Poisons enter your body whenever you smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, work with solvents and paints, take medications to combat pain, or walk down a city street breathing the exhaust of cars and buses. Even if you live in the country, hundreds of miles from an industrial hub, you probably breathe air laced with some of the 851 million pounds of toxic chemicals that are released into the environment each year. What keeps these poisons from overwhelming your body is your liver. The liver breaks down toxins in the bloodstream and turns them into less harmful substances that are eventually flushed from your system. Your liver is the great detoxifier, and it has the capacity to serve you well for a lifetime.
When your liver becomes damaged by toxins, however, milk thistle, a plant with a long history as a liver tonic, may be helpful. This herb has been used to treat inflammation of the liver, hepatitis, mushroom and chemical poisoning, and liver damage from alcohol abuse or long-term use of certain medications.
"Milk thistle strengthens your liver and reduces the damage from environmental irritants like pesticides," says Jennifer Brett, N.D., a naturopathic doctor at the Wilton Naturopathic Center in Stratford, Connecticut.
The Liver’s Bodyguard
Milk thistle is native to the Mediterranean but now grows wild in North America, especially California and the eastern United States. Although it was used for centuries in Europe as a liver tonic, by the beginning of the twentieth century, its value was nearly forgotten.
Some years ago, German scientists began investigating the chemical properties of the milk thistle fruit and discovered a concentrated group of flavonoid compounds called silymarin. Flavonoids in general are an important group of antioxidants that devour free radicals, the free-roaming, unstable molecules that rage through the body, harm healthy cells, and accelerate aging.
Silymarin is actually a group of flavonoids that functions as an antihepatoxic, meaning that it acts directly on the liver to protect it from poisons. It mounts the defenses on two fronts. First, it binds to the membranes of liver cells and creates a tough shield so that toxins have a more difficult time penetrating the cell walls. If toxins do make it into the cells and cause damage, silymarin stimulates the liver to speed up production of beneficial enzymes and proteins as part of a healing restoration.
"Silymarin is an antioxidant that acts very specifically on liver tissue. It also increases the activity of glutathione, the body’s own antioxidant," says Alison Lee, M.D., a pain-management specialist and medical director of Barefoot Doctors, an alternative medicine practice in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
More Life for the Liver
The human liver has a remarkable natural capacity to regenerate itself after being damaged, and studies of people who have liver problems show that milk thistle can actually help a damaged liver grow new cells.
"Milk thistle enhances the liver’s own healing process," says Dr. Lee. "It can be used both for short-term acute liver injury, like that resulting from exposure to a virus or mushroom poisoning, and for long-term, chronic problems such as cirrhosis as well."
SUPPLEMENTSNAPSHOT
| Milk Thistle Botanical name: Silybum marianum. May help: Hepatitis, cirrhosis, mushroom poisoning, liver inflammation, and liver damage caused by alcohol abuse, long-term use of medications, and chemical exposure; endometriosis; and Parkinson’s disease. Special instructions: For maximum absorption, take with food. Origin: Native to the Mediterranean. Cautions and possible side effects: Generally regarded as safe; may cause loose stools. |
Swedish doctors have successfully used milk thistle as a kind of antidote for mushroom poisoning following accidental ingestion. But that doesn’t mean that you can try to self-treat with milk thistle if you may have mushroom poisoning. See a doctor immediately.
The herb is commonly prescribed in Europe for a variety of liver conditions, including cirrhosis and hepatitis. It has sometimes been used as a digestive stimulant to encourage the release of bile, a fluid produced by the liver that plays an essential role in digestion. Mainly, however, it is employed as a liver tonic.
A Tonic for Toxicity
Who should take milk thistle, and how often? Most people would benefit from a daily supplement, according to Dr. Brett. She believes that Americans are routinely exposed to many toxins and that we should use it as a preventive. "It will not do you any harm and probably a lot of good, considering how toxic our society is," she says.
Milk thistle is most often sold in capsules or tablets. So far, Dr. Lee adds, there’s no evidence to suggest any problems with taking the herb over the long term, which suggests that it’s safe to take regularly as a preventive. Certainly, people who are regularly exposed to environmental hazards, such as painters, anyone who works around chemicals, folks who live in areas of heavy industrial pollution, and people recovering from alcohol abuse, are good candidates for milk thistle, she says. "That doesn’t mean, though, that you can take milk thistle and just drink all you want. It doesn’t work that way," she warns.
Dr. Lee often prescribes milk thistle to her new acupuncture patients, people who have been taking drugs for years to control inflammation or pain from chronic conditions. Many pain-relieving drugs—even common over-the-counter medications like acetaminophen—can be damaging to the liver with long-term use, she says. Milk thistle helps detoxify her patients’ livers and helps while they are being weaned from medications, she says.
"If somebody is taking a lot of medications, their liver may not be as responsive as it might be," she adds. "I wouldn’t recommend milk thistle for everyone. First, I do a simple blood test to determine liver function. If the test reveals a problem, I might recommend it."
