What are the benefits of milk thistle?
Milk thistle seeds are a high source of the antioxidant flavonoid called silymarin, which is actually composed of several other active compounds known as flavolignans. In , after reviewing numerous studies involving milk thistle therapeutic treatments, researchers at the University of Minnesota found that:. About 50 percent to 70 percent of the silymarin molecules present within milk thistle are the type called silybin, also known as silibinin.
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This antioxidant stimulates protein synthesis and changes the outside layer of healthy cells, keeping them protected from damage and mutation. National Library of Medicine considers milk thistle to be a powerful anti-inflammatory. Something important to keep in mind, however, is that existing studies on possible heart benefits of milk thistle have only been done involving people with diabetes, who tend to have high cholesterol levels.
The valuable effect of antioxidants found in milk thistle has been reported in experimental and clinical studies to help decrease blood sugar levels in insulin-resistant patients. One study conducted by the Department of Pharmacology at the Institute of Medicinal Plants found that when diabetic patients were given silymarin extract over a four-month period, their fasting blood glucose and insulin levels improved significantly compared to patients receiving a placebo.
This is likely true because the liver is partly responsible for regulating hormones, including the release of insulin into the bloodstream.
Milk Thistle: Help For Your Liver | Medicine Hunter
Insulin is responsible for managing blood glucose sugar levels in the blood, which is especially important for those with diabetes. The liver is a major digestive organ, helping process nutrients and toxins that enter our body through foods, water and air. Gallstones are formed when cholesterol and other matter within your bile bind together.
This is problematic because they can become more solid and become lodged in the inner lining of your gallbladder. This applies to both the surface of your skin and your organs, as antioxidants can protect your body from chronic disease. Although the research on this topic is limited, an animal study published in Photochemistry and Photobiology found that silymarin protected the skin of mice that were to UV-induced oxidative stress and reduced leukocytes that promote an inflammatory response.
Glutathione is found naturally in the human body, as well as in some plants, mushrooms , fungi and algae. One of the biggest milk thistle benefits is that it preserves glutathione, which has been suggested in lab and animal studies. Milk thistle strengthens the liver cell walls, buffering them from invading toxins, and supports liver regeneration and glutathione formation.
The amount of active ingredients can vary widely depending on the different preparation methods used and the brand. Currently, there are several different milk thistle products available on the market, all recommending different doses. How much milk thistle should you take? There is no nationally standardized milk thistle supplement dosing at this time, but most people do best consuming between 20— milligrams daily.
You can also try gaining milk thistle benefits by consuming it in tea form. Many companies make milk thistle tea by steeping the leaves and seeds from the plant. Each small plant head contains about seeds that can be used in various ways. If you purchase or grow a milk thistle plant, cut off the entire head and hang the plant upside down for about one week to draw out the seeds. You can then crush the seeds and steep them, along with the leaves, to make tea; eat them raw; or dry them into powder form. Keep the seeds and leaves in the freezer to make them last longer and retain their powerful nutrients.
Milk thistle is generally considered safe and well-tolerated, with very few cases of side effects ever reported. When taken within the recommended dose range, milk thistle is thought to be effective and mostly free of allergic reactions. Milk thistle may interact with some medications, including allergy medicines, anti-anxiety drugs and blood thinners, among others. If you are taking any medications, speak with your health care provider before taking milk thistle. Also note that antioxidants like those found in milk thistle have been shown to possibly interfere with the efficacy of some cancer chemotherapy drugs by protecting cancer cells from cell death.
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May Help Protect Against Cancer Milk thistle seeds are a high source of the antioxidant flavonoid called silymarin, which is actually composed of several other active compounds known as flavolignans. In , after reviewing numerous studies involving milk thistle therapeutic treatments, researchers at the University of Minnesota found that: This evidence report details a systematic review summarizing clinical studies of milk thistle in humans. The scientific name for milk thistle is Silybum marianum.
It is a member of the aster or daisy family and has been used by ancient physicians and herbalists to treat a range of liver and gallbladder diseases and to protect the liver against a variety of poisons. Two areas are addressed in the report: Effects of milk thistle on liver disease of alcohol, viral, toxin, cholestatic, and primary malignancy etiologies.
Clinical adverse effects associated with milk thistle ingestion or contact. Specifically, the report addresses 10 questions regarding whether milk thistle supplements when compared with no supplement, placebo, other oral supplements, or drugs: Alter the physiologic markers of liver function.
Reduce mortality or morbidity, or improve the quality of life in adults with alcohol-related, toxin-induced, or drug-induced liver disease, viral hepatitis, cholestasis, or primary hepatic malignancy. One question addresses the constituents of commonly available milk thistle preparations, and three questions address the common and uncommon symptomatic adverse effects of milk thistle.
An update search limited to PubMed was conducted in December English and non-English citations were identified from these electronic databases, references in pertinent articles and reviews, drug manufacturers, and technical experts. Preliminary selection criteria regarding efficacy were reports on liver disease and clinical and physiologic outcomes from randomized controlled trials RCTs in humans comparing milk thistle with placebo, no milk thistle, or another active agent. Several of these randomized trials had dissimilar numbers of subjects in study arms, raising the question that these were not actually RCTs but cohort studies.
In addition, among studies using nonplacebo controls, the type of control varied widely. Therefore, qualitative and quantitative syntheses of data on effectiveness were limited to placebo-controlled studies. For adverse effects, all types of studies in humans were used to assess adverse clinical effects.
Abstractors physicians, methodologists, pharmacists, and a nurse independently abstracted data from trials; a nurse and physician abstracted data about adverse effects. Data were synthesized descriptively, emphasizing methodologic characteristics of the studies, such as populations enrolled, definitions of selection and outcome criteria, sample sizes, adequacy of randomization process, interventions and comparisons, cointerventions, biases in outcome assessment, and study designs.
Evidence tables and graphic summaries, such as funnel plots, Galbraith plots, and forest plots, were used to examine relationships between clinical outcomes, participant characteristics, and methodologic characteristics.
Milk Thistle Benefits: Detox the Liver & Boost Glutathione
Trial outcomes were examined quantitatively in exploratory meta-analyses that used standardized mean differences between mean change scores as the effect size measure. Evidence exists that milk thistle may be hepatoprotective through a number of mechanisms: The largest producer of milk thistle is Madaus Germany , which makes an extract of concentrated silymarin. However, numerous other extracts exist, and more information is needed on comparability of formulations, standardization, and bioavailability for studies of mechanisms of action and clinical trials. Adverse effects associated with oral ingestion of milk thistle include: Skin reactions pruritus, rash, urticaria, and eczema.
However, causality is rarely addressed in available reports. For randomized trials reporting adverse effects, incidence was approximately equal in milk thistle and control groups. Clinical efficacy of milk thistle is not clearly established. Problems in study design include heterogeneity in etiology and extent of liver disease, small sample sizes, and variation in formulation, dosing, and duration of milk thistle therapy.
Possible benefit has been shown most frequently, but not consistently, for improvement in aminotransferases and liver function tests are overwhelmingly the most common outcome measure studied. Survival and other clinical outcome measures have been studied least often, with both positive and negative findings. Available evidence is not sufficient to suggest whether milk thistle may be more effective for some liver diseases than others or if effectiveness might be related to duration of therapy or chronicity and severity of liver disease.
Regarding adverse effects, little evidence is available regarding causality, but available evidence does suggest that milk thistle is associated with few, and generally minor, adverse effects. Despite substantial in vitro and animal research, the mechanism of action of milk thistle is not fully defined and may be multifactorial. A systematic review of this evidence to clarify what is known and identify gaps in knowledge would be important to guide design of future studies of the mechanisms of milk thistle and clinical trials. The type, frequency, and severity of adverse effects related to milk thistle preparations should be quantified.
Whether adverse effects are specific to dose, particular preparations, or additional herbal ingredients needs elucidation, especially in light of equivalent frequencies of adverse effects in available randomized trials. When adverse effects are reported, concomitant use of other medications and product content analysis should also be reported so that other drugs, excipients, or contaminants may be scrutinized as potential causal factors.
Characteristics of future studies in humans should include: Longer and larger randomized trials. Clinical as well as physiologic outcome measures. Detailed data about compliance and dropouts. Systematic standardized surveillance for adverse effects. Attention to specific study populations e.
AHRQ Evidence Report Summaries.
There also should be detailed attention to preparation, standardization, and bioavailability of different formulations of milk thistle e. Precise mechanisms of action specific to different etiologies and stages of liver disease need explication. Further mechanistic investigations are needed and should be considered before, or in concert with, studies of clinical effectiveness. More information is needed about effectiveness of milk thistle for severe acute ingestion of hepatotoxins, such as occupational exposures, acetaminophen overdose, and amanita poisoning.
It is expected to be available in winter At that time, printed copies may be obtained free of charge from the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse by calling