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Meet the Ingredient: Horse Chestnut

Posted by KCO Team on Oct 10th 2022

Meet the Ingredient: Horse Chestnut

One of the most potent ingredients you will find here at Kettle Care Organics is our Horse Chestnut Extract.
Crafted in house with Organic Horse Chestnut, our extract is used in our Horse Chestnut Leg Lotion.

Horse Chestnut Tree

Horse Chestnuts are originally native to the mountains of northern Greece and Albania, but were widely spread in the 1600s throughout much of northern Europe starting with the United Kingdoms. Even here in northwestern Montana we see Horse Chestnut trees along many of our streets in our cities.

The fruit of the Horse Chestnut tree is called a "conker" and are historically used by British and Irish children in a game of the same name. Some say that it gets the name Horse Chestnut from the fact it was at one time used to treat horses for panting and coughs. (Something you should never do yourself if you happen to own horses as it is actually toxic for them!)

Conkers

The main active component in horse chestnut extract is aescin, which has been studied for its many health benefits.

Aescin is a component in horse chestnut extract with anti-inflammatory properties. It has been found to reduce inflammation related to injury, venous insufficiency, and swelling.

Inflammation can cause excess fluid buildup in your tissues, which can lead to fluid retention and swelling

Horse Chestnut extract has also been shown to be rich in Flavonoids. Flavonoids have been shown to reduce capillary
fragility and permeability, to reduce inflammation, and have even been shown to be anti-bacterial and anti-viral
in the right circumstance.

Appalachia has a long history of using Horse Chestnut in various tinctures and lotions as a folk medicinal application,
as a fever breaker, and as an astringent in cases of diarrhea and hemorrhoids. Throughout the years they even
used the leaves and the bark, but all should be treated with care because they all are mildly toxic if not prepared
correctly.

You can try the power of our house made Horse Chestnut extract in our Horse Chestnut Leg Lotion!