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Dr. Oz: Gotu Kola, Horse Chestnut, and Horsetail

 summer dressYesterday, Dr. Oz gave us some new ideas for skin beauty.  Read on for some insights into his herbal recommendations.

Gotu Kola

Cellulite is present to some degree in most adult women, but the unsightly dimpling is more apparent in some.  Scientists are only beginning to understand why cellulite occurs, but many believe it may have to do with how elastic your skin and connective tissue is.  Cellulite is also linked to circulation problems and local swelling of fat tissue. Gotu Kola has several different properties might be able to address both the swelling issues as well as the circulation and elasticity issues.

Circulation and Swelling

Gotu Kola has been researched for its role in the health of the tiny blood vessels called capillaries.  Sometimes capillaries will leak fluid, basically water, into the space surrounding the capillary, and then you have swelling in that area.   Researchers gave gotu kola to a group of women who had swelling because of capillary leakiness.  Swelling was measured by checking the size of the women’s ankles before and after treatment.  After treatment with gotu kola all the women in the study had significantly smaller, less swollen ankles.

Collagen and Connective Tissue

In another study, when an exract of gotu kola called asaticoside was injected into animals, gotu kola caused the animal’s skin to thicken, increased new blood flow to the new connective tissue, and increased nail and hair growth.  These are signs of new connective tissue growth and may indicate that gotu kola causes increased elasticity.  In fact, the sythesis of human collagen type I was accelerated in a laboratory setting by gotu kola.  Reduced type I collagen synthesis is associated with aging skin.

Vein Strength

Gotu Kola has also been studied for varicose veins.  Scientists believe gotu kola may help varicose veins by improving vascular tone.

Horse Chestnut

Compounds contained in horse chestnut seem to reduce swelling, combat inflammation, and improve sluggish circulation, all of which could be helpful for cellulite.  Inflammation is thought to be a causative factor in cellulite because damages connective tissue and increases capillary leakage. Horse Chestnut activates a certain cell type in the skin and connective tissue.  This cell, called a fibroblast, pulls connective tissue a littler tighter when activated, possibly smoothing out bumps and wrinkles.

Horsetail For Nails

Skip the horsetail and go for Biosil.  Horsetail provides silica, and silica is amazing for nails, but the silica in horsetail is barely absorbed by your body.  The silica in Biosil has been attached to another compound and this silica duo is easily absorbed.

Silica is a component of collagen, and it’s a component that we often run short of, probably because it is so poorly absorbed.  When we don’t have silica, we don’t make collagen.  Happily, when we have extra silica, we tend to make extra collagen and you can see that rather quickly in the hardness of your nails.

Order these products at Gotu Kola   Horse Chestnut   Horsetail   Biosil

Angiology 2011  Altern Med Rev 2007 Altern Med Review 2001. Plant Med 2006. J Vet Med Sci 2006. Arzneimittelforschung. 1994. J Cosmet Sci. 2006. Arch Dermatol Res 2005.