MILK THISTLE taken from
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A herbal detoxifier and protectant for your liver
In Europe, silymarin, the purified extract of the fruits of S. marianum, and its main constituent, silybin, are used to maintain liver health and for the treatment of diseases of the liver. Worldwide milk thistle is, deservedly, one of the most commonly prescribed medicinal plants.
S. marianum is a medicinal plant which has been widely used in traditional European medicine for centuries. It is commonly known as milk thistle, St. Mary’s thistle and lady’s thistle. It is native to southern Europe, southern Russia, Asia Minor and North Africa. It has been naturalized to North and South America.
Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertner (syn. Carduus marianus L.) belongs to the Asteraceae family (Compositae). It is a herbaceous annual or biennial plant that grows up to six feet tall. It is a widespread wayside herb of uncultivated ground and waste places throughout its geographical range. The plant was carried to North America by European colonists at an early date (Pickering 1879).
Milk Thistle has a long therapeutic history
This plant has been known since ancient times; it is a biblical plant. It was mentioned by Theophrastus (4th century B.C.) with the name of Pternix and by Pliny the Elder (1st century A.D.) with the name of Sillybum. Von Haller (1744) in its "Medizinischen Lexicon" documented the specific use of the plant for liver disorders. In the 19th and 20th centuries many authors such as Rademacher, Schulz and Henry Leclerc mentioned the fruits of S. marianum for the treatment of liver diseases, disorders of the bile duct and spleen.
Ancient use and modern studies verify its safety and effectiveness
For over 2,000 years Europeans have used Milk Thistle seeds as an herbal treatment for liver disorders. The plant has been grown both as an ornamental and a vegetable. Virtually all parts of the plant have been used as food with no reports of toxicity. Animal experiments have shown that seed extracts are safe, even in large doses, with practically no side effects, as well as no embryo-toxic effect. Adverse effects in human studies with the seed extract (silymarin) are also generally absent. There are no contradications nor known side effects of concern. It can be safely used by a wide range of persons, including pregnant and lactating women, although it may have a mild, transient laxative effect for some people.
Double blind studies on the effect of silymarin on toxic liver damage (mostly induced by alcohol), chronic liver disease and disease caused by certain drugs have been reviewed by medical experts. They concluded that basic lab and clinical data suggests silymarin is a therapeutically useful medicinal plant product that stabilizes the cell membrane and stimulates protein synthesis, while accelerating the process of regeneration in damaged liver tissue, and that these effects are important in the therapeutic efficacy of silymarin.
Over the past twenty+ years, intensive chemical, pharmacological, and clinical research has confirmed mechanisms of action and therapeutic value of silymarin in a wide range of human liver disease, including toxic metabolic liver damage (such as fatty degeneration of the liver) and supportive treatment of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. Silymarin, derived from the seeds of the plant (and most specifically, its main constituent, silybin) has shown both protective and restorative effects in liver disease. The plant is a primary example of the usefulness of using historical efficacy as a starting point for the development of modern applications for medicinal plants.
Hundreds of studies have been conducted
Literally hundreds of research studies, mostly in Europe, have confirmed the remarkable ability of milk thistle to protect the liver against virtually all types of damage: from accidental exposure to chemical pollutants, toxic side effects of medications, liver diseases like hepatitis and even the self inflicted damage from overindulgence of rich food and alcohol.
The United States National Library of Medicine has catalogued more than 300 scientific studies of milk thistle and its active compounds in their medicine database.
How does it work?
Milk thistle seeds contain a bioflavonoid complex known as silymarin. This constituent is responsible for the medical benefits of the plant (according to Wagner H, Horhammer L, Munster R. in their article "The chemistry of silymarin (silybin), the active principle of the fruits of Silybum marianum (l.) Gaertner", published in Arzneim-Forsch Drug Research 1968; 18: 688-96.)
Silymarin is made up of three parts; silybin, silidianin and silicristin. silybin is the most active and is largely responsible for the benefits attributed to silymarin according to Hikino h, Kiso Y, et al. In their article " Antihepatotoxic actions of flavonolignans from Silybum marianum fruits", published in Planta Medica 1984; 50:248-50.
According to other studies, milk thistle extract may protect the cells of the liver by blocking the entrance of harmful toxins and helping remove these toxins from the liver cells. As with other bioflavonoids, silymarin is a powerful antioxidant. Milk thistle also regenerates injured liver cells according to Sonnenbichler J, Zetl I, in their article "Stimulating influence of a flavonolignan dirivative on proliferation, RNA synthesis and protein synthesis in liver cells". Published in Assessment and Management of Hepatobiliary Disease by Springer-Verlag.
As already stated, silymarin not only protects the liver cells (hepatocytes) against toxic damage it also regenerates them. It has been found in clinical studies to increase the rate of synthesis of RNA through stimulation of nucleorlar polymerase 1. This reinforces protein synthesis and accelerates cell-regeneration processes. Thus, silymarin is a useful remedy for chronic hepatitis, toxic fatty deposits in the liver and cirrhosis.
In one double-blind study, silymarin significantly reduced the mortality of patients with liver cirrhosis. The effect was most pronounced in patients with alcohol-induced cirrhosis. The mechanisms of action are reasoned to be based on the reduction of the metabolic or toxic effects of alcohol on the liver. One such action of silymarin is its ability to reduce hepatocellular necrosis which, in turn, may delay or prevent the occurrence of hepatic failure. Additionally, silymarin reduces collagen deposition in the liver, thereby reducing circulatory changes, particularly in the portal system.
In another double-blind, controlled study silymarin was shown to decrease the serum glutamic pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) and serum glutamic oxalacetic transaminase (SGOT) in patients with liver disease. Serum total and conjugated bilirubin also decreased during treatment. Significantly, liver biopsy showed a clear improvement in histological alterations, namely decreased fatty transformations. These findings indicate that silymarin complex may have both a prophylactic and a remedial effect on liver lesions.
What conditions is milk thistle best for?
Conditions indicating the use of milk thistle are varied. Those who are receiving chemotherapy; chronic active hepatitis; a history of cholelithiasis; HIV infection on a multi-drug regimen; environmental sensitivities; a medical condition that necessitates the use of hepatotoxic medications; regular moderate-to –heavy alcohol use; and varicosities and/or hemorrhoids. In most situations a moderate dose will result in noticeable clinical improvement within two months of use.
Highly regarded in Europe and is gaining recognition in the U.S.
Many Europeans use milk thistle as a supplement to protect their livers from the effects of alcohol or a polluted environment or workplace. However, in Europe, as a prescribed medicine, the milk thistle extract is also used to treat alcoholic cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis, drug and alcohol-induced liver damage and other disease such as acute viral hepatitis.
Many milk thistle products are available in the health food stores in the U.S. today. Even some drug stores have milk thistle extract on display for over-the-counter sales. These products cannot be labeled with the benefits which have been proven in European laboratories and clinics, but Americans are gradually becoming aware of these benefits.
Silybum marianum is an extraordinarily useful herb in today’s world. With our increasingly polluted environment, our expanding reliance on often toxic medications and drugs, and our exposure to infectious organisms that damage the liver, our need for liver protection is tremendous. Milk thistle figures prominently in our arsenal of hepatic protection. More research is needed to further understand the mechanisms, indications, and benefits of this immensely important medicinal herb. In the meantime, our current understanding of milk thistle justifiably promotes its use for many people.
Standardized extracts increase milk thistle’s potency
Standardized extracts make the active constituents of herbs more effective. They isolate the most important compounds and purify them to predictable dosages. The world’s best selling milk thistle product is a standardized extract.
It takes 70 pounds of milk thistle seeds to make one pound of extract purified to 70-80% silymarin (of which 80% is silybin, the most active and helpful constituent). Even this standardized extract has a problem though, inhibited bioavailability.
The only problem with milk thistle (and its solution)
The active ingredients of milk thistle are not very bioavailable, especially in their purified or standardized forms. This means one would need to ingest large amounts to experience beneficial effects. Not only impractical, it could be quite expensive.
That is why the Phytosome® process of Siliphos® that MAXIMUM MILK THISTLE™ uses is such a dramatic breakthrough. It allows greater efficacy and is much more cost effective when you look at the amount absorbed vs. the amount ingested. The Phytosome® process can be thought of as a supercharged delivery system. It takes the most effective constituent and puts it into a form that increases its uptake into the body’s tissues.
Now the potency of standardized extracts of milk thistle can be multiplied by having the most important element absorbed by the body 8 to 10 times more effectively and delivered to where it will do the most good, your liver.
Click here to learn more about MAXIMUM MILK THISTLE™
Information at this website is for educational purposes only; statements about products and health conditions have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
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