Supersmart recommends taking FlavoLife daily with meals. It can be combined with other supplements available to buy in our catalogue such as Daily 3. If you’re particularly interested in FlavoLife for its vascular benefits (venous insufficiency), it is better combined with a supplement containing horse chestnut extract.

After flavonoids pass through the colon, they are reabsorbed and affect several biological functions including protein synthesis, cell differentiation and proliferation and angiogenesis (15-16).

Buy FlavoLife capsules to boost overall health.

Venous insufficiency is characterised by changes to the vein wall (leading to the development of varicose veins), hormonal fluctuations (resulting in increased elasticity of the vein wall) and dysfunctional valves.

It manifests in poor blood flow in the veins. It's mainly the legs which are affected - they become heavy, painful and swollen as blood accumulates. It eventually leads to the permanent formation of unsightly varicosities: damaged veins that are blueish, twisted and prominent.

A very large number of trials have been conducted on horse chestnut in people with venous insufficiency. These trials have:

• Demonstrated alleviation of leg pain and oedema in individuals supplementing with 300mg of horse chestnut extract (7).
• Showed a decrease in leg volume with the same type of supplement (8-9).
• Showed aescin to have a similar effect to that of compression stockings (10).
• Demonstrated positive effects for aescin and pycnogenol (a molecule found in French maritime pine bark) on venous insufficiency (11).

Horse chestnuts are sometimes described as poisonous. This is because of a toxin called aesculoside which has been carefully removed from the supplement Horse Chestnut Extract.

Apart from this, the only other change is the increase in aescin, a thoroughly well-tolerated molecule.

If you suffer from circulation problems, particularly in the legs, it's important to be aware of risk factors to avoid and positive steps to take to boost the action of venotonics:

Factors to avoid:

• Wearing anything too tight on your legs or around the abdomen.
• Sitting with your legs crossed.
• Prolonged standing.
• Excess abdominal weight.
• Wearing unsuitable shoes (very high heels).
• Very high temperatures.
• Engaging in intense sports (such as volleyball, handball or football).

Measures to adopt:

• Regularly stand on tiptoes.
• Keep flexing your feet when sitting for prolonged periods.
• Wear special orthopaedic insoles.
• Take a cool shower at the end of the day, beginning at the ankles and moving up to the thighs).
• Engage in regular, gentle exercise, such as walking, swimming or gymnastics.
• Wear compression socks or stockings: they help stimulate venous return and prevent blood from pooling.
• Eat a diet high in plant fibre (fruits and vegetables).

Horse Chestnut Extract combines well with other natural venotonics available to buy at Supersmart such as Lympathonic, a sweet clover extract with a high coumarin content, and VeinoMax, a natural formulation containing several plant extracts good for circulation problems.

This product’s capsules are composed of HPMC (hydroxypropyl methylcellulose), a plant substance derived from cellulose. HPMC is widely used for medicines and dietary supplements. It contains no animal ingredients, is recognised as safe by health authorities and is considered more sustainable than synthetic alternatives.