Milk thistle's medical use stretches back more than 2,000 years. It is commonly found growing in a variety of settings, including roadside beds. The dried fruit of the plant is used in modern herbal extracts, and its active constituent is a flavonoid called silymarin. Its most typical use is for supporting liver function, making it an enormously popular herb to add to any detoxification or preventive maintenance regime.
Importance of Liver Function
The liver is a major organ of the body, filtering harmful toxins from our daily activities, like eating, breathing and drinking. In traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM, the liver stores blood and ensures that Qi flows smoothly in the body. It is connected to the gallbladder, which supplies the body with bile, a substance needed for digesting fats. When liver function is impaired, toxic substances can build up, causing a variety of health problems.
Milk Thistle Benefits
Nicholas Culpeper, a 17th century pharmacist, documented milk thistle's usefulness in clearing obstructions of the liver and spleen, recommending its use for patients with jaundice. Extracts of this herb can protect the cells of the liver by blocking and removing harmful toxins in the liver cells. The silymarin in milk thistle has also been found to regenerate injured liver cells, which can repair some of the damage caused by diseases like alcohol abuse and hepatitis. Silymarin can also block fibrosis, which can lead to cirrhosis of the liver.
For those who suffer from hepatitis C, milk thistle can be a part of recovery. A study published in 2007 in "Gastroenterology" stated that the antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties of silymarin make milk thistle an alternative to some of the standard medications given to hepatitis C sufferers.
Milk Thistle and Alcohol Recovery
Alcohol can cause a great deal of damage to the liver, sometimes leading to cirrhosis as well as cancer. Milk thistle is frequently recommended as an adjunct therapy in recovery programs. Because milk thistle can block the entrance of harmful toxins and can remove them from the liver, it can repair some of the damage caused by ethanol. A study published in the "Cancer Letters" states that the constituents in milk thistle inhibit ethanol-dependent increases in hepatocellular carcinoma cell growth. According to Dr. Allen Gaby's book, "The Natural Pharmacy," milk thistle extracts have been found to reduce death to alcohol-induced cirrhosis of the liver.
Typical Recommendations
Dosing differs for those suffering from diseases of the liver and for those who are just using milk thistle as a part of a preventive regimen. For liver disease and impaired liver function, "The Natural Pharmacy" suggests 420 to 600 milligrams of silymarin per day. The herbal extract used should contain 80 percent silymarin. If supportive maintenance is what you seek, 200 to 400 mg is enough per day.
Safety
According to "The Natural Pharmacy," milk thistle is generally safe, with few side effects being documented. It is safe enough to be used by pregnant and breast-feeding women, although it can have a mild, temporary laxative effect in some people, which usually stops after a few days.
References
- "Gastroenterology"; Inhibition of T-cell inflammatory cytokines, hepatocyte NF-kappaB signaling, and HCV infection by standardized Silymarin; Polyak, SJ, et al; May 2007
- "Cancer Letters"; Silibinin inhibits ethanol metabolism and ethanol-dependent cell proliferation in an in vitro model of hepatocellular carcinoma; Brandon-Warner, E, et al. May 2010
- "The Natural Pharmacy"; Gaby, Allen, MD, et al; 2006
