Milk Thistle Extracts treat liver ailments for more than 2,000
years.
What Is Milk Thistle
Extracts?
Healers have used the prickly Milk Thistle
Extracts plant to treat liver ailments for more than 2,000
years. Somehow these early practitioners figured out that
preparations of this purple-flowered member of the sunflower
family could stimulate the flow of bile from the liver,
improving digestion and various liver-related ills.
Interestingly, bile and other bodily fluids, also known as
humors, were once associated with different personality types.
Because it was thought that black bile was inherent to a
melancholic nature, Milk Thistle
Extractswas prescribed for treating depression and
melancholy (which actually means "black bile"). Today, the word
"biliousness" and the phrase "having excess bile" are still used
to describe negative personality traits.
While Milk Thistle
Extracts is no longer seen as a remedy for melancholy,
hundreds of medical studies have substantiated the fact that the
herb does indeed protect and heal the liver. European physicians
currently consider Milk Thistle
Extracts a mainstay for liver disorders ranging from
hepatitis to cirrhosis. But even though a 19th-century American
medical group called the Eclectics prescribed Milk Thistle
Extracts for liver ailments, it has never been widely used
in the U.S. for healing purposes.
Milk Thistle
Extracts grows throughout the world (including North
America) in both cultivated and wild form. Many sources refer to
the herb, by its botanical name, Silybum marianum, as well as by
its active compounds, collectively known as silymarin.
Concentrated stores of silymarin are found in the herb shiny
black fruits (seeds), which are typically collected at summer
end.
Health Benefits of Milk Thistle
Extracts:
Although most widely associated with liver complaints, Milk Thistle
Extracts is also being examined for treating a variety of
other disorders, from gallstones and high cholesterol to skin
cancers and allergy symptoms. As a potent antioxidant, the
versatile milk thistle extract helps prevent highly reactive
oxygen molecules called free radicals from damaging cells
throughout the body, but especially in the liver, stomach, and
intestines. An injectable form of Milk Thistle
Extracts is a powerful antidote to mushroom poisoning. And
the oral extract shows promise for minimizing
chemotherapy-associated liver damage. This is a function of the
herb antioxidant actions as well as its ability to accelerate
the excretion of toxic compounds that can accumulate in the body.
Specifically, Milk Thistle
Extracts may help to:
Treat acute and chronic liver disease. Milk Thistle
Extracts "cleanses" and therefore fortifies the liver, a
vital organ responsible for processing everything from nutrients
in foods to medications and chemical pollutants. The herb partly
accomplishes this task by preventing a reduction in
concentrations of glutathione, an amino-acidlike compound that
is critical to neutralizing toxins. Some studies indicate that
Milk Thistle
Extracts can actually increase glutathione levels by as much
as 35%. In addition, silymarin alters the outer membrane of
liver cells in such a way that toxins are barred from entering.
It even encourages the formation of new, healthier liver cells
to replace old, damaged ones. Various types of liver damage
benefit from these remarkable properties, and the herb has
repeatedly demonstrated its power to do so.
In the largest trial to date specifically studying the use of Milk Thistle
Extracts for chronic liver disease, more than 2,500 people
suffering from this condition showed improvement in their liver
function tests when taking the extract. Many also reported that
they felt better. People with an acute form of liver
disease--acute viral hepatitis--also stand to benefit from milk
thistle. In a double-blind study reported in 1998, the extract
improved the results of liver function tests, speeded recovery,
and reduced the length of hospital stays as compared with a
placebo.
Treat alcohol-related liver problems. Excessive alcohol intake
depletes the amount of toxin-neutralizing glutathione in the
liver and can cause severe scarring and dysfunction, a condition
called cirrhosis. Milk Thistle
Extracts not only boosts glutathione levels, it also helps
to actually repair the liver by promoting the growth of new
cells in this large and vital organ. An important 1989 trial of
patients with chronic alcoholic hepatitis is frequently cited to
demonstrate the extract powers. In the study, liver function
test results returned to normal and overall liver health
improved over six months in those who took Milk Thistle
Extracts instead of a placebo.
Control psoriasis. The herb has anti-inflammatory properties
that may be useful for keeping the charasteristic psoriasis rash
in check and for slowing the proliferation of abnormal skin
cells.
Forms tincture tablet
softgel liquid capsule
For more details:Milk Thistle
Extracts