Chestnut is a unique tree growing on our planet. In addition to the fact that the plant has healing properties, it absorbs a huge amount of exhaust gases, which poison the air of large cities, neutralizes the negative effects of radiation, which in our time is not unnecessary. In folk medicine, bark, leaves, fruits and the color of chestnut are used. The healing properties of this tree have been known to man since ancient times.
Tree description
The chestnut, which we will talk about today, is called horse. The tree probably got that name because of fruits that are not edible (unlike chestnut nuts of other species from the beech family). Another version of the appearance of this name suggests that ripe fruits resemble the color of a bay horse in luster and color. To horse chestnut, the epithet "ordinary" is often applied.
Chestnut is a deciduous monoecious tree or shrub belonging to the Beech family. Its height can reach 50 m. The trunk is covered with a thick brown bark with a brown tint with deep furrows. Leaves are short-leaved, spiral double-row, broadly lanceolate. At the top, they are pointed in the shape of a heart or wedge. Earrings are thin, 5-15 cm long, containing mainly staminate flowers, and pistillate flowers are located at the base.
The color of chestnut, the medicinal properties of which are widely used in folk medicine, appears in May. Nectar of flowers contains up to 75% sucrose. The fruits are spike tricuspid capsules of green color. Sometimes they are called cocoons. They open on the wings and inside have a large seed. In September, the fruits ripen completely.
Seeds are in the form of spherical triangular wavy cotyledons having a large white germ. It contains a large amount of starch. In a leathery thin shell of nuts are the remains of columns and perianth. Nuts have an ovoid-spherical shape, they are in contact with each other with flat sides. Many insects, collecting pollen and nectar, pollinate the plant.
Spread
Trees belonging to the genus Horse Chestnut, under natural conditions, grow in southern Europe, in East Asia, in northern India.
In Europe, it began to be cultivated since the 16th century in parks and gardens as an ornamental plant. Chestnut grows well on loose and deep soils - sandy loam or clay, moderately moist. It tolerates dry chernozem soils in the steppes; in saline soils, it does not take root well. The tree is sensitive to dry winds, so often in summer the leaves are badly burned and fall prematurely. On the latitude of Moscow it freezes a little during very cold winters; however, as in St. Petersburg, but in well-protected places they grow large and blooming profusely. Under favorable conditions, horse chestnut lives up to 300 years.
The healing properties of chestnut
Chestnut treatment has long been used by traditional healers. As raw materials are used seeds, fruits, bark, leaves, chestnut color. In folk medicine, the most popular are the fruits and color of the plant, which are often used in official medicine. They are used in the manufacture of drugs for varicose veins. This is not at all surprising, chestnut is a potent drug that effectively dilutes blood and prevents thrombosis. When administered, it has analgesic, antispasmodic and anti-sclerotic effects.
Bark, seeds, chestnut color (photo can be seen in the article) have an astringent, antipyretic effect. Therefore, they can be used in the treatment of gout, bronchitis, rheumatism, cholecystitis, digestive disorders. But the most important healing properties of horse chestnut flowers are in the treatment of various vascular diseases, because this plant significantly reduces the level of capillary permeability, increases their tone, and promotes the resorption of blood clots that have already appeared.
What is escin?
Traditional healers say, and representatives of traditional medicine support them in this matter, that chestnut is a storehouse of useful substances. But the most beneficial effect on the human body is provided by escin - a unique substance that is found only in this plant.
This component acts on the human body in many ways. First of all, it should be said that escin stimulates the production of hormones in the adrenal cortex. They are responsible for resistance to stress. In addition, it is a powerful anti-inflammatory agent.
The healing properties of horse chestnut flowers
These fragrant cones appear on trees in May, the peak of flowering is observed at the end of the month. This time is most favorable for collecting and drying flowers, making decoctions from fresh raw materials.
Chestnut flowers have many useful properties:
- strengthen immunity;
- increase the elasticity of venous walls and capillaries;
- stimulate the production of hormones produced by the adrenal glands;
- increase stress resistance;
- possess anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiseptic effects;
- normalize metabolic processes and blood circulation;
- relieve symptoms of mastitis and mastopathy;
- remove salt deposits, heavy metals, radionuclides from the body;
- support the work of the digestive tract and normalize intestinal motility;
Chestnut color - use and contraindications
Many traditional healers recommend drinking infusion of chestnut flowers in the spring for 2-3 weeks. After a long winter, when the body is weakened, such an infusion will have a powerful tonic effect, increase immunity.
Flowers, of course, can be dried and harvested for future use, because healers recommend drinking this remedy twice a year. Therefore, in spring it can be prepared from fresh flowers, and in autumn or winter - from dry raw materials.
Before you start talking about treatment, we want to warn you that all medicinal plants, along with their healing properties, also have contraindications, which, if taken alone (without consulting a doctor), can be harmful to health.
Horse chestnut is not recommended for pregnant women, people suffering from kidney diseases, having a stomach ulcer and low blood clotting, which is typical for diabetes.
Decoction treatment
The color of chestnut in folk medicine is used to make a decoction. Cooking it is not difficult. You will need:
- chestnut flowers (50 g);
- boiling water (250 ml).
Pour fresh or dry flowers with boiling water in an enameled bowl and cover the container with a lid. Let the flowers brew for 3 hours. Take a decoction in the morning and evening for half a glass.
You can insist on a chestnut-colored water bath. The healing properties of it do not change from this. In this case, the same amount of raw materials and water is used, the only difference is that the mixture must be kept on low heat in a water bath for about 20 minutes. Only then the broth insist. It turns out to be more concentrated, so you can not take it more than 1/3 cup.
How to make tincture?
For this, chestnut color is also used. Tincture is used in the treatment of varicose veins, thrombosis, hemorrhoids, thrombophlebitis.
100 grams of dried flowers must be poured with a liter of alcohol or quality vodka. Infuse the flowers for two weeks in a dry and dark place. Use tincture of 25 drops before meals 3 times a day. The course of treatment is thirty days. In difficult cases, tincture can be taken for two months. But then you have to take a break for a month, then repeat the course.
This is a very effective remedy - the color of chestnut. Tincture helps with arthritis and rheumatic pains.
The preparation of tinctures can be complicated, but this will help you conserve raw materials for a long time. To do this, you need to grind the flowers without columns of candles in a meat grinder, squeeze the juice from the resulting slurry and mix it with alcohol. In this form, the color of the chestnut from varicose veins is used.
Flower juice
To strengthen the body and increase immunity, strengthen the heart muscle, prevent viral and colds, it is recommended to drink juice from fresh inflorescences for two weeks.
Rinse the flowers thoroughly under running water, grind them into pulp using a blender or meat grinder, squeeze the resulting mass and drain the juice. Filter it through several layers of gauze. Pour into an opaque glass container and put in the refrigerator. Take this composition should be 35 drops 3 times a day. The course of treatment is 30 days.
If you have not felt improvement, then treatment can be repeated in a month. Now you understand how important it is to collect the color of the chestnut in the spring . The use of juice from it rejuvenates the body, calms the nervous system.
Breast treatment
The color of the chestnut, the photo of which you see in our article, traditional healers use (and, they say, very successfully) for seals in the mammary gland. They use it as an external and internal remedy in the form of decoctions and tinctures. But let's immediately warn our readers that any breast seal is a reason for immediate consultation with a specialist. Indeed, compaction can occur not only as a result of benign hyperplasia. It may indicate much more formidable diseases. Therefore, do not be lazy, consult a doctor. Only after you receive a conclusion that you do not need surgery, you can use folk remedies, in particular compresses and tinctures made of chestnut color, along with drugs prescribed by a specialist.
Body cleansing
In this section of our article, we will not talk about bowel cleansing, but about how escin acts - a component that comes in the color of chestnut. The healing properties of the plant are enhanced by the content of this substance in its composition. Escin “intercepts” free radicals in the cells of the body. They, having increased chemical activity, destroy molecules (including DNA). This leads to mutations, the formation of malignant neoplasms, accelerated aging, aggravation of the course of many already serious ailments. The reason for their appearance can be many. It is known that many Ukrainians after the tragedy at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant used infusions and decoctions of this amazing plant. This is another answer to the question: “What is the color of chestnut?”
Harvesting flowers
Medicinal raw materials can be procured for long-term storage. Gather the color of the chestnut (its medicinal properties are not lost during drying), spread the inflorescences in the sun on parchment in one layer. Leave them for 3-4 days, until the flowers become crumbly and brittle.
Transfer the raw materials to a paper bag and store it at room temperature, in a dark place. In autumn and winter, prepare vitamin tea or decoction from dried flowers.
Chestnut honey
How else is chestnut color useful? The healing properties of the plant are manifested in another product. In May, bee toilers make chestnut, dark brown honey. They collect pollen from flowering trees. This honey has a bitter, tart taste and a rich aroma. He is very much appreciated by the adherents of a healthy lifestyle.
It is chestnut honey that has powerful bactericidal properties. This is a powerful antiseptic. It is used for stomach ulcers, open long healing wounds.
This honey is quite expensive, because chestnut fades quickly, and it is not common in all regions.
Today we told you what the color of a chestnut is. The healing properties of it, as you see, are diverse. Therefore, use it in the treatment of various ailments, only consult with your doctor first.