5 Proven Health Benefits of Horse Chestnut

Horse chestnut treats varicose veins, relieves hemorrhoids, protects the skin, helps with male fertility, protects symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency, protects the kidneys in diabetes, improves gut health and fights infections.

Traditionally, seeds from horse chestnut trees were used to reduce joint pain, fever, tissue swelling and treat gut and bladder issues. However, today it has been widely used to treat haemorrhoids, swelling and leg vein issues. In this article, we will be discussing 5 benefits as well as side effects of horse chestnut in your diet:

# Treats varicose veins

These swollen veins are caused by CVI and typically occur in the legs. Horse chestnut extract improves the blood flow in your legs, thereby improving the venous tone. It also helps to decrease the swelling and pain associated with varicose veins.

# Relieves hemorrhoids

The swollen veins around your anus and rectum are what we refer to as, hemorrhoids. Itching, irritation, rectal bleeding and feeling uncomfortable are all symptoms of hemorrhoids. However, these symptoms can be relieved with the help of horse chestnut seed extract by reducing the inflammation and swelling in the affected veins and that is mainly due to the anti-inflammatory properties of the same.

# Has antioxidant properties

Being rich in flavonoid compounds, including quercetin and kaempferol, horse chestnut seed extract has potent antioxidant properties. these compounds can help to prevent cell damage caused by unstable molecules called free radicals. Although both aescin and horse chestnut seed extract have antioxidant properties the effect of horse chestnut seed extract is greater than that of aescin alone.

# Consists of cancer-fighting compounds

As per the studies, aescin helps to reduce tumor cell growth in certain cancers including leukemia, liver cancer, and multiple myeloma. aescin has also been observed to cause cell death in cancerous cells like lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. But it is to be noticed that all these studies focused on the use of aescin. There is still no clear evidence if horse chestnut seed extract would have the same effects.

# Helps with male fertility

Aescin is a compound found in horse chestnut. The swelling of the veins near the testicles is one of the main causes of male infertility. The most effective treatment for infertility is thus aescin that consists of the anti-inflammatory and anti-swelling properties. As per a study, taking 30 mg of aescin every 12 hours improved sperm density, sperm motility, and sperm quality.