Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Milk thistle is amazing. I started taking it because I took a couple of rounds of antibiotics and started to eventually feel side effects. My gut was pretty messed up. When I told my doctor about this, guess what he wanted to do? Place me on another round of antibiotics. Surprise, surprise. So then I decided to take the plunge and went to see a naturopath, or what my friends like to call a hippie dippy, witch doctor. Haha. And I felt like the naturopath gave me more insight to my body than ever before. He recommended a couple of herbs and milk thistle was one of them. I'm so glad I started taking this. I've read up on it a lot and it has crazy benefits. The thing about this herb is it's not like you'll notice a night and day difference right away or even within a few weeks. It's a difference that you'll notice big time in the long run...if that makes sense. It helps to clean the body out as a whole and once your liver is functioning well (milk thistle's main superpower is liver detoxification), everything else will function better too. This is a side note....but I did notice something funny/interesting about this herb that I didn't really expect. So, when it comes to drinking alcohol, I'm a light weight and I've always been the person that feels the nasty hung-over effects in the morning, even with just 1 - 2 glasses of wine. But one day, I decided to take milk thistle about 2 hours before going out ....and I noticed I wasn't feeling as "susceptible" to the effects of alcohol as I normally do. I mean...I wouldn't recommend using it to be able to drink more or anything, but if you're a cheap drunk, you get the point. ;) Then the next morning....to my surprise.... I woke up feeling great! Hell, I even went for a run....it was awesome! Milk thistle contains silymarin and silybin, antioxidants that are known to help protect the liver from toxins, including the effects of alcohol. It's also shown to decrease, or even reverse, damage to the liver that’s been caused by prescription medications, antibiotics, pollution, heavy metals and so on. If you're still undecided, I've included a bit more info about it below. It helps with: 1. Liver Detoxification & Health It helps rebuild liver cells while removing toxins from the body that are processed through the liver. It's effective at naturally reversing the harmful effects of alcohol, pesticides, jaundice, psoriasis, fatty liver, heavy metals in our water supply, pollution, and even poisons! The liver is actually our largest internal organ and is responsible for performing a number of essential detoxifying functions. Basically, if our liver is in bad shape, our whole body will be in bad shape. As a “blood purifier,” the liver needs to actively clean the blood each and every day in order to support nearly every system within our body. 2. Helps Protect Against Cancer Milk thistle seeds are a high source of the antioxidant flavonoid called silymarin. Silymarin is associated with decreasing the risk for cancer development by boosting the immune system, fighting DNA damage and reversing cancerous tumor growth. In 2007, after reviewing numerous studies involving milk thistle therapeutic treatments, researchers at the University of Minnesota found that: “There is strong preclinical evidence for silymarin’s hepatoprotective and anticarcinogenic effects, including inhibition of cancer cell growth in human prostate, skin, breast, and cervical cells.” (4) This antioxidant stimulates protein synthesis and changes the outside layer of healthy cells, keeping them protected from damage and mutation. It inhibits toxins from dwelling in the body; helps with cell renewal; and counteracts the harmful effects of pollutants, chemicals and heavy metals that can cause “free radical damage.” 3. Can Help Lower High Cholesterol Milk thistle benefits heart health and helps lower high cholesterol levels by lowering inflammation, cleaning the blood and preventing oxidative stress damage within the arteries. 4. May Help Control or Prevent Diabetes One 2006 study conducted by the Department of Pharmacology at the Institute of Medicinal Plants found that when diabetic patients were given silymarin extract over four weeks, their fasting blood glucose and insulin levels improved significantly compared to patients receiving a placebo. This is likely true because the liver is partly responsible for regulating hormones, including the release of insulin into the bloodstream. Insulin is responsible for managing blood glucose (sugar) levels in the blood, which is especially important for those with diabetes. 5. Helps Prevent Gallstones Milk thistle benefits help support the endocrine and gastrointestinal systems by aiding in the production of bile and enzymes, on top of helping clean the blood. Milk thistle can help purify the body of metabolic waste, thereby regulating the function of the gallbladder, in addition to the kidneys and spleen. 6. Boosts Skin Health healthy skin, showered clean skin Milk thistle is considered to be a potent inhibitor of UV-induced oxidative stress that can cause skin diseases like skin cancer. Research also suggests that applying silymarin found in milk thistle to the skin reduces skin damage caused by radiation treatment in patients who have had treatments for cancer. 7. Has Anti-Aging Effects Because milk thistle’s antioxidants help prevent free radical damage throughout the body and remove pollutants and waste from the blood and digestive tract, it can actually slow the aging process. This is true on both the surface of your skin and also within your organs. 8. Milk Thistle and Glutathione Silymarin, the active ingredient in milk thistle, is an antioxidant that can protect against depletion of glutathione, which is a “master antioxidant” that’s extremely useful at helping prevent disease formation. Its biggest role is to help fight oxidative stress that leads to such diseases as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and neurodegenerative diseases. It can help prevent damage to important cellular components caused by reactive oxygen species, such as free radicals. Disclaimer: I was NOT given this product for free to review. I just really love this herb!