from PREVENTION magazine, October 1998 issue; starting
on page 79
This Weed Is a Potent Healer; by Varro E. Tyler, PhD, ScD
Protect your body from environmental toxins with milk
thistle
Sometimes herbs can do things conventional remedies can't. Milk
thistle is an excellent example: There is no approved drug in the
US that has the ability to protect liver cells from toxic
substances and to promote regeneration of damaged liver cells. Milk
thistle does both beautifully.
In some parts of the country, milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is
viewed as a weed. Its evil side has been especially evident lately
in California's state parks, where this invader (that has no
natural enemies) chokes out native grasses and wildflowers and
bedevils hikers with its thorns. But as a liver protector, milk
thistle can't be beat.
Why Your Liver Needs Protection
Your liver, a dark red gland in the upper right of your abdomen, is
as vital as your heart. Its main function is to secrete bile, which
facilitates fat digestion. Among its many other duties, the liver
filters toxins from your blood and supplies your body with glucose,
which is converted into energy. It also builds essential proteins
and stores some vitamins until your body needs them.
If you drink alcohol, are exposed to environmental contaminants
such as highway pollution or extremely chlorinated water, take
certain prescription or over-the-counter drugs, or if you have
hepatitis or other liver problems, you may really benefit from milk
thistle. And if you eat a poison mushroom, milk thistle could save
your life -- but only if you live in Europe.
The liver-saving benefits of milk thistle have been known and
valued since biblical times. Milk thistle was first officially
recommended for treating liver disorders in 1755 by Albrecht von
Heller in his Medizinischen Lexicon. In the 1960s, German
scientists isolated a mixture of active ingredients from the
plant's seedlike fruit: They called this extract silymarin.
Silymarin contains four principal flavonolignans: silybinin,
isosilybinin, silydianin, and silycristin. These compounds are very
closely related to one another in their chemical structure, all
having similar liver-protecting properties. Of these, silybinin
accounts for about 50% of the mixture and is the most chemically
active.
Research has now verified silymarin's value in preventing and
treating liver diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatitis. It works
in three ways: First, it acts on the cell membranes to prevent
various toxins, such as alcohol, from entering the cells. It does
this by binding itself to proteins and receptor sites on the
membranes, thereby "bumping off" toxic substances that might land
there. This is called membrane stabilization.
Second, silymarin functions indirectly as an antioxidant,
scavenging free oxygen radicals that might harm the tissues of the
liver and other organs. This action is due to silymarin's ability
to increase the amount of glutathione in liver cells. Glutathione
is a very powerful antioxidant that protects cells from oxidative
damage.
Finally, it stimulates protein synthesis and actually promotes
regeneration of the liver cells (hepatocytes).
Five Things Milk Thistle Can Do for You
*Hangover helper? Alcohol abuse is the most frequent cause of
chronic liver disease. In seven controlled clinical trials where a
standardized silymarin preparation was given to patients with
alcohol-related liver damage, they experienced statistically
significant improvement in liver function compared with those who
received a sugar pill. One study involving 2,169 patients revealed
side effects in only 21 people (about 1%) -- mostly minor digestive
symptoms such as stomachache and diarrhea.
Though I can't assure you that milk thistle will stop a hangover
in its tracks, I do believe it's a wise move to consider taking the
herb after an evening of overindulgence to avoid the liver damage
that even one night of overdoing it can cause.
*Rx for topic exposure. Milk thistle has been shown to protect
the liver against toxic chemicals ranging from alcohol to heavy
metals such as lead and cadmium. These poisons can cause liver
calls to break down, which can lead to a type of liver cirrhosis, a
disease in which healthy liver cells are replaced by fibrous
tissue.
*Shield against liver-damaging drugs. Milk thistle may also
protect you if you take drugs that can cause liver damage as a side
effect. These include prescription psychotropic (mind altering)
drugs including the phenothiazines (Thorazine, used for psychotic
disorders; Compassion, used to control severe nausea and vomiting
as well as psychotic disorders) and butyrophenones (Haldol, used
for severe behavior problems in children). Even some OTC analgesics
such as acetaminophen can damage the liver, especially when taken
with alcohol.
*Liver protector. Silymarin effectively slows the development of
and hastens recovery from liver disorders, including hepatitis, a
viral disease that causes liver damage. There are three strains:
hepatitis A, transmitted by contaminated food and water, affecting
between 100,000 and 200,000 people annually; hepatitis B, spread
through sexual activity and contact with blood, which affects
200,000 to 300,000 people a year; and hepatitis C, one of the most
common causes of acute viral hepatitis, which is spread through sex
and contact with blood. Because symptoms may not appear for many
years after the infection, the exact cause of hepatitis C is often
unknown. There are about 150,000 new cases reported each year.
*Life-saving poison mushroom remedy. Finally, almost all cases
of fatal mushroom poisoning are caused by eating deadly amanitas
(Amanita phalloides and related species), which contain toxins that
block protein production in liver cells. If you eat a large
quantity of the mushroom, you have less than a 50% chance of
surviving, and American medicine can't do much to help. In Europe,
more than 150 cases of such poisoning have been treated with
injectable administration of silybinin. The results have been
excellent. It is the only effective antidote ever discovered for
amanita poisoning. Typical studies report only 1 death in 13 or 1
in 18 patients. Unfortunately, the injectable version of silybinin
is not yet available in the US -- a good reason to not eat
mushrooms in the wild unless their identity is verified by an
expert.
A User's Guide to Milk Thistle
Like most other herbs, milk thistle extract is marketed in this
country as a dietary supplement. It is commonly available in the
form of capsules, each containing 200 mg of an extract standardized
to contain 70% (140 mg) of silymarin. The usual dosage is one
capsule two or three times daily. Milk thistle is also available as
a liquid tincture; follow dosage directions on the label.
Silymarin's water solubility is very poor, so teas made from milk
thistle fruits don't work. One study showed that such teas contain
only about 10% of the activity that was originally present in the
fruit. In addition, silymarin is so poorly absorbed from the
gastrointestinal tract that only about 20 to 50% ever finds its way
into the bloodstream. For these reasons, the use of a highly
concentrated, standardized extract is best.
You can see why milk thistle occupies such a valued position in
botanical medicine, and in mainstream medicine too, because the
herb is an approved drug in many countries. Only the rigid
regulations of the Food and Drug Administration and the lack of
financial incentive for botanical drug developers prevent it from
playing a more significant role in conventional medicine in this
country.
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