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The idea of taking milk thistle for liver damage is not new. It has been used medicinally for over 2000 years to treat liver, as well as gallbladder disorders. Today, supplements containing the extract are popular in Europe and the United States. Surveys indicate that people which chronic hepatitis C often use a variety of different herbal supplements. Silymarin, the active component in milk thistle, is one of the most popular.
In a recent study, researchers for the National Institutes of Health found that hepatitis C sufferers using silymarin had fewer symptoms, reported better quality of life and their general health was significantly better than those who did not use the supplement. The researchers suggested a future well-designed study where the use of the supplement was controlled and the quality of the supplement was standardized. Such a study would help doctors determine if they should recommend milk thistle for liver damage.
The activity of silymarin is not well understood. It has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Sources agree on that. But, while some sources say that it is a chelating agent (able to break down hazardous heavy metals, so that they can be removed from the body), other sources say that it does not have chelating activity. It may be dependent on whether the supplement is taken alone or used in conjunction with lecithin.
A combination of lecithin and silymarin is about ten times more bio-available than silymarin alone. The bio-availability of a drug or a nutrient has to do with how much ends up unchanged in the bloodstream when it is taken orally. Alone, silymarin has poor bio-availability.
In a 2008 study, researchers found that the lecithin/silymarin combination decreased circulating blood levels of iron, which indicates that it does have chelating activity. Chelating agents are non-selective. They change iron, as they would change a hazardous heavy metal like lead or mercury. Anemic people are warned against using chelating agents on a regular basis for that reason, unless they also take an iron supplement.
Because of this latest study, if you are taking milk thistle for liver damage, you might also need to increase your iron intake. Of course, any type of supplementation should be discussed with your doctor.
Many people take milk thistle for liver damage prevention. It is included in some of the better multi-nutritional supplements, because of its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Free radical damage and inflammation are two of the causes of cellular aging, throughout the body.
Antioxidants neutralize free radicals, before they can damage the cells or cause degeneration of the DNA strands. Drugs that have anti-inflammatory activity are ineffective against the chronic inflammation that causes cellular aging. In fact, those drugs are toxic to the liver.
If you regularly take ibuprofen, aspirin or other drugs of that type, you should consider the use of more natural anti-inflammatories, such as omega-3 fatty acids, and also take a multi-nutritional supplement that contains silymarin. Research indicates there are positive benefits to taking milk thistle for liver damage prevention, especially as it relates to those drugs.
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