling and regulating herb products.

Until recently, however, the Commission E monographs were published only in German, making them inaccessible to a broad North American readership. In 1998, the American Botanical Council published an English translation of the German regulatory monographs: The Complete Commission E Monographs: Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines. Now, more Commission E–approved herbs are beginning to get attention in the U.S. market.

Herbs to watch for? Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) for heart conditions, stinging nettle root (Urtica dioica) for benign prostatic hyperplasia, and ivy (Hedera helix), whose extracts are used for respiratory irritations.

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What Is the Difference Between Horse Chestnut & a Chestnut Tree?

• Source:http://homeguides.sfgate.com/difference-between-horse-chestnut-chestnut-tree-71406.html

By Elisabeth Ginsburg (Demand Media)

Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocasanum), hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant hardiness zones 3 to 8, and American chestnut (Castanea dentata), hardy in USDA zones 5 through 8, are both large trees, growing 50 to 75 feet tall at maturity. They come from two different plant families, but are both valuable as shade trees. In the first part of the 20th century, many American chestnuts were decimated by disease. This did not occur with horse chestnuts.

Horse Chestnuts

Horse chestnuts feature large, palmate leaves, grouped in arrangements of 5 to 7 leaflets. The showy flower panicles feature "candles" of numerous 4 or 5 petalled flowers that are white with a pinkish yellow blotch at the center. these are followed in the fall by spiny husks that enclose mahogany-brown nuts, with a distinctive grayish spot on each one. The tree bark is dark gray to brown and may exfoliate when the tree is mature. Growth rate is medium: 13 to 24 inches per year. Common Chestnuts

American chestnuts have spreading branches and a large, rounded crown. The flowers are sweet-smelling yellow-green catkins that appear in June and are followed by sweet, edible nuts about the size of hazelnuts. The large leaves are oblong, 6 to 8 inches across, and toothed along the edges. Many young trees grow up from the roots of older specimens felled by the fungal blight. These trees may grow up to 25 feet, flower and fruit, but die thereafter. Chestnut restoration efforts are focused on producing blight-resistant chestnuts.

Similarities

These tall species provide ample shade and can be used as specimen or woodland trees. They are also useful street trees, but produce abundant amounts of litter. Both provide food for either humans and animals (American chestnut) or animals (horse chestnut). In each case, the nuts are covered by spiny shells. The two trees thrive in full sun and have medium water needs. Both species also have large leaves that turn yellow in the fall.

Differences

Common chestnut is decorative because of its large, spreading habit. Horse chestnuts leaves are more coarse, but the flowers are showy. Common chestnut has less significant flowers, which appear in June, as opposed to May for horse chestnut. The larger horse chestnut fruits have long been beloved by children, who played games like "conkers" with them. Horse chestnuts also have a slightly wider hardiness zone. The two trees both prefer moist, fertile soil, but horse chestnut suffers more in times of drought.

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Why we love conkers and horse chestnut trees

• Source:http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20151008-why-we-love-conkers-and-horse-chestnut-trees

By Jeremy Coles

Stunning leaf colour and conkers make horse chestnut trees the very essence of autumn. But these beautifully boughed trees have something to offer all year

What would autumn be without the horse chestnut tree, with its famous seed, the conker, being gathered by children across the land for schoolyard games, and its handlike leaves turning golden browns and reds before gently falling to the ground, quivering from side to side as they descend as if waving goodbye to the end of the summer?

It’s a rhetorical question. But the horse chestnut, or conker tree, is not just a tree for autumn, because this icon of the British landscape has something to offer in every season, from its distinctive leaves and pretty flower clusters to its seeds that have a myriad of uses.

However, it hasn't always been here. Horse chestnuts (Aesculus hippocastanum) were widely planted after being introduced to Britain from Turkey in the late 16th Century, rapidly becoming naturalised in the UK. Today these trees are a common sight in many landscaped parks, gardens, streets and village greens.

According to Pauline Buchanan Black, director general of The Tree Council, children grow fond of the horse chestnut from an early age.

“One of the great things it has going for it is that its an easy tree for children to connect with because of the seeds, using them to play conkers or stringing them together into necklaces. There are lots of different things that can be done in terms of art and science, even just watching the germination of a conker.

“It is actually a good access point for children to think about trees and how to grow them,” she says.

Conkers are the hard mahogany-brown seeds that sit inside a spiky protective casing, which drop to the ground in autumn and as many a child will tell you, this time of year is all about waging war with these ‘big guns’ on the schoolyard battlefield in a game of conkers.

And that’s what many combatants will be doing on the 11th October at the World Conker Championships in Southwick, near Oundle, Northamptonshire. The annual contest has been held since 1965 when it was conceived on Ashton village green, moving to the bigger venue due to its popularity.

It’s a much older tradition than this, with the first recorded game of conkers believed to have taken place on the Isle of Wight in 1848. Originally it was played with snail (conch) shells and then cobnuts, eventually being replaced with horse chestnut seeds by the 20th century.

If you don’t know the rules, they are quite simple. The conker is threaded onto a lace, with each player taking turns to strike the others until one gets smashed or destroyed.

Conker conundrum

Despite all the fun to be had with the seeds of a horse chestnut tree, they do have a more serious side. Conkers can be mildly poisonous to many animals, causing sickness if eaten, although some animals can safely consume them, most notably deer and wild boar.

While it may not come as a surprise, considering the name of the tree they come from, conkers have been fed to horses as a stimulant, to make their coat shine and as a remedy for coughs, and also made into food for both horses and cattle.

“People think it’s called the horse chestnut because people think horses like to eat the chestnuts, but it’s not, because they can be poisonous.

“It’s not a good tree necessarily if there is livestock around,” Ms Buchanan Black tells BBC Earth.

What makes conkers toxic to many animals are chemicals called glycosides and saponins. Deer, however, are able to break these down. These substances could potentially act as insect repellents and, rumour has it, keep spiders at bay when placed in strategic locations around the home.

Conkers are very rich in starch but due to their toxicity are unfit for human consumption, but we do use extracts in shampoos and body washes.

A tree for all seasons

Horse chestnut trees are much more than just conkers in autumn. The distinctive palmate leaves turn to a stunning orange colour through to deep red before they fall, contributing to the colour change spectacle that sweeps the country at this time of year.

And after the leaf stalks have fallen there is a scar on the twig which resembles an inverted horse shoe with what looks like nail holes – another association with horses.

During spring, the clusters of pretty white or pink flowers brighten the trees like street lamps. But more than lighting the way they are a rich source of nectar and pollen for insects, while moth caterpillars found on the trees provide food for birds such as blue tits.

There are many things to love about horse chestnuts says Ms Buchanan Black, “One [reason] is the beautiful spreading nature of the tree and the shade that it gives, the beautiful flowers that you get and a leaf structure that is quite unlike most other deciduous broadleaf trees in the country.

“Then we get these gorgeous brown nuts inside that spikey case that look like a weapon of war,” she adds.

Uncertain future

A national inventory estimated there to be approximately half a million horse chestnut trees in Great Britain, whether they all live up to their potential height of 30 metres and 300 years old is currently difficult to predict.

The problem for horse chestnut trees, explains Ms Buchanan Black, is that it is beset by an awful lot of diseases at the moment.

The particular one that everyone knows about, and is threatening large numbers of trees, is the leaf mining moth, whose larvae feed on the trees’ leaves. And the amount the leaf miner is affecting them is quite significant.

“It starts off in the full flush of spring with loads of leaves and those lovely conical flower bracts and very quickly starts to fall prey to the leaf miner and the leaves turn brown, crumble and fall off,” says Buchanan Black.

But that’s not the only thing these trees have going against them at the moment. The bacterial infection bleeding canker occurs when a tree is weakened by the leaf miner and then becomes infected with these bacteria, which can be fatal.

There is also leaf blotch and wood rotting fungi, as well as the horse chestnut scale insect.

“One of the most worrying things is that such an iconic tree is looking so unhappy.”

But as Ms Buchanan Black concludes, “They are trees that people can relate to, because it’s been a presence in their lives since childhood. Through the game of conkers, through the wonderful big tree that stands out in the landscape and through the lovely flowers and the slightly mad seeds.”

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Read before foraging: How to identify the poisonous horse chestnut

• Source:http://www.quirksee.org/2013/10/25/read-before-foraging-how-to-identify-the-poisonous-horse-chestnut/

By Neil Giardino (Intern, KPLU News)

A stroll through the park reveals autumn at its brilliant peak this month. As brisk air and rich hues of crimson, orange and yellow carry you away, you might hear a familiar thud.

The fall of the spiky-shelled chestnut is a sound synonymous with the season.

For an ever-growing number of adventurous consumers, fall harvest is prime time for urban foraging. And this month, you might be tempted to forage one of autumn’s most familiar offerings: chestnuts.

But before you do, know what you’ve gathered before it finds its way into the oven.

Horse chestnuts, conker trees, buckeyes—call them what you like; just don’t call them true American chestnuts. Aesculus hippocastanum by their Latin designation, these natives of the mountainous slopes of the eastern Balkan forests are only distant relatives of the true chestnut tree.

The tree’s common name is a misnomer. Although the horse chestnut’s fruit bears a likeness to its good-natured cousin, the true American chestnut, the horse chestnut’s seed, or conker, is poisonous. Telltale signs of a thorough poisoning, which include vomiting, stomach irritation, and abdominal pain, typically manifest within 16 hours of intake of the nut or its juice. Its toxicity is on account of alkaloid saponins, and curiously enough, the deer is one of the only known mammals that can safely consume this poisonous chemical compound.

So how do you tell if the chestnut trees in your neighborhood are fruiting a toxic nut? For starters, the edible variety always has a pointed tip. Its toxic relative bears no such pointed end on its brown shell.

And Mark Mead, senior urban forester of Seattle Parks and Recreation, offers this pointer on how to identify a horse chestnut tree: “With horse chestnuts you’ll see a row of them, whereas with true chestnuts you’ll usually see two, maybe three.”

If Mother Nature’s tip-off isn’t enough to deter you from bringing the toxic horse chestnut home to roast, Mead offers one more clue, and it’s a dead giveaway: “Basically the horse chestnuts are really bitter, where as the true chestnut is buttery. And you can tell from its oil content.”

Taste receptors in humans once served as evolutionary defenses, helping to identify vital nutrients and toxins in plants. Extreme bitterness in taste remains a biological red flag, warning, in this case, of the horse chestnut’s poison.

While true chestnuts are few and far between in the Puget Sound area these days, they can still be found on the statelier boulevards of some Seattle neighborhoods. On one broad street atop Seattle’s Queen Anne hill, a few majestic old chestnut trees are dropping edible seeds this time of year. And don’t forget: it’s polite to ask before you forage.

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Horse chestnut named UK's largest

• Source:http://www.independent.ie/world-news/and-finally/horse-chestnut-named-uks-largest-30784054.html

(Press Association)

A 300-year-old horse chestnut tree in the grounds of the country estate where prime minister Benjamin Disraeli lived has been declared the largest in the country.

The veteran tree on the National Trust's Hughenden estate in Buckinghamshire has a girth of 7.33 metres (more than 24ft), clinching its status as the largest horse chestnut tree in the UK on the National Tree Register.

The Hughenden tree, which stands in 275 hectares (680 acres) of parkland on the estate, has taken the crown from a horse chestnut in Whitchurch, Hampshire, which is 13cm (5 inches) smaller at 7.2 metres (more than 23ft).

Steve Kirkpatrick, National Trust ranger for Hughenden, said the tree had reached such a huge size because it had been allowed to grow unhindered, was planted in good soil and had benefited from plenty of nutrients as it was on a flood plain.

He added: " It's impossible to date precisely but it's certainly over 300 years old, so it pre-dates many of the other trees at Hughenden which were planted by our former prime minister Benjamin Disraeli, who lived here for 33 years in the 19th century.

"Disraeli loved trees. He famously said: 'when I come to Hughenden I pass the first week sauntering about the park examining all my trees, and the second examining my books'.

"He loved to plant trees around the estate and during his time here tripled the size of the parkland.

"Although few remain now, the landscape still reflects what he set out to do in terms of creating a parkland full of wonderful specimens to include cedar of Lebanon and Deodar cedar."

The National Trust said the chestnut was one of a number of "national champion" trees in its care, including the tallest Scots pine in the country, at Cragside in Northumberland, and the tallest oak at Stourhead in Wiltshire.

The Trust looks after more than 30,000 notable or veteran trees - ones which because of their age, size or condition are of exceptional value to the landscape, culture or conservation - across its woodlands and estates.

These include the Ankerwycke Yew at Runnymede, Surrey, thought to be the Trust's oldest tree at 2,500 years old, and the Old Man of Calke at Calke Abbey, Derbyshire, an oak dating back a thousand years or more.

The announcement about the horse chestnut has been made to mark the start of National Tree Week.

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Remedies: Horse Chestnut Seed Extract for Leg Pain

• Source:http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/remedies-horse-chestnut-seed-extract-for-leg-pain/?_r=0

By Anahad O'Connor

More than a third of American adults use some form of complementary or alternative medicine, according to a government report. Natural remedies have an obvious appeal, but how do you know which ones to choose and whether the claims are backed by science? In this occasional series, Anahad O’Connor, the New York Times “Really?” columnist, explores the claims and the science behind alternative remedies that you may want to consider for your family medicine cabinet.

The Remedy: Horse chestnut seed extract.

The Claim: It helps relieve leg pain and other symptoms of venous insufficiency.

The Science: Poor blood flow in the veins of the legs is one of the common problems that develop as we age.

But when the problem becomes severe enough, it can result in a condition called chronic venous insufficiency. People who have the condition can find themselves struggling with a host of bothersome symptoms like leg pain, pruritus (itchiness), hardening of the skin and edema (swelling of tissue under the skin).

Wearing compression socks or stockings, one of the more traditional solutions, can be helpful but also uncomfortable for some people, causing them not to use them. But one alternative remedy, popular in Europe, is to use extracts from the seed of the horse chestnut, a large and leafy tree native to the Balkans and other parts of Europe. The extract contains beta-aescin and other compounds believed to help strengthen blood vessel walls and reduce swelling and redness.

Over the years, numerous studies have examined whether horse chestnut can actually make a difference. Most have found that it works well, but some studies have either suffered from poor design or were financed in part by commercial interests.

But in 2006, scientists with the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth in England sifted through years of studies and selected the best randomized controlled trials for a meta-analysis in the respected Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

“Over all,” they found, “the trials suggested an improvement in the symptoms of leg pain, edema and pruritus with horse chestnut seed extract when taken as capsules over two to 16 weeks.”

Most of the trials found horse chestnut more effective than placebo, and one of them — a study published in The Lancet in 1996 — found that taking 50 milligrams of aescin (the active ingredient in horse chestnut seed) twice daily over 12 weeks worked just as well as wearing compression stockings.

“The evidence presented implies that horse chestnut seed extract is an efficacious and safe short-term treatment for chronic venous insufficiency,” the authors of the Cochrane report concluded. But they also added the caveat that more rigorous studies were needed “to confirm the efficacy of this treatment option.”

The Risks: According to the National Institutes of Health, horse chestnut seed extract can cause side effects like nausea, itchiness and stomach upset. The agency also advises never to use homemade preparations, and points out on its Web site that while the extract is safe when properly processed, raw horse chestnut seeds, leaves, bark and flowers contain a chemical called esculin that is toxic.

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The Benefits of Horse Chestnut

• Source:http://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/benefits-horse-chestnut

By Karen Lawton

This familiar, large deciduous tree graces many of our parks and green spaces, and most of us have childhood memories of going out to collect its fruit. Opening the green spiky shells to reveal ever so shiny conker nuts inside. My mother and I made animal figures with them using tooth-picks when I was small, while my brother soaked his in vinegar to harden them in preparation for some conker fighting in the playground, an activity dying out because of health and safely issues!

Our childhood friend isn’t native to Britain. It arrived in the sixteenth century and was grown initially as a specimen tree in collections such as that of plant collector, John Tradescant. Only later did it begin the process of naturalisation, probably as a result of extensive planting by landscape designers like ‘Capability’ Brown and Sir Christopher Wren, who planted a mile-long avenue of them at Bushy Park near Hampton Court.

Medicine

Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) is a traditional remedy for leg vein health. It tones and protects blood vessels and may be helpful in ankle edema related to poor venous return. It is used extensively throughout Europe as an anti-inflammatory agent for a variety of conditions, in addition to being used for vascular problems. The plant is taken in small doses internally for the treatment of a wide range of venous diseases, including hardening of the arteries, varicose veins, phlebitis, leg ulcers, haemorrhoids and frostbite.

Horse chestnut is an astringent, anti-inflammatory herb that helps to tone the vein walls which, when slack or distended, may become varicose, haemorrhoidal or otherwise problematic. The plant reduces fluid retention by increasing the permeability of the capillaries and allowing the re-absorption of excess fluid back into the circulatory system.

The seeds are the source of a saponin known as aescin, which is the compound that has been shown to promote normal tone in the walls of the veins, thereby improving circulation through the veins and promoting the return of blood to the heart.

Our horse chestnut remedies

We make a wonderful healing and tonifying balm for varicose veins and haemorrhoids simply by collecting first the new leaves in the spring time, drying them out for a night or two in an airing cupboard and then infusing them in almond oil for one lunar cycle.

We like to collect the aerial parts of plants near to the full moon when all the constituents are at their highest, and then macerate the leaves in the oil from full moon to full moon in a warm sunny spot. We strain out all the plant material and save the oil in a glass jar until the autumn when you can add chopped horse chestnuts that again have been slightly dried in the airing cupboard for a couple of nights. We do this to lessen the water content to prevent the oil from going mouldy. Leave the nuts in for a lunar cycle then strain. The oil is then poured into a bain-marie and then melted with beeswax and organic fairtrade cocoa/shea butter to form a creamy ointment.

The beeswax is from our local beekeeper, Michael, and arrives as a big round cake of deliciously waxy honey-smelling beauty. He cleans out his spent hives and filters the wax with rainwater. Beeswax (Latin names Cera alba and Cera flava) is the natural wax made by honeybees in the hive. A wide variety of cosmetics use beeswax as an emulsifier, emollient, and moisturiser. After processing, beeswax remains biologically active and retains anti-bacterial properties. It also contains vitamin A that is essential for human cell development. Throughout time people have used it as an antiseptic and for healing wounds.

Beeswax is added to the horse chestnut leaf and nut-infused oils to ‘set’ them, and the cocoa or shea butter (both from Africa) give the ointment a soft creamy consistency. Shea butter contains more vitamins and is said to have superior healing capabilities to cocoa butter. In the past Europeans would have used lard or egg yolk.

Recipe

This is very simple to follow and makes a wonderfully useful vein strengthening balm.

150ml Horse chestnut leaf and nut oil

25ml Cocoa/shea butter

15ml beeswax

It is a good idea to do a spoon test when all the ingredients are melted together to get the consistency perfect. Drop a little of the mix onto a plate and leave for five minutes, then mash it up with your fingers. If it’s too hard add more oils, too soft add more beeswax.

As we dispense the ointment into jars we add cypress essential oil (about 3-5 drops into each 60ml jar). Cypress essential oil has a valuable effect as a vasoconstrictor as well as smelling divine! Varicose veins and haemorrhoids

The venous system in the body returns deoxygenated blood from all parts of the body, including the organs, to the right side of the heart and then on to the lungs to be oxygenated. From the lungs, the oxygenated blood passes to the left part of the heart, to be pumped to all the tissues and organs of the body. The venous system consists of large and small veins; the large veins tend to lie alongside arteries. Veins are more thin-walled than arteries, they act as a reservoir for blood, and about 75% of the body’s blood is in the venous system.

Many veins have one-way valves to facilitate the flow of blood back to the heart against the force of gravity. This is especially applicable to the veins in the legs and to a lesser extent in the arms. The valves work in the same way as one-way swing doors; the blood pushing the valves open as it travels toward the heart and the valves close as blood fills that part of the vein, preventing backward flow. The delicate veins in your legs can become damaged by lifestyle, for example poor diet, which can lead to constipation.

The valves in the veins in the legs can get stretched and damaged by the high pressures that are required to move small hard dry stools. The valves soon become incapable of holding up the blood. Without valves in good working order, a four-foot column of blood presses on the lower veins all day long. One result of this unrelieved pressure is varicose veins, the tortuous blue ‘worms’ which detract so much from the appearance of a person’s legs, often causing pain and sometimes ulcers.

Similar to varicose veins in causation if not location are haemorrhoids. You may have heard people say they got theirs from sitting on cold toilet seats or from having babies. The veins that become haemorrhoids are located in the very last parts of the intestinal tract, called the rectum and the anus. These veins at this terminus of the gut perform the important function of making a tight seal there, by means of blood-filled cushions to prevent faeces and gas from leaking out of the intestine.

The haemorrhoid veins in the rectum suffer a fate similar to the veins in the legs. Each time veins are filled beyond their normal capacity, stretching them like over-inflated balloons, they become permanently dilated and hang out of the rectum. They become persistent and painful bulges, with the further troublesome symptoms of bleeding and itching. Anyone at any age can be affected by haemorrhoids. They are very common, about 50% of the population experiencing them at some time in their life, although they are usually more common in the elderly and during pregnancy. Diet has a pivotal role in causing and preventing haemorrhoids. People who consistently eat a high-fibre diet are less likely to get haemorrhoids as they are less likely to get constipation.

As herbalists we see many people with vein problems that can be managed very well with increasing fresh fruit, vegetables, drinking water and exercise. Horse chestnut is always included somewhere in their prescriptions. Fabulous horse chestnut facts

The sticky sap on horse chestnut buds protects them from frost damage and insects.

Horse chestnut conkers are slightly poisonous to most animals, causing sickness if eaten.

The annual world conker championship has been held in the village of Ashton, Northants, since 1965.

‘Conker’ is derived from the word conch and the children’s game was originally played with snail shells

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Natural health: Hemorrhoids and liver health

• Source:http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/healthandlife/naturalmedicine/natural-health-haemorrhoids-and-liver-health-358171.html

By Megan Sheppard

Q. My mother has ongoing issues with hemorrhoids for as long as I can remember. Do you have any suggestions as to how she can get some relief? She has good days and bad days, but they seem to be causing her more trouble than usual at present.

A. Haemorrhoids are a very common issue following pregnancy and childbirth, but can also be triggered by the excessive strain caused by bowel disorders where constipation, diarrhoea (or both) are a symptom.

Your mother is not alone — haemorrhoids are thought to affect around three quarters of the adult population at some point in their lives.

While bowel complaints are the main cause of haemorrhoids, there are individuals who are simply more susceptible to developing them, along with other associated conditions such as varicose veins.

It does appear to run in families, so it is worth you also taking note of preventative measures.

For relatively fast relief, psyllium husks will reduce the pressure on enlarged and distended veins in the lower bowel.

Combine 1-2 teaspoons of psyllium husks (also known as psyllium hulls) each morning mixed well in a large glass of water or freshly pressed juice.

This needs to be taken immediately, as these husks form a thick gel upon standing and are far more effective if you are able to swallow them before they set.

They work to soften bowel motions, making them easier to pass, which means that swollen and prolapsed veins are far less likely to be irritated along the way.

Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) and Butcher’s Broom (Ruscus aculeatus) are two herbs that have long been in favour with herbalists for the treatment of varicosity.

Horse chestnut helps to improve the tone and strength of the veins, blood vessels, and capillaries; Butcher’s Broom works by preventing inflammation of blood vessels, reducing the swelling and discomfort associated with these conditions.

H-Care by Nelsons, Venaforce gel by A. Vogel, or Presto gel by Dan Pharm are all wonderful topical preparations that utilise the effectiveness of these herbs.

Rutin, a bioflavanoid found in brightly coloured fruits and vegetables, has specifically been shown to work in addressing varicose veins, haemorrhoids, and spider veins. Solgar’s 500mg Rutin capsules are available from health stores where 50 capsules cost €10.43.

Q. I have been preserving a number of dandelion weeds in my garden, and I have been adding the leaves to my salads. I have been told they are associated with liver health. Is this correct?

A. True dandelions have a single flower arising from each hollow stem, and the leaves grow in a rosette from the root. The leaves themselves are hairless, smooth and toothed in shape.

It is worth noting that the young, tender leaves are far more palatable than older, larger leaves.

You are quite correct — dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) have a bitter principle, which is what indicates the beneficial effect on the digestive system and the liver, stimulating the production of bile in the gallbladder.

Dandelion is known as a diuretic, bitter tonic, and detoxifying herb. The leaves help with fluid retention, helping to reduce blood pressure. Dandelion leaves are also high in potassium.

Dandelion root is a popular detoxifying herb, working mainly on the liver and gallbladder to facilitate the removal of wastes and toxins.

This means that it can be useful in a number of conditions where the body is attempting to eliminate toxins through various channels — such as acne, eczema, psoriasis, constipation, flatulence, osteoarthritis, and gout.

Following the doctrine of signatures, the important aspects of the dandelion are the yellow colour of the flowers, the bitter and salty taste of the leaves, and sweet taste of the petals.

The slight saltiness indicates the presence of minerals; the yellow colour indicates an effect on the stomach, liver,pancreas, kidneys and adrenals and can often indicate an association with healing melancholy states; the sweet taste of the petals suggests they benefit pancreatic health.

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What Science Says about Milk Thistle and Horse Chestnut for Health

• Source:http://www.youthhealthmag.com/articles/7241/20150112/what-science-says-about-milk-thistle-and-horse-chestnut-for-health.htm

(Staff Writer , NCCAM.NIH.gov, LIVING HEALTHY)

Milk Thistle

What Science Says

Previous laboratory studies suggested that milk thistle may benefit the liver by protecting and promoting the growth of liver cells, fighting oxidation (a chemical process that can damage cells), and inhibiting inflammation. However, results from small clinical trials of milk thistle for liver diseases have been mixed, and two rigorously designed studies found no benefit.

- A 2012 clinical trial, cofunded by NCCAM and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, showed that two higher-than-usual doses of silymarin were no better than placebo for chronic hepatitis C in people who had not responded to standard antiviral treatment.

- The 2008 Hepatitis C Antiviral Long-Term Treatment Against Cirrhosis (HALT-C) study, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found that hepatitis C patients who used silymarin had fewer and milder symptoms of liver disease and somewhat better quality of life but no change in virus activity or liver inflammation.

Side Effects and Cautions

- In clinical trials, milk thistle appears to be well tolerated in recommended doses. Occasionally, people report various gastrointestinal side effects.

- Milk thistle can produce allergic reactions, which tend to be more common among people who are allergic to plants in the same family (for example, ragweed, chrysanthemum, marigold, and daisy).

- Milk thistle may lower blood sugar levels. People with diabetes or hypoglycemia, or people taking drugs or supplements that affect blood sugar levels, should use caution.

Horse Chestnut

What Science Says

- Studies have found that horse chestnut seed extract is beneficial in treating chronic venous insufficiency. There is also preliminary evidence that horse chestnut seed extract may be as effective as wearing compression stockings.

- There is not enough scientific evidence to support the use of horse chestnut seed, leaf, or bark for any other conditions.

Side Effects and Cautions

- Do not use raw or unprocessed horse chestnut seeds, leaves, bark, or flowers. They contain esculin, which is poisonous.

- When properly processed, horse chestnut seed extract contains little or no esculin and is considered generally safe when used for short periods of time. However, the extract can cause some side effects, including itching, nausea, or gastrointestinal upset.

Photo Gallery of Horse Chestnut

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  Horse Chestnut Tree

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