Milk Thistle Is Good For More Than Just The Liver.
Milk thistle has been used in Europe for over 2000 years for the treatment of liver problems. It is native to the Mediterranean regions of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and has been naturalized to Australia and California. Milk thistle has been used for the treatment of liver disease such as alcoholic hepatitis, cirrhosis, liver poisoning, and viral hepatitis. It helps regulate blood sugar, fat metabolism and helps with the excretion of certain hormones. It’s been known to help with acne, constipation, crohn’s disease, and irritable bowel syndrome. The liver produces bile and milk thistle helps in the production of bile which metabolizes fats in the small intestines.Milk thistle can help with atherosclerosis, gallstones, high cholesterol, iron overload, and some forms of cancer. Milk thistle helps the liver convert LDL cholesterol (Bad cholesterol) into HDL cholesterol (Good choles equifax dispute terol), and milk thistle helps the liver reduce the amount of cholesterol in the bile which is dumped directly into the intestines where it can be reabsorb. Reducing the cholesterol in bile will help lower the chances of forming gallstones.Milk thistle can help with some forms of cancer related to the hormone estrogen. Laboratory experiments demonstrated silybin, the active ingredient in milk thistle, will fight for estrogen receptor sites and block the estrogen that is in the body from landing on cancer cells. Milk thistle would be a good preventative herb for those at risk for breast cancer and cancers stimulated by estrogen.Milk thistle in large doses has shown to protect the kidneys from damage during chemotherapy. A study done with mice given milk thistle in very large doses equivalent to 30grams per 110 pounds in adults completely shielded the kidneys from damage during chemotherapy.