* Please Note: This information is based partly on Traditional Medicine which uses natural materials to support health. This information has not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor.
Chestnut leaves were used to control coughing and to reduce fevers and agues. Culpeper said that powdered fruits, or nuts, added to honey were an "admirable remedy for the cough and spitting of blood."
Culinary Usage
The fruits were roasted, boiled as a vegetable, or used for chestnut stuffings, soups and puddings. The Romans made them into a kind of porridge, called "pollenta". They were also ground into a nutritional flour.
Miscellaneous
A native of Mediterranean regions, the sweet chestnut was introduced into Britain by the Romans; but the fruit seldom fully ripens because of the cool climate. The tree was listed by Aelfric. Chestnut timber was used for exterior fencing, and for interior beams and panelling. Nut meal was used to whiten linen and make starch.
Let the soothing floral essence of Sweet Chestnut pull you out of your deep despair and lift your spirits.
Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa) is the Bach Flower Remedy for people who have reached the limits of their endurance, who have explored all avenues but see no way out of their difficulties, and who feel that there is nothing left for them but annihilation and emptiness. Whereas people in a Gorse state have fallen into a state of hopelessness when there are actually possible solutions all around, the person in a Sweet Chestnut state is genuinely at the end of the line: theirs is appalling, final despair.
The remedy helps people in this extreme state to remain masters of their lives and renew their hope and strength. And sometimes a way out may open even at this stage of life.
Dr. Bach's Description: For those moments which happen to some people when the anguish is so great as to seem to be unbearable. When the mind or body feels as if it had borne to the uttermost limit of its endurance, and that now it must give way. When it seems there is nothing but destruction and annihilation left to face.
Description: A large, deciduous tree of up to 30 m in height. The simple, oblong leaves are distinctly serrate along the margins. Male and female flowers are arranged in long thin catkins, followed by large, brown, edible nuts enveloped in spiny capsules. Sweet chestnut should not be consumed with horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), which is also an important medicinal plant.
Origin: The tree occurs naturally from the Mediterranean region to the Caucasus. It has been an early introduction into many countries on account of the edible nuts and has become a popular ornamental tree. The medicinal product is collected in plantations in eastern Europe and western Asia.
Parts Used: Leaves (Castaneae folium) or rarely bark.
Therapeutic Category: Astringent, antitussive.
Uses and Properties: Leaves and bark extracts are a traditional remedy for diarrhoea. Leaves have also been used in folk medicine to treat cough, whooping cough, bronchitis and asthma. Extracts are used as a gargle to treat mucosal inflammations.
Active Ingredients: The leaves and bark contains tanruins at a level of about 9%, mainly ellagi-tannins (including tellimagrandin II). Quercetin, myricetin and the glycosides rutin, quercitrin and myricitrin are present in the leaves, together with triterpenoids such as ursolic acid.
Pharmacological Effects: Tannins strongly interact with proteins and alter their properties. The use of tanruins to treat diarrhoea, infections and inflammations can therefore be plausibly explained. However, there appears to be no solid evidence for the efficacy of chestnut leaves as a traditional antitussive medicine.
Notes: Chestnuts are commonly roasted and sold along the streets in Europe. The seed flour is used in Italian cooking. North American species such as Castanea dentata also yield edible nuts. Valuable timber is obtained from C. sativa and other species, and the bark has been used in tanning.
Status: Traditional medicine; Pharm.
Preparation and Dosage: A tea is made from 4 g of chopped dried leaves or a decoction can be made from the same amount of leaves by briefly boiling them. Leaf extracts are widely used in commercial preparations and in homoeopathic remedies.
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Directions
Dilute two drops of Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa) in a glass of water and sip at intervals. Replenish as necessary.
For multiple use, add two drops of Agrimony to a 30 mL mixing bottle (you may combine up to seven essences in this bottle), top up with mineral water and take four drops at least four times a day.
If necessary, the Bach Flower Essences can be dropped neat onto the tongue, or rubbed onto the lips, behind the ears, or on the temples and wrists.
You can take Bach Flower Remedies as often as you want. If you are in a mood or a bit of a crisis, you only may need one dose, but if you've been feeling the same way for some time you can take them as long as you need to.
Taking Bach Flower Remedies
You can take the remedies in several ways. For the treatment of a short-term mood or problem the easiest way is to put two drops of each selected remedy in a glass of water and sip as required, but at least four times a day, until relief is obtained. If using Rescue Remedy, put in four drops instead of two.
For the treatment of more chronic problems you should make up a treatment bottle, as this is more economical and will make the precious stock remedies go a bit further. Simply get a 30ml bottle with a dropper in the lid (try the local pharmacy), and then add two drops of each selected remedy (four drops of Rescue Remedy) to the bottle. Top this up with still mineral water and from this bottle take four drops four times a day.
If you keep them in the refrigerator, treatment bottles will last from 2 to 4 weeks. If you can't keep your bottle in the refrigerator but have to keep it in your pocket or handbag then you can add a teaspoon of brandy to the treatment bottle - this will help to keep the water from going off. If you don't want to use brandy, cider vinegar is an alternative, although it isn't quite so effective.
Ingredients
5x dilution of flower extracts of Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa) in an alcohol solution (27%).
Cautions
Gentle, safe effective treatment for the whole family. No artificial additive. Suitable for vegetarians. If pregnant or breast feeding, ask a health professional before use.
Additional Information
Where do Bach Flower Essences come from?
The Bach Flower Essences were developed by Dr. Edward Bach a Harley Street doctor and well known Physician, Bacteriologist, Homeopath and Researcher. He believed that attitude of mind plays a vital role in maintaining health and recovering from illness. BR>He identified 38 basic negative states of mind and created a plant or flower based remedy for each one.
After leaving London in 1930, Dr Bach explored the countryside in search of the essences for several years. In 1934 he decided to settle down and create a centre for his work, and chose Mount Vernon, a small cottage in Sotwell, Oxfordshire.
He spent the last years of his life at Mount Vernon and it was here that he completed his research.
Nowadays, Mount Vernon is better known as The Bach Centre, and the present custodians continue to prepare the mother tinctures (first process in making the essences), often using the same locations that Dr Bach identified in the 1930's. Only the Bach signature guarantees that you receive the original Bach Flower Essences, prepared as they have been since Dr. Bach's time with tinctures made exclusively by the Bach Centre at Mount Vernon.
Selecting Bach Flower Remedies
Dr Bach wanted his remedies to be so simple to use that anyone could select and take them without professional advice or the need for any special techniques. That is why the simple method set out here is still the only one used by the Bach Centre and by the practitioners on its register.
Imagine for example that you are suffering from asthma. There is no Bach Flower Remedy for asthma, since this is a physical complaint. Instead you need to ignore the asthma and look at the kind of person you are. Perhaps you are someone who is shy and timid, and who gets nervous about things like speaking in public and meeting new people. This would indicate that you are a Mimulus type, so this would be the first remedy to select.
Then you might think about the way you are feeling at the moment. Perhaps your son is about to start school and quite without cause you are frightened that he will be bullied. Red Chestnut is the remedy for the fear that something bad will happen to loved ones. Perhaps you have been working too hard and are exhausted: this would indicate the need for Olive.
You can select up to six or seven different remedies in this way. Don't worry too much if you make a wrong selection, because if a remedy is not needed it will not do anything. Experience has shown, however, that too many remedies taken at one time are not as effective as a few well-chosen ones. This means that there is no point mixing all 38 together to zap everything at once!
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor. The essence of the current American rule on Traditional Uses is, as stated by FTC, "Claims based on historical or traditional use should be substantiated by confirming scientific evidence, or should be presented in such a way that consumers understand that the sole basis for the claim is a history of use of the product for a particular purpose."
