How to Use Milk Thistle

Milk thistle is known by many names including sow thistle, St. Mary's thistle, wild artichoke, heal thistle, Legalon, pig leaves and snake milk. It has been used medicinally for at least 2000 years, mainly for the treatment of gallbladder and liver disorders. It is still used today as a liver tonic and treatment of gallstones.

Things You'll Need

• Milk thistle supplements

Instructions

1. Milk thistle is available in several forms including the bulk dried seeds, as tincture, as fluid extract, as tea bags and in solid form in tablets and capsules. The active ingredient in milk thistle is silymarin. Health experts agree that extract standardized for silymarin content are preferable. The standard dosage for a mik thistle preparation is determined by the amount of silymarin it contains. The therapeutic aim is for 7-210mg of silymarin three times each day. Optimum results are usually obtained with higher dosages (200-210mg, three times daily). The dosage for dried milk thistle (made into a tisane) is 12-15 grams daily.

2. Consult your doctor about the possibility of using milk thistle extract if you suffer from hepatitis C. Hepatitis C virus is a serious and contagious disease of the liver that currently affects about 3 million Americans, although many of them are unaware that they have the disease. Studies conducted at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Puerto Rico tested the possible beneficial effects of silymarin extract on hepatitis C virus. The results showed that although silymarin does not have antiviral effects on the disease, it does protect against tissue inflammation.

3. It is believed that milk thistle extract may help to prevent or treat gallstones because of its apparent ability to increase the solubility of bile and so prevent them from forming or help them break down when formed. However, there are no currently available clinical studies to confirm this.

4. There have been some reports that milk thistle may be effective in the treatment of psoriasis. This may be due to its ability to reduce inflammation of tissue and compounds that are involved in the formulation of psoriasis as well as its tendency to boost liver function.

Tips & Warnings

• A possible side effect of milk thistle is loose stools or diarrhea, this may sometimes occur because milk thistle extract may sometimes increase the output of bile. If this side effect does occure, you can use fiber compounds like oat bran, pectin or psyllium to bulk up the stool.

• Other adverse effects may include headache, nausea and skin rash.

• You should always consult your health practitioner before taking milk thistle to treat gallbladder problems, hepatitis, or cirrhosis of the liver.

• Insufficient clinical studies have been conducted to determine the safety of milk thistle during pregnancy and nursing, so the herb should be avoided during these times.

• Milk thistle should not be used along with acetaminophen, thyroid hormone or alcohol.