Chestnuts are associated with high school graduation, others with the inevitably approaching autumn, others know the medicinal extracts of horse chestnut from the labels of various medicinal preparations. According to supporters of natural medicine, chestnuts help with insomnia and varicose veins, reduce the effects of electromagnetic radiation, but if there are too many of them in the home, they can cause migraines and nausea. How is it really? Do chestnuts have any healing properties and is it worth picking them?

Chestnuts , meaning fruits and seeds of chestnut, next to heather, acorns, rowan and cool mornings, is a sign that autumn is slowly approaching. Each of us knows them well: they are green on the outside, and white on the inside, spiky and fleshy shells, which - when they are ripe - open up and release one or more hard balls, covered with a shiny brown skin.

But not only preschoolers and students of the first year of elementary school bend for them while walking: many people believe that due to the properties of chestnuts it is good to always carry a few chestnuts in your pocket, or put them under a pillow or somewhere near the TV .

Ripe chestnut fruits are also eagerly eaten by some forest animals, and according to people who practice folk medicine or natural therapy, chestnuts also have a number of medicinal properties.

Medicinal properties of chestnuts

It is worth remembering, however, that in Poland the name "chestnut" refers to both the fruits and seeds of the chestnut, and the tree itself. That is why many people, when speaking about the medicinal properties of chestnut, mean not only the properties of fruits and seeds, but also the bark, flowers and leaves of the chestnut tree, from which valuable medicinal extracts are obtained.

The properties of chestnut fruit and seeds - especially those harvested in autumn, when they have fallen to the ground - are much weaker; The immature ones, still hidden in the shell, have much stronger healing properties. Unprocessed, however, they are highly poisonous, which is why they are rarely used in home healing potions - they are used primarily in the pharmaceutical industry.

The seeds of horse chestnut contain numerous - though not as numerous as in the bark or leaves - compounds valuable for he alth, incl. coumarins, flavonoids, saponins, phenolic acids andtannins.

Medicinal properties of chestnuts

Chestnuts - mainly their flowers, bark and leaves, and to a lesser extent fruits and seeds - have a number of medicinal properties.

  • strengthen blood vesselsand prevent the formation of spider veins - the escin contained in them reduces the activity of enzymes that weaken their walls, and flavonoids and coumarin seal them and have anti-inflammatory properties.
  • improve blood circulation , reducing the tendency to hemorrhoids and varicose veins - flavonoids and escin reduce blood viscosity, improving its flow.
  • alleviate digestive problems- tannins contained in infusions of flowers or leaves of horse chestnut have a relaxing and anti-inflammatory effect, and even constipating, helping in case of poisoning.
  • prevent swelling, soothe cellulite- horse chestnut extracts contained, for example, in preparations for the so-called heavy legs and cellulite-resistant legs improve the elasticity of blood vessels, preventing plasma from seeping into adjacent tissues.
  • are helpful in hematomas, bruises and frostbite- contained in horse chestnut extracts, as well as in infusions and decoctions applied externally in the form of compresses, substances accelerate the absorption of hematomas and improve blood flow .

Medicinal tincture of chestnuts (horse chestnut) - recipe

Ripe chestnuts collected in a park or forest should be made into a tincture that can be used orally, drinking three times a day before a meal (in the amount of 5 drops dissolved in a glass of water), and externally, for rubbing or for compresses in in case of muscle and joint pain.

Chestnut recipe:

  • Crush twenty ripe chestnuts in a mortar or blend them in a blender.
  • Then pour a glass of cool, previously boiled water and 0.5 l of spirit.
  • Pour into a jar, screw the cap and set aside for a month, shaking the jar every now and then.
  • After a month, strain the tincture into a bottle and store in the refrigerator.

Chestnuts: superstitions and myths

It is difficult to find someone who has not heard that chestnuts absorb electromagnetic radiation and that is why it is worth carrying them in your pocket or putting them next to a computer or TV set. The problem is that no one has ever proved it, and it is not known how chestnuts would absorb radiation - especially since what TV or monitors emit today is negligible and harmless.

It is also a myth that chestnuts cure insomnia, and in excess - and stored for too long - they cause migraine, hemorrhages and nausea,or reduce the appetite.

Perhaps the view came from the fact that chestnuts stored in inappropriate conditions can mold, and the mold can already be harmful - especially in the case of an allergy to fungi and molds, unpleasant symptoms may appear, but usually it is hay fever, shortness of breath, or hives. So this is another fairy tale not confirmed by any scientific evidence.

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Category:

Alternative medicine