Dietary Business Intelligence: Use of Milk Thistle to improve your health

What comes to your mind when you think about milk thistle? Milk product! No, it’s not. Is this Plant? For those who don’t know what milk thistle is let me tell you milk thistle is an annual or biennial plant bearing the scientific name Silybum marianum. It is related to the daisy and ragweed family. It is basically famous for its activity in treating liver diseases. This prickly plant has white veins and distinctive purple flower.

Nativity and history: It is native to Southern Russia, Southern Europe, Asia Minor and Northern Africa. It is also found in South and North America and South Australia. The traditional stories regarding this plant say that the distinctive character is obtained by a drop of the virgin Mary’s milk falling onto the leaves. The main component present in this plant is silymarin and it is most often used as herbal supplement in the US for liver problems (1).

Constituents: It contains several flavonoids i.e. silymarin. The most active one is silybin (2).

Hepatoprotective in nature: Milk thistle is found to have hepatoprotective activity. Seeds contain lipophilic extracts, which have powerful bioflavonoids that boost immune strength and reduce oxidative stress (3). A study done in 2016 revealed that milk thistle improved diet-induced liver damage in mice (4). It also helps in alleviating liver inflammation and have improved the condition of patients suffering from liver problems (5).

Potential health benefits of milk thistle

Maintains Bone health: There are many problems these days related to bones. Osteoporosis is one of them. It develops slowly, weakens bones and makes it fragile. Milk thistle may play a potential role in supporting bone health. Researches have shown that milk thistle is found to enhance bone mineralization and helps in protection against progressive bone loss (6-7). Further studies are still required to confirm the effect.

Effective against cancer: Milk thistle might be helpful in limiting the spread of cancer. It is suggested that silymarin has anticancer effects, which could be helpful for people receiving cancer treatment (8). It is also found that it might be helpful against certain side effects of cancer treatment (9). In certain circumstances, it might also destroy cancer cells.

Alleviates insulin resistance: It is a problem in diabetic patients. Milk thistle might alleviate blood sugar in people who have type 2 diabetes. A study on mice has revealed this effect still it needs more concrete evidences (10). The risk of certain complications like kidney diseases can also be alleviated by the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of milk thistle.

Promotes breast milk production: Milk thistle might help in breast milk production. It works by enhancing the milk producing hormone prolactin. A study on mothers taking 420mg of silymarin for 63 days enhanced the milk production (11).

Boosts immune system: Milk thistle might help to strengthen immune response and help to fight infection. A study on the animal in 2016 found that milk thistle extract improved the immunity when consumed (12).

Improves skin health: It may be used topically to improve skin health. It has an anti-oxidant and anti-ageing effect on human skin cells. A study in 2015 found that milk thistle could help to improve inflammatory skin conditions (13).

Words of caution