Milk Thistle
Milk Thistle is an herbal supplement that detoxifies and protects vital liver functions and more.
Milk thistle has been used for over 2,000 years as a natural treatment for liver disorders. The plant is known in scientific circles as the Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertner (syn. Cardous marianus), but it is more commonly known as “milk thistle,” “St. Mary Thistle,” “Holy Thistle” and “Lady's Thistle.” It is an herbaceous annual or biennial plant belonging to the Asteraceae family that can grow to be ten feet tall with flowers that are red and purple in color.
Milk thistle gets its name from the milky white fluid that comes from the plant's leaves when they are crushed. It is native to southern Europe, southern Russia, Asia Minor, and North Africa, and has also been naturalized to North and South America.
Europeans were among the first to use milk thistle seeds as an herbal treatment for liver disorders. However, the plant's remedial capabilities have been known since ancient times. Milk Thistle was mentioned by Theophrastus in the 4th century B.C. by the name of “Pternix” and it was also referred to by Pliny the Elder in the 1st century A.D. by the name of “Sillybum.” Additionally, in 1744, Von Haller documented the specific use of the plant for liver disorders in its "Medizinischen Lexicon." In more recent years, many authors such as Johann Gottfried Rademacher, Volker Schulz, and Henry Leclerc mention the benefits of Silybum Marianum (milk thistle) when used as a treatment of liver diseases as well as in the treatment of disorders of the bile duct and spleen.
What are the Benefits of Milk Thistle?
Over the past forty years, intensive chemical, pharmacological and clinical research has confirmed the mechanisms of action and therapeutic value of milk thistle in a wide range of human liver-related and non-liver-related conditions. Literally hundreds of modern research studies have confirmed the remarkable ability of milk thistle to protect the liver and the body against virtually all types of damage.
Additionally, the United States National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have catalogued more than 400 scientific studies of milk thistle and its active compounds in their medicine database. These studies reflect what generations past knew and depended on – that milk thistle is one of the most valuable and beneficial herbal remedies and treatments available anywhere in the world.
Today, milk thistle is still one of the most commonly used medicinal plants in the world and is also the number one recommended natural herb for liver health. In fact,in Europe, milk thistle is a prescribed medication. The milk thistle extract is prescribed to treat mushroom poisoning, alcoholic cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis, drug and alcohol-induced liver damage and acute viral hepatitis, just to name a few.
Milk thistle extract is used to maintain liver health and to protect the liver from the effects of toxins such as alcohol, a polluted environment or workplace, and a host of liver related diseases.
Liver related conditions indicating the use of milk thistle are varied, including, but not limited to:
- Alcoholic cirrhosis
- Chronic active hepatitis
- Drug and alcohol induced liver damage
- Acute viral hepatitis
- Fatty liver, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)
- Fibrosis and Cirrhosis
- Hepatic toxicity caused by steroid usage
- Environmental sensitivities and toxins
- A medical condition that necessitates the use of hepatotoxic medications
- Regular moderate-to-heavy alcohol use
Additionally, experimental and clinical studies suggest that milk thistle extracts also have the following non-liver related benefits:
- Lowers cholesterol levels, which benefits the heart
- Reduces the growth of cancer cells in breast, lung, colon, prostate, cervical and renal cancers
- Functions as a therapeutic agent for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease
- Improves blood sugar levels
- Contains numerous anti-aging properties
- Reduces cell damage caused by radiation and chemotherapy treatments
- Supplements sunscreen protection and may be useful against multiple types of skin disease
- Works as a free radical scavenger and powerful antioxidant
- Reduces hot flashes and other related menopausal symptoms
- Helps with intestinal / indigestion issues
- Reduces the effects of deathcap mushroom (Amanita phalloides) poisoning
How Does Milk Thistle Work?
Milk thistle seeds contain a bioflavonoid complex known as silymarin. Silymarin, which is the active ingredient in milk thistle, is simply the purified extract of the fruits (seeds) of the milk thistle plant. It is responsible for the main medical benefits of the milk thistle plant, and it is made up of three main flavonoids:
- silybin - also know as silibinin
- silydianin - also known as silidianin
- silychristin - also know as silicristin
Silybin makes up 50% - 70% of silymarin and has been shown in clinical studies to be the most biologically active and beneficial constituent of the milk thistle extract, silymarin.
Double blind studies on the effect of milk thistle on toxic liver damage (mostly alcohol-related), chronic liver disease and disease caused by certain drugs have been reviewed by medical experts. The experts all concluded that milk thistle is an extremely therapeutically useful medicinal plant product that stabilizes the cell membrane and stimulates protein synthesis while accelerating the process of regeneration in damaged liver tissue. These effects are important in the therapeutic efficacy of milk thistle.
According to other studies, milk thistle may protect the cells of the liver by blocking the entrance of harmful toxins and helping remove these toxins from liver cells. As with other flavonoids, milk thistle is a powerful antioxidant which works to maintain health and energy by protecting the body from damage caused by free radicals and lipid peroxidation, which can injure healthy cells and tissues. Just as grapes and red wine, for example, are touted as excellent sources of antioxidants, milk thistle also contains the properties needed to offer the body the same antioxidant benefits.
What are the Side Effects of Milk Thistle?
One of the best things about milk thistle is its gentle nature. Compared to many other supplements and herbal remedies that bring with them side effects such as headaches, virtually all parts of the milk thistle plant have been used with no reports of toxicity. Adverse effects in clinical and lab studies related specifically to the seed extract (silymarin) are also virtually nonexistent, although it may have a mild and short-lived laxative effect for some people. Milk thistle can be used safely and effectively by a wide range of people, including pregnant and nursing women.
What is Standardized Milk Thistle?
Milk thistle as an herb is made up of both active and inactive ingredients in varying amounts, with the active ingredients providing all of the supplement's benefits and therapeutic value. When purchasing a non-standardized milk thistle product, you have no way of knowing what proportion of active to inactive ingredients will be present in the final product.
Thus, to ensure consistency throughout the herbal supplement market, milk thistle is available in a standardized form. When purchasing a standardized milk thistle product, you are supposed to receive the same proportion of the active and beneficial ingredients to inactive ingredients each and every time.
Today, most standardized milk thistle products sold in the United States are standardized to reflect 80% silymarin. This means that silymarin, the active ingredient, makes up 80% of the total weight of the product, and the inactive ingredients make up the remaining 20%. So if you purchase a standardized milk thistle product that is 250 milligrams of 80% standardized silymarin, you would actually have only 200 milligrams of the active, beneficial ingredient.
It is important to understand this so that you know what you are comparing when you are looking at different milk thistle products to determine those that offer the best value and those that offer the best concentration of the active ingredient.
Wikipedia
Silybum marianum has other common names include cardus marianus, milk thistle,blessed milk thistle, Marian thistle, Mary thistle, Saint Mary's thistle, Mediterranean milk thistle, variegated thistle and Scotch thistle. This species is an annual or biennial plant of theAsteraceae family. This fairly typical thistle has red to purple flowers and shiny pale green leaves with white veins. Originally a native of Southern Europe through to Asia, it is now found throughout the world.
Description
It grows 30 to 200 cm tall, having an overall conical shape with an approx. 160 cm max. diameter base. The stem is grooved and more or less cottony. With the largest specimens the stem is hollow.
The leaves are oblong to lanceolate. They are either lobate or pinnate, with spiny edges. They are hairless, shiny green, with milk-white veins.
The flower heads are 4 to 12 cm long and wide, of red-purple colour. They flower from June to August in the North or December to February in the Southern Hemisphere ( Summer through Autumn ).
The bracts are hairless, with triangular, spine-edged appendages, tipped with a stout yellow spine.
The achenes are black, with a simple long white pappus, surrounded by a yellow basal ring.
Distribution and habitat
Possibly native near the coast of southeast England, it has been widely introduced outside its natural range, for example into North America, Iran, Australia and New Zealand where it is considered aninvasive weed. Cultivated fields for the production of raw material for the pharmaceutical industry exist on a larger scale in Austria (Waldviertel region), Germany, Hungary, Poland, China andArgentina. In Europe it is sown yearly in March–April. The harvest in two steps (cutting and threshing) takes place in August, about 2–3 weeks after the flowering.[citation needed]
Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is a thorny plant presenting decorative leaves with a white pattern of veins and purple flower heads. The plant originates from mountains of the Mediterranean region, where it forms scrub on a rocky base.
The seeds of milk thistle are one of the most important herbal liver medicines. The sylimarin contained in them is an effective life-saving agent even in cases of poisoning with a lethal dose of death cap mushroom. Besides that, milk thistle seeds have other therapeutic properties. The plant is sometimes also used as a decorative element in gardens, and its dried flower heads may be used for the decoration of dry bouquets.
Chemistry
Traditional milk thistle extract is made from the seeds, which contain approximately 4–6%silymarin. The extract consists of about 65–80% silymarin (a flavonolignan complex) and 20–35% fatty acids, including linoleic acid. Silymarin is a complex mixture of polyphenolic molecules, including seven closely related flavonolignans (silybin A, silybin B, isosilybin A, isosilybin B, silychristin, isosilychristin, silydianin) and one flavonoid (taxifolin). Silibinin, a semipurified fraction of silymarin, is primarily a mixture of 2 diastereoisomers, silybin A and silybin B, in a roughly 1: 1 ratio
Clinical Trials
Milk thistle has been used for a number of purposes including liver disease, and cancer; however clinical studies are largely heterogeneous and contradictory.
In trials, silymarin has typically been administered in amounts ranging from 420–480 mg per day in two to three divided doses. However higher doses have been studied, such as 600 mg daily in the treatment of type II diabetes (with significant results), and 600 or 1200 mg daily in patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (without significant results). An optimal dosage for milk thistle preparations has not been established.
Milk thistle, along with dandelion and other extracts, are sometimes referred to as hangover cures as the bitter tincture supposedly helps organs rid toxins after heavy drinking
Herbal medicinal research
Silybum marianum is used in traditional Chinese medicine to clear heat and relieve toxic material, to soothe the liver and to promote bile flow. Though its efficacy in treating diseases is still unknown, Silybum marianum is sometimes prescribed by herbalists to help treat liver diseases (cirrhosis,jaundice and hepatitis). Both in vitro and animal research suggest that Silibinin (syn. silybin, sylimarin I) may have hepatoprotective (antihepatotoxic) properties that protect liver cells against toxins.
A 2000 study of such claims by the AHRQ concluded that "clinical efficacy of milk thistle is not clearly established". However a study in 2007 did show activity against liver cancer cells in vitro. A 2005 Cochrane Review considered thirteen randomized clinical trials which assessed milk thistle in 915 patients with alcoholic and/or hepatitis B or C virus liver diseases. They question the beneficial effects of milk thistle for patients with alcoholic and/or hepatitis B or C virus liver diseases and highlight the lack of high-quality evidence to support this intervention. Cochrane concluded that more good quality randomized clinical trials on milk thistle versus placebo are needed.
Its potent extract is used in medicine under the name silymarin (a flavonolignane complex consisting of silibinin A and B/silybin/silymarin I, isosilibinin A and B, silicristin/silymarin II, silidianin). Silibinin is used against poisoning by amanitas, such as the Death Cap (Amanita phalloides) as well as in cerebral edema and acute hepatitis therapy.
Silybum marianum extract has antifungal effects, preventing the growth of dermatophyte more than saprophyte fungi.
One pilot study showed that milk thistle may be as effective as fluoxetine in treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
A study in 2010 found that eight major compounds that comprise silybum, including seven flavonolignans—silybin A, silybin B, isosilybin A, isosilybin B, silychristin, isosilychristin, silydianin, and one flavonoid, taxifolin—are inhibitors of HCV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, suggesting potential in treating Hepatitis C.
Isosilybin A was described as the main component of Silybum marianum acting as partial agonist of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor type gamma, the current pharmacological target in metabolic syndrome and diabetes type 2.
Protection from Toxin-induced liver damage
Research suggests that milk thistle extracts both prevent and repair damage to the liver from toluene and/or xylene. Workers who had been exposed to vapors from toluene and/or xylene for 5–20 years were given either a standardized milk thistle extract (80% silymarin) or placebo for 30 days. The workers taking the milk thistle extract showed significant improvement in liver function tests (ALT and AST) and platelet counts vs. the placebo group.
The efficacy of silymarin in preventing drug-induced liver damage in patients taking psychotropic drugs long-term has been investigated and silymarin was found to reduce damage to the liver caused by lipid peroxidation in patients taking butyrophenones orphenothiazines.
A clinical trial in humans showed that silymarin (140 mg orally 3 times daily) was not effective when used for 1 year in combination withursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) for the treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis. A study in baboons indicated that continuous intragastric infusion of silymarin retarded the development of alcohol-induced hepatic fibrosis over a 3-year period. The authors suggested that the failure of silymarin to show beneficial effects in other clinical trials may have been due to poor compliance with treatment, resulting in insufficient dosing.
In a 2010 study published in the journal Cancer, milk thistle was associated with a trend towards reducing the liver damaging effects of chemotherapy in a randomized double-blind placebo controlled study of 50 children.
