Milk Thistle

Milk thistle seeds are the source of silymarin, a bioflavonoid complex comprised of silybin, silydianin, and silychristin. Silymarin can be protective of the liver. The liver’s primary function is to detoxify potentially compromising substances in the blood circulation.. In addition to detoxification, the liver plays an essential role in protein, carbohydrate, and lipid metabolism, cholesterol synthesis, bile secretion, and storage of fat-soluble vitamins.

Silymarin has been shown to support and enhance normal, healthy liver function through several actions:

• Silymarin helps to prevent harmful toxins from entering the cell by binding to the outer cell membrane.
• Silymarin functions as an antioxidant. Due to the liver’s normal metabolic and detoxifying functions, it naturally generates toxins and peroxides. These radicals can damage the cell structure and interfere with normal cell functions, but silymarin is able to provide support for free radical damage.
• In addition to its protective functions, silymarin stimulates damaged liver cells to regenerate. In the cell nucleus, silymarin encourages ribosomal activity, therefore stimulating protein synthesis in the damaged cell. The end result is cell regeneration, the replacement and repair of damaged cells.