Description
Modern research supports the continued use of this traditional herb to promote healthy liver function.**
Milk thistle or Silybum marianum is an annual belonging to the daisy family. It is named for its green, spiny leaves that release a milky sap when broken. But the health-promoting benefits come from its seed-like fruits. Merely millimeters in size, these tiny fruits contain silymarin, a complex mixture of plant-based nutrients called flavonoids.1
For thousands of years, milk thistle has been used as a health tonic most prized for supporting liver health.** Originally native to areas of Europe, Russia, Asia and Africa, milk thistle was later naturalized in North and South America and has been used throughout the world. In Ancient Greece it was used as a tonic to promote liver health.**
Traditional systems of Chinese and Indian medicine also used milk thistle to revitalize the liver and gallbladder.** Throughout the Middle Ages, it was believed to detoxify the liver.** Despite its frequent and common use, the active components in milk thistle were not identified until 1968.
