Milk Thistle Supplement

About Milk Thistle Supplement

Silybum marianum (Milk Thistle) is the first supplement people think of when the topic of conversation is liver health. Not only does it protect the liver from damage, but regulates many hepatic functions such as cell permeability and inhibition of collagen fibre deposition which is related to cirrhosis. This puts Milk Thistle at the forefront of many liver protection and regeneration protocols.

Milk Thistle contains Silymarin, which is composed of Silybin, Silydianin and Silychristin. Silybin is believed to carry the most potent health effects, and makes up approximately 50-70% of Silymarin. This herb also offers a range of natural antioxidant phytochemicals, promoting the quenching of free-radicals and supporting cellular health.

The Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine reported in 2015 that evidence is accumulating for the use of this miraculous herb for a great deal more than just liver health. It was suggested in this paper that Milk Thistle may be used for kidney health, blood lipid management, cardiovascular disease prevention, insulin resistance, cancer and even Alzheimer's disease prevention. This would make Milk Thistle a much more powerful and broad spectrum herbal medicine than clinicians had ever thought. 

The liver is the heaviest internal organ, weighing in at an average 1.5 kilograms. It functions as both an endocrine and exocrine gland, meaning that not only does it synthesize and release hormones, such as IGF-1, but also excretes alkaline bile to emulsify dietary fats. The liver has many crucial roles to play in keeping the human body running smoothly as well as providing detoxification pathways to keep our chemical burden under control. Milk Thistle is one of the most helpful herbs for supporting general liver health and is especially indicated for social or weekend alcohol consumers.