To help repair liver damage, you may wish to consider consuming milk thistle as a herbal supplement. Milk thistle is also otherwise known as silybum marianum. It is found to support and revive liver function even for those that have already by afflicted by disease. Additionally, it also has preventative medicinal qualities for the bowels and gall bladder.
Milk thistle lowers your enzyme levels, and aids in the delivery of detoxifying blood to your body. It also helps reduce inflammation, thus making it helpful for Hepatitis patients. It alters the outer layers of your body cells and keeps toxins at bay, and regenerates damaged cells by increasing ribosome activity; thus cleansing your liver of free radicals. These properties are also helpful in the treatment of cirrhosis.
Milk thistle is one of the best all natural products available to repair liver damage. It aids your liver to cleanse itself while preventing incoming toxins by protecting each cell within the liver. The protective feature allows the liver to concentrate on releasing the existing toxins rather than warding off new intruders. These properties strengthen the liver itself, allowing it to function optimally. It is a truly great herb.
How do we know if we have a liver that needs repair? There are various common symptoms that we suffer from and which can be simply cured by cleansing our livers. Bloating, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, unexplained belly fat, indigestion, and bad breath can all be traced back to an overworked liver. Also, if you drink alcohol regularly and are at risk of liver damage, then milk thistle can help repair this vital organ.
In addition, a little known fact regarding the functions of the liver is its ability to help you with you moods. If you have liver damage, you are likely to be irritable, groggy or depressed and have mood swings on a regular basis. Liver damage may well be due to excessive toxins that have entered the bloodstream. A proper liver cleanse can properly stabilize your moods by preventing excess toxins from escaping your liver.
Even if you are not currently experiencing the above symptoms in your daily life, a liver cleanse is helpful for anyone under any sort of stress, which lets face it, is all of us. Environmental pollutants, exposure to chemicals and drugs can all be toxic to our bodies; so helping your liver to rejuvenate itself is always a good idea.
For liver damage repair, you can take a general recommended dosage of milk thistle anywhere from 500 to 2000mg per day. This supplement is available in most herbal stores. While the bottle may say that side effects such as vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and headaches are possible, you can avoid these symptoms if you take the supplements as directed. Of course, it will be a good idea to drink plenty of water throughout your day to minimize any possible side effects and to aid in the flushing of toxins.
In vitro and animal studies, as well as historical usage, suggest that it protects the liver's cells from toxins. Human studies are, as yet, inconclusive, although the HALT-C trial, which included volunteers suffering from chronic hepatitis C, found that users had less fatigue, nausea and anorexia, as well as less pain in the liver, joints and muscles. Their general health remained significantly better than those patients that did not use the supplement.
Scientists have documented the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activity of silymarin, one of the active compounds in the ripe seeds of the milk thistle plant. There is some debate about whether or not it is a chelating agent. Some sources say, ?Yes?. Others do not list this as a benefit.
A 2008 study concerning the milk thistle silymarin liver herb and patients with fibrosis concluded that it lowered the body's iron stores, which indicates that it does have chelating activity. Chelating agents convert hazardous heavy metals like lead and mercury to non-hazardous substances, but they can also cause anemia in susceptible patients. The 2008 study used a supplement that included lecithin, a nutrient that increases the activity of silymarin by about 10 times.
Without lecithin, supplements may be completely ineffective. Not much of it ends up in the bloodstream unchanged. Enteric coatings help to protect it and lecithin increases its activity. So, in the right supplement 100mg per day is a safe and effective dosage. That amount should not deplete the body's iron stores. The study showing decreased iron stores used much higher dosages.
The milk thistle silymarin liver herb may also protect against various types of cancer. It is one of many herbs and nutrients that have anti-cancer activity. Others include green tea, turmeric, resveratrol, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin D, grape seed, bilberry, lutein, L-carnosine and l-glutathione.
Any naturally occurring compound that has anti-inflammatory activity and/or anti-oxidant activity typically has anti-cancer activity, as well. Most health experts now recommend a diet that is rich in nutrients that have these activities. Omega-3 fatty acids are also recommended for that purpose.
If you wanted to take the milk thistle silymarin liver herb and all of the other nutrients and extracts that are known to be beneficial to your long-term health, you would end up taking over 70 single-ingredients every day. Lucky for us, there are some well-designed supplements that include all of them. It may take a little more time to find them. You won't find them in the drug store. But, if you want to do everything that you can to protect your long-term health, it is worth your time to shop for the best.
Now that you know a little more about the milk thistle silymarin liver herb, you might want to learn about other nutrients that are important to the liver's health and function. You can never have too much knowledge.
Both Sandra Kim Leong & Valerie Rosenbaum are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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