Milk Thistle, a natural hepatic protector

The main natural resource for liver care comes from a very common thistle, milk thistle. A surprise to which we must add that it proves to be an excellent ally against allergies, asthenia and digestive disorders.

Such an excellent introduction goes much further, as it is an herbal remedy that Spanish researchers have recently shown can combat brain metastases. And we owe it all to humble milk thistle, an herb that we find everywhere as we stroll through the countryside.

What is Milk Thistle?

Milk thistle is an herbal supplement that supports the body’s detoxifying function, protecting the liver’s vital functions, among other properties.

The result of a passing fad? No! A remedy that has been used for more than 2,000 years for liver disorders. Known in scientific circles by its Latin name Silybum Marianum, for most people it is simply “milk thistle”.

You will not find a better natural formula to care for liver health than milk thistle extract, protecting this vital organ from the effects of toxins and from a series of related liver conditions.

Over the last four decades, countless studies and investigations have confirmed it: milk thistle can boast an extraordinary ability to protect the liver and the rest of the body against a great number of potential harms.

What is ‘Silybum Marianum’ like and where is it found?

Milk thistle is a very robust plant, whose height can reach two metres and even exceed them. Its existence is short-lived; after two years of splendour, it dries out and dies.

Visually, it is very colourful. It displays a rosette of large, glossy leaves speckled with white, with yellowish spines along their edges. Its upper leaves are smaller. It has a sturdy stem, with few branches, ending in beautiful flower heads guarded by arched, spiny bracts. Its tubular flowers are purple in colour.

It flowers in spring and into the first half of summer. It grows in wasteland, as well as along roadsides and railway tracks. Sometimes it grows so abundantly that it forms impenetrable barriers.

Native to the Mediterranean basin and Asia Minor, milk thistle has been cultivated for ornamental purposes and as an agricultural protector. In recent years, fields have been devoted to its cultivation in order to make commercial use of its fruits.

Do you know about its ability to regenerate the liver?

If the liver is characterised by anything, it is by being a very resilient organ, showing a formidable ability to regenerate itself and to function even in the event of damage.

However, the liver is not exempt from suffering permanent damage, unfortunately. In fact, when it becomes overloaded and is forced to eliminate a large quantity of toxins, such as those ingested through food, water, alcohol or drugs, to which must be added those found in the air, this organ does not come through unscathed.

For its part, silymarin has shown ample evidence of being effective in the treatment of liver disease resulting from alcoholism and acute and chronic viral hepatitis, among other conditions.

Its extraordinary properties as a hepatoprotective agent

From what you are reading, it is not difficult to imagine that milk thistle still has many qualities to reveal.

One of its main virtues lies in the fact that it reduces inflammation, which is why it is a remedy often turned to by people with an inflamed liver or hepatitis. Not for nothing, this plant is able to protect liver cells by blocking the entry of harmful toxins and helping to eliminate them from the body.

Its active ingredient (and the one responsible for protecting the liver) is known as silymarin, a chemical compound extracted from the seeds. In reality, silymarin is a group of flavonoids (silybin, silydianin and silychristin) associated with the repair of liver cells that have suffered damage as a result of alcohol and other toxic substances.

Silybin represents 50-70% of silymarin and has been shown to be the most biologically active component of milk thistle extract, and the one that offers the greatest benefits.

As is the case with other flavonoids, milk thistle is a powerful antioxidant that works hard to maintain health and energy. In this regard, it can offer you protection against damage caused by free radicals and lipid peroxidation, capable of damaging healthy cells and tissues.

Which liver-related conditions require its use?

Very varied indeed, the main liver-associated conditions that suggest the use of milk thistle are:

The list of the effects of milk thistle does not end here, but it serves to highlight the main ones.

Silymarin is its key ingredient

To the surprise of experts and laypeople alike, scientists have discovered that silybin can reduce liver damage caused by toxic substances, such as alcohol, acetaminophen (Tylenol), drugs, heavy metals, environmental toxins, the green poison of amanita and bacterial toxins.

The plant also contains bitter compounds such as tannins, histamines, mucilage, tyramine, trimethyglycine, betaine, unsaturated fatty acids (oleic, palmitic and linoleic) and vitamins.

One of the most serious diseases affecting the liver is cirrhosis. Well, milk thistle is used as a complementary treatment for those who suffer from it.

Why? This variety of thistle is full of antioxidant and regenerative properties that promote proper liver function in people affected by it, helping them and greatly improving their quality of life.

Likewise, people with hepatitis C may benefit greatly thanks to the extraordinary properties of this plant.

Benefits that go beyond liver health

So far, everything is clear: there is no other remedy for caring for liver health quite like milk thistle. However, this plant displays its remarkable benefits beyond the hepatoprotective field, so we are going to present its benefits beyond the liver.

Milk thistle is used to…

Do you now understand why this thistle is indicated for various health conditions?

Is Milk Thistle effective against other diseases?

This is indicated by a study carried out by a group of Spanish researchers who managed to prove that the silybin present in milk thistle can reduce the size of brain metastases and may even make them disappear in some cases.

Silybin manages to reduce brain metastases significantly

It has been 8 years since the exciting journey began, the results of which represent a ray of hope for cancer patients. In 2013, after two years of work, researchers and oncologists Javier Menéndez and Joaquín Bosch, from the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), published several studies demonstrating the anticancer activity of milk thistle silybin in in vitro trials and in mice.

The next step came with the study involving volunteer patients carried out at the Josep Trueta University Hospital in Girona. Its results were published in the journal Oncotarget in 2016 and their significance suggested the need to call a press conference to provide the appropriate explanations. The metastases had shrunk by between 70 and 85% in two patients.

Despite everything, it seems the finding was not given the attention it deserved, so researchers Menéndez and Bosch joined forces to continue with their studies on silybin, managing to get the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) to back the benefits of milk thistle.

The organisation was led by researcher Manuel Valiente, who assembled a large team of internationally recognised scientists to carry out a study in which no effort was spared to confirm the anticancer properties of milk thistle, revealing the mechanism of action of silybin.

Without reaching the front pages, the space given to the story on this occasion has been greater, allowing the modest milk thistle to appear once again among current affairs stories.

More studies on the anticancer properties of silybin

Other studies, although on a smaller scale, have worked on the anticancer properties of milk thistle, also achieving hopeful results.

One study shows that daily administration of silymarin, at doses of 160 mg and in combination with other nutraceuticals (soy isoflavones, folic acid, vitamin C, d-acetyl-l-cysteine, selenium and lycopene), managed to reduce prostate cancer markers.

At the same time, milk thistle has been used experimentally against breast cancer and leukaemia, among other types of tumours.

In conclusion, it appears that milk thistle silybin is a substance that could help 10-30% of cancer patients at risk of metastasis. Some experts believe that this substance may in future come to be administered to patients in a protocol-based manner if the research, which is still in its early stages today, continues along the right path. In this case, the path on which milk thistle currently finds itself.

What is the relationship between Milk Thistle and diabetes?

Certain clinical studies reveal that patients with diabetes who combine their conventional treatment with the intake of milk thistle see their blood sugar levels decrease and insulin resistance reduced.

The results of recent studies, carried out in 2016, suggest that one of the main properties of the milk thistle plant is to reduce the absorption of glucose by cells.

However, if you suffer from this disease or are receiving medication for its treatment, consult your doctor before starting to take milk thistle extract.

How should it be taken?

Are Milk Thistle infusions effective?

Various studies indicate that silymarin, or the active principle of milk thistle, does not dissolve very well in water, so its benefits in infusion may not be as positive as in extracts or capsules.

Do you know which combinations are the most synergistic?

Surely this is not the first time you have heard about the synergy achieved through combinations of dietary supplements. Well then, in the case of milk thistle, it seems that one of the most effective remedies for treating hepatitis is the combination of milk thistle seeds with alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) and selenium.

The mixture of these nutrients offers numerous benefits for liver health through a wide variety of mechanisms.

It has also been shown that the combination of silymarin and glutathione with other dietary supplements, such as N-acetyl-cysteine or acetyl-glutathione, produces high levels of glutathione, with antioxidant properties, especially in the liver.

Does it have contraindications?

Milk thistle is one of the medicinal plants most widely used as a natural remedy for centuries, given its multitude of properties and benefits for the health of the liver and the rest of the body.

Taking milk thistle is very safe and it hardly presents any side effects, which does not mean that certain precautions should not be taken.

Be cautious if:

In any of these cases, consult your doctor before beginning to use this plant.

A “top-class” hepatoprotective agent, with anticancer properties, beneficial for cholesterol, with a powerful “anti-ageing” effect… What more does milk thistle have to do for you to give it a chance?

Bibliographical Sources:

• Anwar S, Madkor HR, Ahmed N, Wagih ME. In vivo anticlastogenic effect of silymarin from milk thistle Silybum marianum L. Indian J Pharmacol. 2018 May-Jun;50(3):108-115. doi: 10.4103/ijp.IJP_660_16.
• Abenavoli L, Izzo AA, Milić N, Cicala C, Santini A, Capasso R. Milk thistle (Silybum marianum): A concise overview on its chemistry, pharmacological, and nutraceutical uses in liver diseases. Phytother Res. 2018 Aug 6. doi: 10.1002/ptr.6171.
• Drouet S, Doussot J, Garros L, Mathiron D, Bassard S, Favre-Réguillon A, Molinié R, Lainé É, Hano C. Selective Synthesis of 3-O-Palmitoyl-Silybin, a New-to-Nature Flavonolignan with Increased Protective Action against Oxidative Damages in Lipophilic Media. Molecules. 2018 Oct 10;23(10). pii: E2594. doi: 10.3390/molecules23102594.