Milk Thistle Liver Supplement

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is a widely used supplement amongst weight lifters, heavy drinkers, and athletes in general. While there is speculation on how effective milk thistle is, many people swear by it. I am in that category. According to a study done in 2000 by AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare and Research Quality), milk thistle's effectiveness has not been established as relevant. BestVite has a very solid product, and you get get a very fair deal on multiple bottles.

Milk thistle as liver care is the most widespread and common use. The FDA has yet to evaluate the effectiveness or safety in the use of milk thistle. There are no standardized regulations for the manufacturing of milk thistle, and milk thistle extract. A few cases have surfaced in which the milk thistle product was contanimated by toxic metals. This event is rare, but milk thistle should be purchased without fear of toxic metal poisoning.

Milk thistle is used as a complementary treatment for liver problems such as cirrhosis, inflammation, and specifically hepatitis. It is suggest that milk thistle can help the liver recover from damages caused by a wide range of toxins. These toxins can include industrial byproducts like xylene, toluene, and many generic cleaning agents.

Most doctors claim that more research and studies need to be conducted before they can affirmatively say that milk thistle does directly benefit the health of one's liver. Milk thistle may protect the liver from inflammation, but will not help fight viral infections of the liver.

Silymarin is the extract of the milk thistle plant, which is effectively what you are buying. Supposedly, it can help the liver to break down and fight side affects from cell-damaging free radicals. Silymarin also has the potential to interfere with the effects of liver damaging toxins.

Though science has much more work and studying to do regarding the benefits of milk thistle on liver cells, most people can find a legitimate reason to take Silymarin as a daily supplement. Since most body building/weight lifting supplements have serious chemicals in them, adding milk thistle will help your liver to recover from breaking down and metabolizing these compounds.

As a generic rule, milk thistle extract should be taken with a meal 2-3 times a day to benefit the liver and help counter-act the damages caused by alcohol, industrial toxins, and powerful lifting supplements.