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MILK THISTLE
With over 2,000 years of use as a natural remedy, milk thistle is certainly not new on the scene. In fact, Greek physician and botanist Dioscorides was the first to describe milk thistle’s healing properties all the way back in 40 A.D. While it’s known to offer a variety of health benefits, milk thistle is most renowned for its ability to support the liver, which is our largest internal organ and is responsible for performing a number of essential detoxifying functions.
Research suggests that silymarin, one of the active ingredients in milk thistle is an antioxidant, which helps protect the body from free radicals that damage our cells. Studies have also shown milk thistle’s potential to help promote gallbladder health as well as lower cholesterol.
AVAILABLE RESEARCH
Liver Support
In this review, milk thistle is shown to have positive effects as supportive treatment in most forms of liver disease including cirrhosis and liver damage due to alcohol abuse. This is attributed to its antioxidant activity -- by reducing oxidative stress, milk thistle protects intact liver cells or cells not yet irreversibly damaged, and therefore may be considered liver protective.
In this review of the liver protective effects of milk thistle seed, it states that results of studies in experimental animal models suggest that milk thistle has a broad spectrum of liver-protective effects.
This review concludes that milk thistle oil pre-treatment could prevent oxidative stress and liver injury as a result of its antioxidant properties.
In this review it states that preclinical studies using different hepatotoxic (toxic to the liver) substances showed that milk thistle has multiple actions as a liver protective agent. The antioxidant property and cell-regenerating functions as a result of increased protein synthesis are considered as most important.
ADDITIONAL RESEARCH
Lowers Cholesterol
Preliminary studies show that when milk thistle is used in combination with other traditional treatment methods, it can improve levels of total cholesterol, bad LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.
According to this review, milk thistle has been shown to reduce the plasma levels of cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein in hyperlipidemic (medical term for abnormally high levels of fats in the blood, including cholesterol) animals.
Laboratory studies show that milk thistle reduced cholesterol synthesis in liver cells and also in prevention of complications of high cholesterol hypercholesterolemia rat and rabbit.
Diabetes Treatment
This study 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 sugar and insulin levels improved significantly compared to patients receiving a placebo.
This paper from the American Diabetes Association summarizes various studies that have shown the positive effects of milk thistle on individuals with diabetes.
Laura Shane-McWhorter, PharmD, BCPS, FASCP, BC-ADM, CDE Diabetes Spectrum 2009 Sep; 22(4): 206-213.