When you consider what junk food, stress and toxins can do to your body you can determine why you should stay vegan when your diseased. One example of this is gluten, a protein so similar in shape to thyroid hormone it can mimic it and trigger widespread inflammation. Which can suppress thyroid function…. when this happens the best way to get rid of the toxins that can harm our organs is through high fiber veggies.
While Traditional Chinese Medicine TCM practitioners typically call on Chinese herbal medicine to fortify yin, there is a popular Western herb with yin tonification properties. Known to protect and support the liver for centuries, milk thistle is a true liver tonic. Milk thistle has proven in clinical studies to reverse toxic liver damage, protect against toxicity, while stimulating protein synthesis in the liver and help with the formation and growth of healthy new liver cells.
This combination of properties causes milk thistle to reduce inflammation and also nourish liver tissue. From a TCM perspective, milk thistle reduces liver heat and nourishes liver yin. Therefore, milk thistle is a reliable means of yin fortification. TCM believes if you keep cancer out of your liver you won’t die. So it’s wise to learn what to do to protect this vital organ!!
Being all our organs work in unison lets take a look at one of the more important organs we have in our body. The Liver which some consider the great detoxifier in our body. While Traditional Chinese Medicine TCM practitioners typically call on Chinese herbal medicine to fortify yin, there is a popular Western herb with yin tonification properties. Known to protect and support the liver for centuries, milk thistle is a true liver tonic.
Milk thistle seeds, consumed as a powder, tea, tincture or standardized extract, can be helpful for a healthy liver function. However, as a side effect can also work to increase the condition of the kidneys, spleen, gall bladder as well as the endocrine and gastrointestinal systems. Learn more about the benefits and how it might help you to break down fats more efficiently.
What milk thistle is:
Milk thistle is a plant that comes from the same group of flowers as the daisy. It is also called holy thistle, Marian thistle, Mary thistle, St. Mary thistle, Our Lady’s thistle, wild artichoke, Mariendistel (German), and Chardon-Marie (French).
The medicinal compound in milk thistle is silymarin, an extract of milk thistle seeds. It is an antioxidant that protects against cell damage. Silymarin contains 4 compounds, including silybin (the most active), isosilybin, silychristin, and silydianin. Most research has studied silymarin or its major compound silybin, instead of the plant as a whole.
Research into milk thistle and cancer!!!
Research in the laboratory has shown that milk thistle might help to treat some liver diseases, such as hepatitis and cirrhosis.
Researchers have tested silymarin and silybin in the laboratory in cancer cells. They found that silybin:
•May help the chemotherapy drugs cisplatin and doxorubicin work better against ovarian cancer and breast cancer cells
•May directly destroy prostate, breast, and cervical cancer cells
•May slow down prostate cancer cell growth
Research has also looked at silybin in animal cancers. Studies seem to show it can….
•Reduce the side effects of chemotherapy
•Make some chemotherapy drugs work better
•Stop or slow the growth of some cancer cells
•Block tumours from starting or continuing to grow
•Help to repair liver tissue
•Reduce bowel cancer cell growth in mice
A few trials have looked at milk thistle for people with cancer. A small randomised clinical trial in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia found silymarin reduced the harmful effects of chemotherapy on the liver without stopping the treatment from working. Larger trials are needed.
Some clinical trials have studied milk thistle or silymarin as a treatment for hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, or bile duct disorders. These trials have had mixed results. In one trial for patients with chronic hepatitis having treatment to boost their immune system, people taking silymarin had fewer symptoms and a better quality of life. The effects of silymarin in some early studies suggest that it might be helpful in preventing liver inflammation or liver cancer. But no published clinical trials have looked at silymarin … for preventing or treating cancer in humans.
A number of companies on the internet claim that milk thistle can help to detoxify and protect your liver. They also claim that it can help to protect other organs of the body such as the gallbladder and spleen. Some claim that it slows the growth of some types of cancer, including breast and prostate cancer. Although it is possible that milk thistle may play a part in treating liver disease and some types of cancer there is currently no evidence for this. We need a lot more research with reliable clinical trials before we can be sure that milk thistle will play any part in treating or preventing cancers.
Side effects of milk thistle:
Although taking milk thistle is generally considered safe, we would recommend anyone thinking of taking it to talk to their doctor first. Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should not take this herb.
When taken as recommended, people report few bad side effects from milk thistle or silymarin. Several large, carefully designed studies in patients with liver disorders have found that taking silymarin may rarely cause diarrhea, feeling sick, heartburn, or stomach upset. At high doses (more than 1,500 milligrams a day) it can cause mild allergic reactions.
Although we don’t have enough research to know whether or not milk thistle may affect cancer treatments and make them more or less effective. However, generally antioxidant supplements are not recommended during chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment, because they may block some of the cancer killing effect of these treatments. One may what to talk to their doctor about taking milk thistle!!!
Silymarin has been used in herbal remedies throughout Europe for thousands of years. How you take milk thistle: While Milk thistle supplements are made from the ripe seed, which is the fruit of the plant. They are available as capsules, tablets, powder, and liquid extract. Powdered milk thistle can be made into a tea. The usual daily dose ranges from 140 to 400 milligrams of silymarin, usually divided into 2 or 3 doses.