MILK THISTLE seed
Silybum marianum seeds
In modern times, scientific research confirms what people believed all along – milk thistle is a good treatment for liver problems. A compound called silmarin is responsible for the effect that milk thistle has on the liver. To understand why it’s so important, it may help to understand how the liver works.
The liver is one of the most important organs in the body. Its job is to clean the toxins from your body. And when it’s working properly, it keeps toxins from building up in the bloodstream. When your liver isn’t working, you don’t have much time left to live before something must be done.
Many things can affect the way the liver functions. Sometimes people have liver problems due to viral infections such as hepatitis. For others, heavy use of alcohol and other drugs can cause liver ailments. It’s also possible to have liver damage because of exposure to pollutants and environmental toxins that the liver must attack.
In the 1960s, German scientists studied milk thistle seed extensively and found that extract from the plat can actually help to treat liver problems. This is true if the liver problems are caused by viral infections or other damage from lifestyle and environmental factors.
Milk thistle seeds can also be used to treat poisoning from the deathcap mushroom that actually attacks the liver directly.
When it comes to using milk thistle, there’s a standard milk thistle extract available worldwide. You can also use it in the form of a powder or tea. Make sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions when using milk thistle so that you get the best benefit for your liver.
In addition to the help it can give the liver, some research is now being done that shows milk thistle may also fight cancer such as breast, prostate, and cervical cancers. The evidence is not conclusive at this time, but it may be that milk thistle can help to fight these diseases. In addition, milk thistle seed is also shown to lower cholesterol, but it’s not known how at this time.
If you’re suffering from liver disease, you’ll want to make milk thistle a part of your arsenal of treatment.