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Horse chestnut

Supplement botanical heart & metabolic
Aka: Aesculus hippocastanum, aescin, escin
Brands seen in Singapore: Nature's Way, Swanson Vitamins, BodyGold, Nutricost, NOW Foods
Not medical advice. Check with your doctor or pharmacist before you start, stop or change the timing of anything you take.
How to use
What it’s for
Leg pain and swelling in chronic venous insufficiency
Studied for
Safety data cover short courses — about 12 weeks
Pros & cons
Pros
  • Cochrane: efficacious and safe short-term for cvi
  • 6 of 7 placebo trials cut leg pain; leg volume fell
  • One trial: as effective as compression stockings
Cons
  • Cochrane wants larger definitive trials to confirm
  • Raw seed, bark, flower and leaf are unsafe orally
  • Dizziness, gut upset, headache and itching reported
Sources
  1. NCCIH — Horse Chestnut: Usefulness and Safety (last updated April 2025) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “The raw seeds, bark, flowers, and leaves of horse chestnut are unsafe when used orally … Standardized … seed extracts are likely safe for short-term use and have been used safely in research studies for up to 12 weeks”
  2. Horse chestnut seed extract for chronic venous insufficiency (Pittler MH, Ernst E; Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012, CD003230.pub4) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “The evidence presented suggests that HCSE is an efficacious and safe short-term treatment for CVI. However, several caveats exist and larger, definitive RCTs are required to confirm the efficacy of this treatment option.”
  3. The role of venoactive compounds in the treatment of chronic venous disease (Gloviczki, Kakkos, Urbanek, Chuback, Nicolaides; J Vasc Surg Venous Lymphat Disord 2025) — Table I dosages and Table IV evidence grades · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Micronized purified flavonoid fraction (MPFF) and Ruscus extract combined with hesperidin methyl chalcone and ascorbic acid had the highest, mostly level A, quality of evidence.”
  4. HSA — Guidelines on Prohibited and Restricted Ingredients in Health Supplements and Traditional Medicines, GL-CHPB-1-012 Rev. No. 001 (Oct 2025), Annex A (105 rows) and Annex B (4 rows) — read from the cached PDF text on disk · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “The objective of this guideline is to highlight the substances of concern when used in HS and TM and is not meant to be an exhaustive list.”
  5. HSA — Health Supplements Guidelines, GL-CHPB-3-001 Rev. No. 020 (January 2026), section 4.8 with Tables 4 and 5 (vitamins and minerals limits) — read from the cached PDF text on disk · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “HS for use by the general adult population should not contain vitamins and minerals exceeding the stipulated limits stated in Tables 4 and 5.”
  6. HSA — Health Supplements Guidelines, GL-CHPB-3-001 Rev. No. 020 (January 2026), section 6.6 and Table 6: diseases/conditions not allowed for health supplements — read from the cached PDF text on disk · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “HS must not be labelled, advertised or promoted for any specific medicinal purpose … Blood and circulatory system: Hypertension, stroke, cholesterol disorders, reduces cholesterol, regulates platelet aggregation, coagulation defects, arteriosclerosis”
  7. iHerb Singapore — 'Horse Chestnut: Seed Extract & Aescin for Veins' category page, default (best-selling) order, read 27 Aug 2026 via WebFetch · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Horse Chestnut: Seed Extract & Aescin for Veins … Nature's Way … Swanson Vitamins … BodyGold … Nutricost … NOW Foods … Life Extension … 21st Century”
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Updated 2026-08-29. Every line above traces to a numbered source. Kozen-X is not a medical device and does not give medical advice. It lists what published sources have written down — nothing more. A pair not listed is unrecorded, not cleared. Before you start, stop or re-time anything, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.