Milk thistle is a native European plant that grows 2 to 7 feet tall and has purplish thistle-shaped flowers and spiny leaves. It is a source of several vital minerals and antioxidants, including some that have been studied for their chemoprotective effects. Milk thistle may also help benefit the liver and is currently used in Europe to treat a number of different liver diseases.
Micronutrients
The milk thistle plant provides the minerals selenium and zinc while its seeds provide iron. The standardized active extract of milk thistle is called silibinin and it is widely considered the most chemically active component of milk thistle, and as pointed out in a 2007 study published in "Integrative Cancer Therapies." Silibinin is only one part of a larger compound in milk thistle called silymarin, which is made up of 7 polyphenols and flavolignans with antioxidant properties. In that 2007 cancer study, the researchers found that these two components may help protect cells against damage caused by toxicity from cancer therapies.
Liver Health
The same cancer researchers note in their report that several preceding studies, both in vitro and in vivo, have determined that silibinin and silymarin provide the liver protection from the oxidative stress caused by free radicals and from sustained inflammation caused by cytokines produced during the immune response. In 1986, a milk thistle extract was approved in Germany as a liver disease treatment. According to NYU's Langone Medical Center, milk thistle is still used in Europe today to treat a variety of liver ailments, including cirrhosis of the liver, viral and alcoholic hepatitis and liver poisoning and as a general liver protectant against medications that are toxic for the liver.
Safety
Etracts of milk thistle have been used for nearly two millennia as traditional herbal therapies, notes the 2007 "Integrative Cancer Therapies." The review also observes that milk thistle extracts appear to be safe and generally well-tolerated with negligible, if any, toxicity or adverse side effects. Still, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration neither recognizes nor approves of milk thistle as a food or medicine. Only use milk thistle under a doctor's supervision.
Dosage
Standardized milk thistle extracts contain between 70 and 80 percent silymarin and daily dosages for adults range from 100 to 450 mg, depending on the form of sylmarin in the extract, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
References
- "Integrative Cancer Therapies"; Toward the Definition of the Mechanism of Action of Silymarin: Activities Related to Cellular Protection from Toxic Damage Induced by Chemotherapy; M.C. Comelli, et al.; Jun 2007
- "Integrative Cancer Therapies"; Review of Clinical Trials Evaluating Safety and Efficacy of Milk Thistle; C. Tamayo, et al.; Jun 2007
- University of Maryland Medical Center; "Milk Thistle"; Steven D. Ehrlich; Mar 2009
- Herbal Remedies Info: "Vitamins and Minerals Found in Common Herbs"
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