by The Puritan's Pride Editorial Team
Many see it as another weed in the ground, but milk thistle has some special properties. Hailing from the Mediterranean region, this vibrant purple plant has been used for thousands of years for its cleansing properties. One of its reported benefits is promoting liver wellness.
The liver is the largest internal organ, weighing around 3 lbs. After digestion, nutrient-rich blood is delivered directly to the liver, where it is filtered before being distributed to the rest of the body. The liver detoxifies blood, metabolizes nutrients, and plays many other critical roles that impact nearly every aspect of health.
Milk thistle or Silybum marianum is an annual belonging to the daisy family. It is named for its green, spiny leaves that release a milky sap when broken.
For thousands of years, milk thistle has been used as a health tonic for supporting liver health. Originally native to areas of Europe, Russia, Asia, and Africa, it was later naturalized in North and South America and has been used throughout the world. In Ancient Greece, it was used as a tonic to promote liver health.
This thorny plant’s health-promoting benefits come from its seed-like fruits. Merely millimeters in size, these tiny fruits contain silymarin, a complex mixture of plant-based nutrients called flavonoids.
Silymarin contains important antioxidant properties that can help fight free radicals in the body (which contribute to oxidative stress). The beneficial flavonoids and antioxidants in milk thistle also stimulate the production of important proteins needed for the formation of new liver cells.
Milk thistle is taken in a variety of forms. You can have it as a soothing cup of tea, put crushed leaves in smoothies, take it as a supplement, your call. Puritan’s Pride offers milk thistle as extracts, in complex supplements with other complementary herbs like dandelion, and as capsules.
It is true that silymarin has been identified as the active component in milk thistle responsible for promoting liver health. Yet silymarin only makes up about 1.5-3% of the dry weight of milk thistle fruits. The rest is composed of proteins, fatty acids, sugars, and other phytonutrients with beneficial properties.
Your daily intake of milk thistle supplements can be consumed with one meal or can be taken at separate meals throughout the day.
Milk thistle seeds have long been roasted and used as a coffee substitute, and Puritan’s Pride milk thistle capsules can be opened and prepared as a tea. If you choose to consume your milk thistle supplements this way, we recommend enjoying your milk thistle tea with a meal because the active constituent in milk thistle, silymarin, is best absorbed with food.
