Does milk thistle really help your liver?
There’s conflicting research on the benefits of milk thistle for liver health. It may have protective effects on the liver, preventing damage. There’s some evidence that milk thistle can treat cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis, which can be caused by alcohol abuse, autoimmune disease, or viruses. But experts say that the evidence isn’t conclusive.
Is it worth taking milk thistle?
Taken in appropriate doses, oral use of milk thistle appears to be safe. Milk thistle can cause: Gastrointestinal issues, such as diarrhea, constipation, nausea, vomiting and abdominal bloating. Itchiness. Headache. If you have diabetes, use milk thistle with caution, since the supplement might lower blood sugar.
Could milk thistle help with weight loss?
Some people also find that milk thistle has a laxative effect, which could result in some water weight loss, but it is not likely to cause any permanent fat loss. Milk thistle can also increase your appetite of people who have low appetite making it more difficult to lose weight if it has this impact on you.
Does milk thistle lower testosterone levels?
The popular herbal supplement milk thistle might help to reduce the negative impacts of testosterone. Milk thistle has few known side effects, but can cause allergic reaction in some people. Consult your doctor.
How do you identify milk thistle?
Milk thistle is a large and highly distinctive thistle, with white marbling on the shiny green leaves. Flowerheads are bright magenta or purple, with thick, fleshy, spine-tipped bracts protruding around the base off the flowerhead. Leaves, stems and flowers are all armed with stiff, sharp spines.
What is milkweed thistle?
Prickly yet pretty, milk thistle is a plant with a long, thin stem, spiny leaves, and a purplish-pink thistle at the top. Often considered a weed, it has been used for hundreds of years as a natural, herbal way to treat liver and gallbladder diseases.
What is milkweed thistle good for?
Medicinal Uses The fresh or dried seeds of the milk thistle contain a substance called silymarin. Silymarin aids in blocking toxins from entering liver cells. Milk thistle has been used to treat upset stomach, liver and gallbladder ailments.
What is the difference between thistle and milk thistle?
While all thistles share similarities, only milk thistle has green and white marbled leaves. Both bull thistle and milk thistle have sharp, spiny bracts surrounding the flower head, but those found on bull thistle are smaller and denser.
Is it OK to take milk thistle every day?
Milk thistle is generally considered safe for most people at dosages up to 420 mg 3 times a day. However, it may cause allergic reactions, such as itching, headaches, and joint pain, or gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea or diarrhea.
Can milk thistle harm your liver?
It may have protective effects on the liver, preventing damage. There's some evidence that milk thistle can treat cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis, which can be caused by alcohol abuse, autoimmune disease, or viruses.
Are all thistle plants milk thistle?
Though it's sometimes considered a weed due to its invasive properties and ability to spread quickly, the milk thistle plant (Silybum marianum) has some positive qualities....How to Grow Milk Thistle.Botanical NameSilybum marianumCommon NameMilk thistlePlant TypeBiennialMature SizeUp to 3 feetSun ExposureFull sun, Part shade6 more rows•Apr 6, 2022
What do you use milkweed for?
Some of the milkweed species have a history of medicinal use including common milkweed (wart removal and lung diseases), and butterfly weed, A. tuberosa (also known as pleurisy root, used for pleurisy and other lung disease).
Can you eat milk thistle flowers?
Roots – the large carrot-like taproots on the young plants can be cooked and eaten before they get too old and fibrous. Leaves – the leaves can be cooked and eaten like spinach, although it's advisable to cut the spines off first. Flowers – the young flower stems can be eaten before they mature and hollow.
Why is thistle bad?
They're ready to spew thousands of seeds to continue their spread. These thistles, musk and plumeless thistles, are invasive, noxious weeds that take over entire fields and render the land useless to native wildlife and plants.
Does milk thistle increase estrogen?
Sure enough: in one recent study, an herbal conglomerate featuring milk thistle as one of the active participants actually increased estrogen metabolism, effectively reducing the amount of active estrogen by speeding up its clearance from the body.
What does thistle plant look like?
Stems are leafy, stout, branched, and somewhat woolly. Flower heads are large, rose to purple with many sharp spine-tipped bracts. Leaves are irregularly lobed, with the end lobe being longer than the side lobes, and all tipped with yellow prickles. Leaves are woolly on the underside.
How tall does milkweed grow?
Milkweed usually grows to about 2 feet tall. It has large, bright clusters of flowers on the tops of its stems. The leaves alternate from side to side and are usually between 1 and 2 inches long. The main stem of a milk thistle is stout and ridged and can grow to over 6 feet tall. Large, broad leaves protrude from either side of the main stem, with branching shoots jutting out as well. The top of a milk thistle is crowned with a large purple flower head that is surrounded by ridged sharp bracts.
How to control milk thistle?
Young milk thistles are most susceptible to control methods. Mechanical removal, such as using a shovel, will only prolong the life of the plant, because the seeds can stay viable for years. Herbicides applied at an early stage of growth have proven effective, as has allowing grazing animals to feed on the young plants. There have been certain breeds of weevils released in problem areas to help control the milk thistle population, because these weevils eat the seed tissue of the thistle.
Is milkweed toxic to butterflies?
When used ornamentally, milkweed makes a beautiful addition to a garden or yard. Milkweed also has a number of medicinal uses; a tea made from its roots is used to treat diarrhea, and chewing fresh roots is a treatment for bronchitis. Also, the plant attracts hummingbirds, monarch butterflies and a number of other beautiful garden creatures. One thing to be aware of, though, is that milkweed can be toxic if ingested in large amounts.
Is milk thistle dangerous?
Mature milk thistle can be dangerous and deadly to grazing animals , because it is a nitrate accumulator. Milk thistle can be beneficial, though, having been used as a liver medication as far back as 23 AD. Milk thistle has been proven to positively affect all forms of liver disease. There is a highly beneficial chemical, silymarin, contained within milk thistle that is composed of three beneficial flavonoids.
Who is Robert Kohnke?
Robert Kohnke has been an avid writer since 1995. Kohnke is well-versed in gardening and botany, electronic/computer repair and maintenance, and technical support. He graduated with an Associate of Arts in agricultural business from Cosumnes River College, where he is continuing his education in computer technology and computer information science.
What is the active ingredient in milk thistle?
Silymarin is the active ingredient in milk thistle. This component of the plant is comprised of a 65% to 80% grouping of flavonolignans: iso silychristin, taxifolin, silychristin, silybin A, silybin B, isosilybin A, isosilybin B, and silydianin.
How tall does a milk thistle grow?
Milk thistle is a sturdy annual or biennial plant. It typically grows up to at least 3 feet tall. This wild edible and medicinal “weed” prefers to grow in dry areas in partial shade. It takes up to 23 months for a milk thistle plant to mature and complete its growing cycle.
How many seeds does a milk thistle plant have?
An entire plant can contain (and release) around 6,350 seeds. The flowers typically range in size from about 1 1/2 inches to nearly 6 inches long. In North America, the flowers generally bloom from June to August, but in the southern hemisphere milk thistle flowers tend to bloom from December through February.
What is milk thistle used for?
Milk thistle is one of the easiest to identify fall foraging offerings. The plant is used in natural medicinal remedies, to brew as a tea, and as a recipe ingredient. Like stinging nettles, you MUST wear gloves when harvesting any part of this plant – or suffer the consequences of having tiny and clear little thorns embedded into your fingers.
What did Mary do to the milk thistle?
The virgin Mary was sheltering herself from the elements and possible evil doers beneath the prickly leaves of the milk thistle plant while nursing the baby Jesus, according to some ancient stories. A drop of Mary’s milk dropped onto one of the leaves, and caused the milky veins that are present in the plant to form.
Where is milk thistle native to?
Even though milk thistle is indigenious to Asia, Europe, and North Africa, it has now been naturalized in the United States, Australia, and South America. naturalized in North and South America and Australia. While milk thistle grows abundantly in the wild nearly throughout the United States, it is possible to purchase seeds to cultivate this plant ...
What is the cone flower used for?
Native American tribes often used milk thistle to treat skin rashes, diseases, and boils.
How to make milk thistle tonic?
Milk thistle tonic is typically made by steeping a tablespoon of crushed seed in three cups of hot water for 20 minutes. Do not harvest milk thistle plants that have been exposed to pesticides or found along roadways or industrial sites.
How much milk thistle is in a capsule?
Doses range from 175 milligrams to 1,000 milligrams. Generally speaking, the higher the dose, the greater the risk of side effects.
What is the most common herbal supplement for hepatitis C?
In fact, a survey funded by the National Institutes of Health reported that 23 percent of 1,145 people with hepatitis C used herbal supplements, with milk thistle being by far the most common. 4 .
What is milk thistle?
Other Questions. Milk thistle ( Silybum marianum) is a perennial herb believed to have medicinal properties. The seeds contain silymarin, a group of compounds said to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
How to grow milk thistle?
To grow milk thistle, spread the seeds over the loose soil in the spring or fall. Milk thistle seeds only take only around two weeks to germinate. Since milk thistle grows in clumps, space each cluster of seed s about 12 inches apart. Milk thistle is drought resistant and needs very little watering.
What happens if you take milk thistle?
Call 911 or seek emergency care if you experience shortness of breath, rash, hives, rapid heartbeat, lightheadedness, or swelling of the face, tongue, or neck after taking milk thistle. If left untreated, anaphylaxis can lead to shock, coma, cardiac or respiratory failure, or death.
Does silymarin help the liver?
Some preliminary studies have suggested that silymarin may improve liver function by keeping toxic substances from binding to liver cells. However, studies on the milk thistle's effectiveness in treating liver disorders have yielded mixed results. 2
What are the characteristics of milkweed?
Key Characteristics of Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca: Flower color ranges from pink to white, highly fragrant. Milky sap when leaves/stem broken. Fine hairs on underside of leaves—soft and velvety! Mature leaves typically quite broad.
Where is milkweed native to?
Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) Tropical milkweed is an annual plant that is no native to the US (Woodson, 1954). It is native to Central and South America (Broyles and Stoj 2019). Electronic records show that tropical milkweed was planted in gardens in the US as early as 1806 (Satterfield et al., 2015).
How long does a swamp milkweed flower last?
Flowers will last about 5 days and each flower produces about 1.5 uL of nectar each day, with a mean sucrose concentration of 30% (C.T. Ivey, unpublished data). Monarchs often lay eggs on fresh shoots that are easier for caterpillars to feed on. Swamp milkweed can spread highly efficiently by shooting out rhizomes.
Where does swamp milkweed grow?
Swamp Milkweed is a native perennial of the eastern and central United States and southern Canada (Manitoba, Quebec, and Nova Scotia). It is common in wetlands. Swamp milkweed will often have multiple stems up to 2 m tall and it can have several stems coming from one single root crown (Ivey et al., 2003). Each stem on average can have 22 pink ...
How does milkweed spread?
It prefers well-drained soils. Common milkweed can spread highly efficiently by shooting out rhizomes that can form large clones of up to several thousand stems (Wilbur, 1979). This means a patch of common milkweed could actually just be a single plant.
What is the color of swamp milkweed?
This means a patch of Swamp milkweed could actually just be a single plant! Key Characteristics of Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) Flower color ranges from pink to light purple, fragrant. Produces milky sap when leaves/stem broken. Leaves are generally smooth, long, and narrow, tapering to a point.
Where does antelope horn milkweed come from?
Antelope horns milkweed is native to the western United States and is found in savannas and prairies. Its name comes from the curved shape of the seedpods that often resembles antelope horns.
Why is milk thistle good for liver?
For instance, if you have a liver disease where there’s a possibility of damage, the go-to option is milk thistle because it actively boosts the regenerative potential of the liver.
How are dandelion and milk thistle similar?
Even though both dandelion and milk thistle have very similar outcomes and effects, how they achieve them is where their differences lie: 1. Different parts are used. With milk thistle, the whole plant has therapeutic benefits. With dandelion, on the other hand, it’s primarily the root that lends its benefits.
What herbs were used in the Greeks?
Even before the dawn of the 1st century when the Greeks dominated “modern” health practices, milk thistle and dandelion were already favorites of physicians. Although their mechanisms of action weren’t well known in those days, anecdotal evidence suggested these herbs were potent cleansers and purifiers of the human body.
Why do herbs work differently?
3. They have different active ingredients. Part of the reason why these herbs work differently is because of their active ingredients . Silymarin is the active ingredient in milk thistle and is responsible for most of its beneficial effects. In dandelion root, the active ingredient is carbon tetrachloride.
Does milk thistle help with inflammatory skin?
According to this study published in 2015, milk thistle has potent anti-inflammatory effects that are helpful for inflammatory skin conditions. Other studies show that milk thistle’s antioxidant content has anti-aging benefits that can make skin look younger and healthier. 3.
Does milk thistle help with liver disease?
1. Milk thistle helps regenerate liver cells. Milk thistle is one of the few herbs that can actively manage liver diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatitis. In such conditions, liver cells are damaged. Some parts may even start to die off.
Can you use milk thistle leaves in salad?
While you can make milk thistle tea using its leaves, prepare a delicacy using its stems, or even make a salad, such diversity isn’t as common with dandelion root. Although, you can toss some dandelion greens in your salad for added nutrition. But back to milk thistle, even its seeds can be useful.
What is milk thistle seed?
Milk Thistle Seed by Gaia Herbs is a milk thistle liver detox cleanse supplement for natural, herbal liver detox. Milk Thistle for Pets, oral liquid. Milk Thistle for Pets by Pet Wellbeing helps protect dogs and cats from toxins and free radical damage naturally from the inside out with milk thistle liquid drops formulated for pets.
When did milk thistle become less common?
The use of milk thistle as medicine has also been documented for centuries, yet it became less common in the West during the 20th-century, perhaps with the discovery of penicillin and other scientific approaches.
What is Blessed Thistle used for?
Blessed thistle is also used to support upper respiratory health, as a diuretic to promote urination, to promote the flow of breast milk in new mothers, and other potential health benefits . For direct application to the skin, a poultice of blessed thistle can be made.
Is thistle a flower?
Not all thistle is created equal. Thistles are flowering plants characterized by sharp prickles all over the plant, including the stem, leaves, and the flowerhead itself. The use of different thistle plants has been recorded since medieval times, even believed back then to bring hair back to a bald head. There is also record that thistle plants ...
Can you take blessed thistle if you are pregnant?
If you think you may be pregnant, or if you have allergies to plants in the Asteraceae family, including ragweed, do not take blessed thistle supplements.
Why do people drink blessed thistle tea?
Many people take blessed thistle in the form of a tea in order to improve appetite, reduce diarrhea, and eliminate indigestion. It is also commonly used to promote breast milk secretion for newly lactating mothers. However, there is limited research that supports that it actually stimulates lactation.
Does milk thistle help with infertility?
Diabetic neuropathy. Chronic liver diseases. Some research has also linked milk thistle to help with infertility issues, cancer, nasal allergies, and even help improve the flow of breast milk in nursing mothers. Milk thistle is believed to exert a special chemical that helps protect the liver preventing damage.
Does Milk Thistle help with gallbladder?
Milk thistle is believed to help with liver , kidney, and gallbladder issues by reducing inflammation. It has also been linked to improving breast milk flow in new mothers. Meanwhile, blessed thistle targets gastric issues such as diarrhea, indigestion, and decreased appetite.
