The History and Benefits of Horse Chestnut

Blog / / The History and Benefits of Horse Chestnut

The botanical name for Horse Chestnut is Aesculus hippocastanum.

It is a large deciduous tree that is native to Northern Greece and Asia, but now also grows in Europe and North America. Many people know and refer to it as a Conker tree.

Two misconceptions led to the name horse chestnut in the first place. First, it was believed that the tree produced a type of chestnut. The second was that the nut itself would cure horses suffering from chest problems. Both of these were not true, but the name stuck.

The seeds produced by the tree are a good source of the saponin aescin or escin, which traditionally has been used for leg-vein health, fluid balance and to support ligament mobility.

Now, horse chestnut extract is available as a herbal health supplement available in both internal and topical forms. Horse chestnuts are also a good source of tannins, sterols and flavonoids, which are all beneficial to maintaining good health.

Dosage for horse chestnut extract supplements with the aescin levels standardized between 16-22% is usually 200-300 mg taken two or three times per day with a full glass of water. It can also be taken as a tincture, but it is debatable if sufficient levels of aescin are absorbed in this form.

Horse chestnut is one of many natural health herbs that people can get at discount prices at Swanson Health Products to help support their good health. To learn even more about horse chestnut, check out the links to the sources listed below.

Sources:
MedicineHunter.com
Wikipedia

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