| Milk thistle appears throughout
the world, including many parts of North America, both
as cultivated plants and as wild varieties. Many scientific
sources will refer to milk thistle by its scientific name,
silybum marianum, or by its active compounds, known collectively
as silymarin. There are concentrated stores of silymarni
found in the black fruit of the plant, and those fruits
are typically harvested at the end of summer.
Other uses of milk thistle
Even though milk thistle is most closely associated
with treating ailments of the liver and digestive system,
it has shown promise in treating a number of other ailments
as well. Some of these ailments include such things
as gallstones, high cholesterol, allergies and even
skin cancer. Milk thistle is known to be a powerful
antioxidant, and it is those antioxidant
properties which may be responsible for the protective
and healing effects of the herb.
Modern medicine uses an injectible form of milk thistle
as a powerful antidote for those who have consumed poisonous
mushrooms, and the extract has even been studied for
possible use in minimizing the liver damage which often
results from chemotherapy. It is thought that milk thistle
has the ability to speed to elimination of toxins from
the body, due to its effect on the liver and bile secretion.
Milk thistle is available in a wide variety of preparations,
including tablets, soft gels, capsules and tinctures.
Those using milk thistle to treat liver ailments are
often advised to take a standardized extract of 400
to 600 mg every day, taken in three equal doses.
Milk thistle tea
While there are a number of recipes for teas made with
milk thistle, most are far too weak to have significant
health effects. Teas contain only trace amounts of silymarin,
due to the inability of the substance to dissolve well
in water. Products made from the leaf of the milk thistle
are also of no medicinal value.
When buying milk thistle extracts, either at the local
health food store or over the internet, it is important
to look for standardized extracts, and to purchase products
only from established and repeatable companies who use
industry standard manufacturing processes. Good manufacturing
processes are vital to maintaining and enhancing the
healing power of milk thistle.
|
