Horse chestnut is a quite popular dietary supplement used for hundreds of years to treat different conditions in horses. The horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) is a tree native to Balkan Peninsula. In herbal medicine, horse chestnut leaves, seeds, flowers, and bark are all used to prepare this supplement.
Now you may wonder how to take this supplement? How safe is the use of horse chestnut seed extract for horses? And most important, how to pick the right horse chestnut supplement for horses?
To make it easier for you, we have come up with the five best horse chestnut supplements for horses and its buying guide to help you get the right one for your horse.
Let’s get started.
Quick Picks
Best overall: Best Naturals Horse Chestnut Supplement is our top pick for best horse chestnut supplement. It is due to the fact that this product is highly rated on Amazon, and a large number of customers have given positive reviews about this horse chestnut supplement for horses. Besides, taking this natural chestnut supplement helps joint function and reduces arthritis pain. It is a non-GMO product, gluten-free, sodium-free, and contains no dairy source.
Best budget option: Solaray Horse Chestnut Seed Extract is the most reliable chestnut supplement on budget. However, its formula contains less concentration of aescin, only 18%. But the aescin combined with Butcher’s Broom support blood circulation and leg vein health. Each capsule offers 400 mg horse chestnut, which is OK for its price.
Best Horse Chestnut Supplement
Below, the best horse chestnut supplements are discussed in detail.
1. Best Naturals Horse Chestnut Supplement
The high-quality Natural Horse Chestnut Supplement for horses is a highly-rated product in the market. Each bottle contains 100 tablets, and each capsule offers 250 mg horse chestnut and 20% aescin.
This horse chestnut product has it all; gluten-free, vegetarian safe, non-GMO project verified, Tru-ID Certified, and contains no dairy product. Moreover, this great product contains no artificial flavors.
Natural Horse Chestnut Extract has many health benefits. It helps reduce arthritis pain caused by inflammation. Also, it aids joints to function properly by breaking down the uric acid crystals.
However, it’s a good product with a price. That being said, some customers complain about getting rotten pills on delivery.
Pros
- Supports healthy joints
- Safe for vegetarians
- A verified non-GMO product
- Gluten-free
- Sugar-free
- Sodium-free
Cons
- It does not smell good
2. Solaray Horse Chestnut Seed Extract
Another best horse chestnut supplement on our list. The Solaray Horse Chestnut is a USA brand that was first introduced in the market in 1973.
Since then, this product has been tested several times by different labs and approved. Even third-party labs and many researchers regarded this as one of the best horse chestnuts for horses.
Most powerful horse chestnut in the market—each capsule in the bottle contains 400 mg horse chestnut. However, it contains less concentration of aescin (18%,) but increasing the dose will make up for the lower concentration.
Additionally, its ingredients include Butcher’s Broom, a herb that adds more benefits to this herbal supplement. Butcher’s Broom supports blood circulation. Above all, Solaray Horse Chestnut Seed Extract is a great product at a reasonable price.
Pros
- Contain 18% aescin that aid healthy circulation
- Contain Butcher’s Broom that aid leg veins health
- Cost-efficient
Cons
- May cause stomach ache
3. Horse Chestnut Extract Now Foods
This brand is considered one of the best horse chestnut supplement brands because of its consistency and potency. Now Foods one capsule provides 300 mg of aescin and 200mg of rutin.
It contains ingredients such as cellulose, magnesium stearate, silica, and rutin. Rutin is a powerful free radical scavenger that combines with aescin and promotes blood circulation, supports healthy veins, and reduces swelling in hemorrhoids and varicose veins.
Moreover, these chestnut supplements are prepared with a pure steam-distilled, which has undergone a strict quality control process to guarantee the highest purity levels possible.
In addition, this effective horse chestnut product is free of artificial flavors and colors. However, some customers complain about getting sick after taking this supplement.
Pros
- 100% natural
- Gluten-free
- Vegan capsules
- No chemicals
- GMP certified
- No dairy sources
Cons
- Only for adults
- May cause illness in some people
- Cause dizziness
4. Puritan’s Pride
Puritan’s Pride has been manufacturing supplements in the United States since 1968. They provide their customers with a safe and quality-controlled product.
Puritan’s Pride Horse Chestnut Extract’s one capsule contains 33 mg chestnut and 20% aescin. Other ingredients of this product contain silica, vegetable cellulose, dicalcium phosphate, and magnesium stearate.
This horse chestnut product is a great option if you want to buy a reliable product but is a bit expensive. But the good thing is the brand offers a money-back guarantee on all their products.
Pros
- Standardized to 20% aescin
- 300 mg per serving
- Offer a satisfaction guarantee on all their products
Cons
- Expensive
5. GNC Herbal Plus Herbal Horse Chestnut Supplement
GNC is a brand of herbal supplements with the standardized extract. This product offers 300mg horse chestnut and contains 20% aescin content.
GNC Herbal Horse Chestnut Supplement is a vegetarian product. Its veggie capsules are made of cellulose and vegetable cellulose that support healthy leg veins.
This herbal horse chestnut supplement contains no artificial flavors, no dairy sources, or soya and is gluten-free. Some customers reported that consuming this supplement shows serious side effects such as liver damage and leg pain.
Pros
- 300mg horse chestnut
- Vegan capsules
- Yeast-free
- Sodium free
- Sugar-free
Cons
- Expensive than other products in the market
Horse Chestnut Supplement Buying Guide
It is always good to research a bit before buying any dietary supplement. We have designed this buying guide to help you pick the best chestnut supplement for your horse. Here are a few recommendations.
Dosage Recommendation
Generally, the recommended Horse chestnut dosage is 400-600mg per day, usually, taken in two equal doses a day. Split doses are often recommended for best results because the active components in horse chestnuts take time to absorb completely. These supplements are available in capsule form, and you can take them with or without food.
The finest quality horse chestnut product will clearly mention the standardized amount of aescin present in each tablet. Typically, a chestnut extract standardized to 20% aescin is available in the market. The dosages for aescin extract should be around 100-150mg. So, if a supplement is available in 500mg of horse chestnut containing 20% aescin, this means it offers an aescin dosage of 100mg.
Safety And Side Effects
Horse chestnut extract can cause several side effects, including nausea, itching, gastrointestinal problems, headache, and muscle aches.
To achieve the safe use of horse chestnut, make sure to ask your physician before you consider using the supplement to treat CVI or any other health condition.
If you have kidney disease or other bleeding disorders, you should avoid taking horse chestnuts. Never combine horse chestnut with Coumadin (warfarin), aspirin, Plavix (clopidogrel), and other antiplatelet (blood-thinning) or anticoagulant drugs unless your doctor prescribed. Because it may increase the side effects of these medications.
Be careful while using these supplements as they are not tested for safety, and therefore, are considered an unregulated dietary product. Also, there is a possibility that the ingredients of some products may differ from what is mentioned on the product label.
Note: The safety of horse chestnut supplements in nursing mothers, pregnant women, children, and those with other medical conditions or taking medications hasn’t been established.
FAQs About Horse Chestnut Supplements
Here are answers to some of your questions about horse chestnut supplements.
Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) is a native tree in Asia. It contains a significant quantity of a poison known as esculin. This poison can cause death if you eat it raw.
Also, this supplement contains a blood-thinning substance. The horse chestnut makes it difficult for fluid to leak out of veins and capillaries, preventing edema. The seed of horse chestnut fruits looks similar to the sweet chestnut but actually has a bitter taste.
Usually, the extracts of horse chestnut seed are prescribed for people with poor circulation. It is taken by mouth and helps prevent swelling of legs or chronic venous insufficiency or CVI. These supplements are also used to treat many other health problems. However, its other uses are not backed up by any scientific evidence.
Remember, Aesculus hippocastanum (Horse chestnut) is different from Aesculus californica (California buckeye) or Aesculus glabra (Ohio buckeye). Some people confuse these plants with horse chestnuts, but they are different trees with different effects.
Horse chestnut supplements are well known for benefitting people having varicose veins, bruises, or other circulatory problems. It has been known to help blood circulation.
And once the blood circulation gets better, you will see improvements on your skin as well. You have to do a lot of research before you add it to your skincare regimen. It is recommended to consult your doctor about the benefits or side effects of horse chestnut for skin before starting its use.`
Horse chestnut is a herbal supplement that you can use to manage many of the problems associated with varicose veins. Actually, the horse chestnut supplement contains two main active compounds or ingredients arbutin and aescin.
Arbutin speeds up the healing of varicose veins, while aescin prevents the blood from pooling in veins. Varicose veins are widespread in many horses as they spend most of their time walking, standing, or sitting. The blood vessels become dilated due to these body postures and cannot properly return to their standard size. In the end, the veins become stretched out.
Also, these chestnut supplements are used to manage thread veins. These veins are smaller than varicose veins and can only be seen using a magnifying glass. Additionally, these supplements can be used for many other health conditions, including hemorrhoids, itchy skin, swelling in general, and pain associated with bruises.
Horse chestnut has been used for circulatory health, eczema, diarrhea, and more. Most of these effects are attributed to the aescin molecules. Some of the most common uses of horse chestnut include:
Varicose Veins — Several pieces of evidence have shown that horse chestnut supplements can improve symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency. Varicose veins cause this chronic venous insufficiency. This effect is due to the available aescin concentration in horse chestnut supplements.
Circulation — The horse chestnuts contain aescin that improves circulation. Symptoms caused by poor circulation such as tiredness, pain, itching, water retention, and swelling in the legs can be treated using good horse chestnut supplements.
Antioxidant — A horse chestnut containing antioxidants properties, including flavonoids, can keep you healthy by fighting damage done by free radicals.
Fertility—It is proven that a horse chestnut supplement can improve sperm quality in males with varicocele-associated infertility. However, more research is required to support these findings.
Other uses of horse chestnut include; treatment of diarrhea, fever, cough, menstrual pain, hemorrhoids, and more. These uses have not been scientifically proven.
Usually, Horse Chestnut is used as a supplement to treat blood clots, but its use should be made under the observation of a qualified practitioner only.
For example, combining Horse Chestnut with blood thinners can increase the risk of excessive bleeding as these drugs cancel out each other’s effects.
Therefore, a Horse Chestnut supplement might benefit patients who don’t need blood thinners and have high cholesterol. However, it is best to see your doctor and seek medical advice before adding any supplement to your diet.
Conclusion
The beneficial properties of horse chestnut make it a popular herbal treatment for various conditions. Horse chestnut extract is now available in capsules and may benefit health conditions like hemorrhoids.
We have made a list of the top horse chestnut supplements to help you select the best in the market. Generally, the supplement is considered safe to take but comes with possible side effects. So it is better to ask the doctor before using.
