Horse Chestnut Seed Extract - Caps

Features & Benefits

• Reduces nighttime leg cramps, especially in the calves*3

• A potent free-radical scavenger that helps protect and improve blood circulation in the legs by decreasing transcapillary filtration*1

• Strengthens capillaries by reducing the activity of lysosomal enzymes and thus inhibiting the breakdown of mucopolysaccharides in the capillary walls*3

Facts About Horse Chestnut

In Europe, horse chestnut seed extract is a proven aid to maintain and improve capillary strength, especially in the legs.*1,3 Capillaries are protected from becoming too porous.2 In one double-blind, placebo controlled, crossover study, horse chestnut seed extract (providing 50 mg escin taken 2 times daily), improved vein integrity in only three hours.1 The researchers concluded that horse chestnut effectively supported capillaries and veins in the legs.*1

A study in Lancet compared horse chestnut to a placebo. The 240 people who received a 300 mg capsule (standardized to 56 mg escin) of horse chestnut seed extract 2 times daily, reported that porosity of the capillaries improved significantly.*2

Ingredient Highlights

Nature's Life uses the finest horse chestnut extract available, tested for purity and potency and backed by our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee!

Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum L, Family Hippocastanaceae) is a deciduous tree native to southern Europe, but also cultivated in the United States and Canada. The tree grows 50-80 feet tall with large palmate-shaped leaves, bearing white, red or yellow flowers in late spring followed by seed pods with one to six shiny, brown seeds.

Escin, a triterpene glycoside mixture, is the primary active ingredient in horse chestnut seed extract. The concentration of escin determines extract quality and effectiveness. Horse chestnut also contains the phytosterols beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol and alpha-spinasterol.

Horse Chestnut Safety

Horse chestnut is well tolerated. In controlled studies, the only side effects noted were mild gastric complaints, including nausea. No adverse effects were noted and no contraindications were listed.*3

References

1. Bisler H, Pfeifer R, Kluken N, Pauschinger P. Effects of horse-chestnut seed extract on transcapillary filtration in chronic venous insufficiency. Dtsch Med Wochenschr 1986, Aug 29. 111(35):1321-9

2. Diehm C, Trampisch HJ, Lange S, and Schmidt C. Comparison of leg compression stocking and oral horse-chestnut seed extract in patients with chronic venous insufficiency. Lancet, 347, Feb 3, 1996 pp. 292-294

3. German Commission E Monographs, American Botanical Council 1996