Have you ever wanted to detoxify your body naturally? People have been taking milk thistle for 2,000 years for a natural remedy to detoxify.
There are many health benefits of milk thistle beyond its detoxifying properties.
Milk thistle is full of beneficial nutrients to help your body.
If you want to learn more about milk thistle and all of its potential benefits, read this article. Click here to discover the health power of milk thistle.
What Is Milk Thistle?
You can find milk thistle in the Mediterranean region. The first documentation of milk thistle’s healing qualities was found all the way back in 40 A.D. from a Greek physician.
Milk thistle comes in various forms. Supplements and tea are the most popular varieties.
The silymarin from milk thistle is full of antioxidant, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory characteristics.
The name milk thistle is from the milky-white liquid in the plant’s leaves.
Top Benefits of Milk Thistle
Various parts of milk thistle can be used for different health conditions. Treating the liver is the most common use of milk thistle. Let’s explore some of the benefits of this plant:
Liver Health
Milk thistle is a mighty liver cleaner. It can rebuild liver cells and cleanse toxins from the body.
It can restore the liver from the adverse effects of drinking alcohol. It can also naturally remove harmful effects of pesticides in food, metals in our water, poisons, and even air pollution.
The liver protects our body from harmful chemicals. Our body cannot function without this purifier to clean our blood each day. The liver eliminates substances in our blood, detoxifies, and sends glucose into the blood for energy.
Milk thistle was used to treat the following liver diseases:
- Alcoholic disease
- Hepatitis
- Toxin-induced diseases
- Jaundice
- Cirrhosis
If you want to detox your body naturally, you should take milk thistle to promote liver health.
Cancer Protection
The antioxidant in milk thistle, silymarin, acts as a cancer defender because it blocks toxins.
This antioxidant jump starts protein synthesis to change the outside layer of all healthy cells to protect them from any damage or destruction. It also boosts the immune system function and fights DNA damage to reverse any cancerous growth.
Lower Cholesterol
Milk thistle can reduce high cholesterol levels by reducing inflammation, cleansing the blood, and reducing oxidative stress in the veins.
High cholesterol can lead to heart issues and possible stroke if untreated.
Control Diabetes
Milk thistle, along with other treatments, can help treat diabetes by glycemic control.
The liver controls insulin release to manage blood sugar levels in the blood. Milk thistle promotes liver health.
A recent study found that milk thistle helped decrease insulin and promoted diabetes control.
Prevent Gallstones
The liver also helps process nutrients and toxins our body ingests. The liver works with other digestive organs, such as the pancreas, kidneys, intestines, and gallbladder.
Milk thistle can increase the flow of bile to assist with the gallbladder and liver with detoxifying the body. Cholesterol and other elements can collect inside your bile to form gallstones. These materials then become solid and lodge in your gallbladder.
Promote Anti-Aging
This herb can slow the aging process because it removes waste from your blood and other parts of your body. The anti-oxidants also defend your body from disease.
Milk thistle protects the skin and can actually reduce the visible aging signs such as dark spots, lines, wrinkles, and other discoloration.
Skin Health
You can also apply milk thistle oil topically to benefit your skin. Both the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties improved skin conditions on laboratory mice in a study.
Milk thistle is full of fatty acids, vitamin E, and other antioxidants. It has also been used to treat acne, eczema, and rosacea, which are other inflammatory diseases.
It can also treat UV damage to the skin.
Support Your Bones
Milk thistle may be able to prevent bone loss caused by low levels of estrogen. It can stimulate the mineralization of bones and protect against loss caused by diseases such as Osteoporosis.
Improve Cognition
Milk thistle can increase the resistance to oxidative stress, which can cause cognitive issues such as Alzheimer’s disease.
It can also improve other cognition with lower levels of this stress.
There are additional studies that show that milk thistle reduces the number of amyloid plaques in the brain. Amyloid plaques are clusters of proteins that accumulate between the nerve cells as you age. Reducing these clusters can help prevent cognitive diseases such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
There are more research studies being conducted to see if milk thistle can improve other areas of the mind.
Boost Immune System
Milk thistle may also help fight diseases by boosting a person’s immune system. With all the detoxifying benefits of milk thistle, your body can perform more effectively with an elevated immune system.
How Much Milk Thistle Should I Take?
Milk thistle is a supplement and not a drug, so there is no official standard dosage. There are also different forms:
Supplement
To support liver with pill forms, take around 200 mg daily. Look for the best milk thistle supplements that are highly potent. Check the label for 80 percent pure extract.
Tea Form
You can also get all the benefits of milk thistle in tea.
You can make your own tea from plants. Crush the seeds and steep them and the leaves to make the tea.
You can also freeze leftover seeds and leaves and dry them into a powder. To keep the plants longer, freeze the seeds and leaves to keep all the nutrients.
Is Milk Thistle Safe?
Milk thistle is considered to be generally safe with few cases of side effects reported. Some people should take caution when taking milk thistle.
Pregnant women should be careful because there is no data on the safety during pregnancy.
People with diabetes should discuss with their doctors because the milk thistle may cause low blood sugar.
If you are allergic to any plants in the milk thistle family, such as marigolds, daisies, chrysanthemums, and ragweed, you should avoid milk thistle to prevent an allergic reaction.
If you take any other medications, discuss with your doctor before taking milk thistle or any other supplement to prevent any reactions.
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