milk thistle

oily . clearing . moving . detoxing . cooling

friendly, simple, effective - milk thistle is truly the ‘people’s herb’, foundational in its function but far from basic. it’s nourishing specifically to the detox pathways and fairly neutral in energetics.

Milk thistle is unique - it’s processed through the enterohepatic loop meaning it loops and loops around the body until all the goodness has been extracted (unlike other herbs that are digested differently and barely make it to through the stomach in-tact)

Milk thistle has been recognised for liver disorders as far back as the Roman era - liver issues then were often referred to as ‘melancholia’, an interesting name if you consider- as Chinese medicine does- the liver as an integral seat of all emotions. Why does this make sense? Because the liver denatures hormones, every hormone is in fat and therefore exits the body through the liver. The liver is the epicentre of emotional processing. Milk thistle biochemically acts on the liver through its silymarin content : silymarin actively regenerates liver cells and inhibits fibrosis. Because of this, milk thistle is on one of the very few things that can save you from mushroom poisoning, because of the way it relieves the livers burden of detoxification. It can also encourage endogenous production of glutathione (something that health gurus spend a lot of money on for exogenous supplements - don’t spend money on glutathione, just eat more chopped broccoli sprouts and milk thistle :) 

Because of this very specific liver-effect, milk thistle is the perfect support in liver diseases like HIV or Hepatitis, fatty-liver or poor liver function and diabetes, as well liver related hormone issues and high-toxic stress like chemotherapy (or even a virus). liver support like milk thistle isn’t reserved only for those with clinically damaged livers, remember that what we can pick up clinically has been manifesting in the background for years previous; milk thistle can also support somebody who has a diet of rich and heavy foods.

on the subject of diabetes, in studies on type 2 diabetics, milk thistle significantly improved serum insulin and fasting blood sugar level (this was a mix of Berberis and Silybum and they were able to take less insulin medication).

milk thistle deeply nourishes and supports your liver, but it also (quite uniquely) supports your kidneys at the same time.  

there is a concern that milk thistle is metabolised through the CP450 PATHWAY AND MAY INTERACT WITH CERTAIN DRUGS.