[FWD: Milk Thistle for liver protection]

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JoAnn Guest <joguest

Sun, 24 Feb 2002 18:09:41 +0000

Melanoma

Milk Thistle for liver protection

 

 

Is your liver under siege?

 

Even a healthy person has to contend with daily assaults on the liver

like pollutants, pesticides and food preservatives, which the organ is

responsible for detoxifying.

Unfortunately, conventional medicine offers little help in the

treatment or prevention of liver damage, outside of warnings to limit

alcohol consumption and to keep the immune system strong against

viruses.

 

Added to that, widespread diseases such as hepatitis and

mononucleosis are notorious for their debilitating effects on the liver.

 

They can result in murky-sounding conditions like a " sluggish " or

" congested " liver, where a decrease in bile flow leads to overall

impairment of liver function.

And, considering the liver's role as the most important organ of

metabolism (responsible for the absorption of fat soluble substances),

even a minor impairment can wreak havoc on your system.

All that stress on our livers has created a demand for more

liver-boosting treatments.

 

Liver Protection

 

Naturopathic physicians wield a venerable weapon against liver damage

almost as old as time: milk thistle (Silybum Marianum) has been used in

traditional herbal medicine since the first century AD to protect the

liver.

Clinical research in this century has confirmed its effectiveness and

safety; including more than 300 studies conducted since the late 1960s,

according to Steven Foster, author of 101 Medicinal herbs (Interweave

Press).

Milk thistle seeds contain a bioflavonoid complex known as silymarin,

which possesses powerful antioxidant abilities.

Foster notes that standardized milk thistle seed preparations have been

 

shown to change the cell structure of the outer liver membrane, which

prevents toxic chemicals from entering the organ and stimulates its

capacity to generate new cells.

Studies have shown milk thistle to be beneficial in the treatment of

liver ailments including cirrhosis, fatty liver, radiation toxicity and

viral hepatitis. (Altern Med Rev 3 (6), Dec. 1998: 410-21).

 

Mother's Milk

 

Named for the milky white juice the leaves exude when crushed, the milk

thistle plant is native to the Mediterranean and grow wild throughout

Europe, North America and Australia. Milk thistle's technical name,

Marianum, derives from a legend that its leaf veins turned white after

being crushed by a drop of the Virgin Mary's breast milk. Perhaps this

is why many Europeans wet nurses used milk thistles in their diets,

believing that the cooked leaves increased lactation.

The healing properties of the plant's milky juice were first recorded by

 

the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder, who noted that it was good for

" carrying off bile " .

By the 19th century, German doctors were using a tincture made from milk

 

thistle seeds to treat jaundice and other liver diseases.

 

Fighting Free Radical Damage

 

Milk thistle's ability to fight free radical damage is, in fact, many

times more potent than that of Vitamin E, according to Michael Murray,

ND, and Joseph Pizzorno, ND, authors of " Encyclopedia of Natural

Medicine " (Prima).

In addition to its antioxidant properties, milk thistle works in a

multitude of ways to fight liver damage.

 

--·It prevents the depletion of glutathione (GSH), an amino acid

compound found in the liver which plays a vital role in detoxification.

 

--·It protects against liver harm by toxic chemicals such as carbon

tetrachloride and praseodymium nitrate.

 

--·It inhibits the formation of live damaging leukotrienes, inflammatory

 

compounds produced when oxygen interacts with --polyunsaturated fatty

acids. Milk thistle inhibits the enzyme lipoxygenase, which catalyzes

the formation of leukotrienes.

 

--·It stimulates protein synthesis, which results in an increase in the

production of new liver cells to replace damaged old ones.

 

Toxic Protection

 

In addition to its well-documented healing properties for diseases, milk

 

thistle can actually help prevent liver damage when taken before

exposure to toxic chemicals (Min. Med. 72, 1985; 2679-88)

 

Milk thistle is also useful for women who take hormones like estrogen,

which can often contribute to a sluggishly performing liver.

So while no easy cure can solve liver disease, this strange-looking herb

 

does offer regenerative hope.~

 

Martin Wall, Botanical Services~ Energy Times (July, Aug. 1999)

 

 

 

 

JoAnn Guest

joguest

Friendsforhealthnaturally

http://canceranswer.homestead.com/AIM.html

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" Health is not a Medical Issue "

 

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