The plant we know as horse chestnut has a rather curious history of name and use. There are more than 30 types of chestnuts in the world, the fruits of which are eaten, but horse – the fruits are poisonous, including for horses, although they are very similar to real ones. And this plant is generally included in another family, whose members once grew only in the Balkans.
And in the Latin name of this family there is a mention of "horses". Horse chestnut fruits repel spiders. And a long time ago, English doctors tried horse chestnut extract for varicose veins, which in their language sounded like "spider".
The result of the treatment was very successful. This is how medicine received today's popular remedy for strengthening blood vessels, read more about it on estet-portal.com.
Escin – key active ingredient in horse chestnut extract
Scientists have wondered why, when horse chestnut pulp was applied to skin with varicose veins, pain was reduced, swelling was reduced, large and small veins became less noticeable. As it turned out, the substance escin, which makes up about a fifth of the entire chestnut extract, is to blame.
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Aescin is a complex of 30 bioactive elements, triterpene saponins. It is a poisonous substance, so it is used in very small doses. But it is escin that has a vasoconstrictive and anti-inflammatory effect.
An important property of escin – it reduces the permeability of the vascular walls by reducing the activity of enzymes that destroy proteins in them. Due to this, through the wall of varicose vessels, the flow of fluid and electrolytes into the surrounding tissues stops, which means swelling decreases.
Aescin reduces the activity of the enzyme hyaluronidase, so that hyaluronic acid is stored in the skin, maintaining its hydration.
When hyaluronic acid molecules are destroyed, the skin quickly dehydrates, becomes thinner and flaky, and becomes covered with wrinkles. Escin helps restore skin density and firmness by inhibiting hyaluronidase activity.
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In addition to the above, horse chestnut extract contains B vitamins, amino acids and proteins that in combination with other ingredients reduce swelling and reduce the load on damaged vessels.
When horse chestnut extract is useful
The uniqueness of horse chestnut is that the international organization Cochrane in 2001 officially confirmed the therapeutic efficacy of its extract, therefore it is considered a pharmacological agent with reliably and objectively proven efficacy. Plant extracts rarely receive this kind of recognition.
The use of any topical product containing horse chestnut extract is considered to be a real therapeutic effect on the vessels and surrounding tissues.
The properties of horse chestnut extract are officially confirmed as venotonic, decongestant, anti-inflammatory.
It is included in the following products:
• anti-cellulite;
• for skin care in the periorbital zone;
• for skin with rosacea and a tendency to edema;
• for tired legs;
• for the prevention of skin aging;
• for hair care.
Horse chestnut extract has been confirmed to be effective in sunscreens. The substance is able to enhance the activity of components that protect the skin from UV radiation and prevent the destruction of lipids in cell membranes.
Applying sunscreen with this extract will reduce redness caused by the sun and speed up skin recovery after sun exposure.
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