milk thistle

[catwoman64]

can anyone tell me anything about milk thistle?   i was told that it could help people with cfs and fibro... i sure hope so but i take alot of other medication and just the thought of taking another pill makes me sick.  should i contact my pharmacy and ask them about taking it along with my other meds?  any info will be greatly appreciated!!!!

[Paxiled]

Have no idea what prompted this rant.  Nobody said milk thistle walls off the liver, preventing it from doing its job.  Nobody said milk thistle cures hepatitis.  Milk thistle does help cleanse the liver, but that isn't curing anything, it's helping the liver stay healthy.  Caveats were expressed on here that taking milk thistle has its cautions and its limits and its benefits.  As for peer reviewed science, science isn't a religion, it's just a means of observation.  People were doing science long before now -- they always have observed their world and made conclusions based on instinct, observation, and experimentation.  Agriculture was invented a long time ago.  So was irrigation, the wheel, architecture (we still can't build a pyramid that will outlast the ancient ones).  Now, as to you, the Paleo diet is exactly what you condemn -- a diet not based on science and not even based on observation.  Nobody ever ate that way until now, so you're a guinea pig.  Hunter gatherers didn't eat this way.  It's just been made up.  By the way, the macrobiotic doesn't claim to cure anything, just that it will make a person healthier, even a sick one.  You're making up straw men because you believe the propaganda put out by people who write books (Paleo diet) or make drugs or do medicine, but they don't cure a heck of a lot either.  We don't cure cancer, we just sometimes allow people to live longer with it.  We can't cure heart disease, we can only make people who have it live longer.  Curing things isn't the point -- the point is to live a healthy life as best as possible.  So here's hoping the new Paleo diet never before followed in human history works for you -- personally, I'll let you be the guinea pig.  But the macrobiotic diet, despite its grand name, is just basically a traditional Japanese diet, and the Japanese are some of the longest lived people in the world.  I don't follow that diet, either, but it at least has historical usage behind it.  Again, have no idea what your rant is about, it certainly isn't about anything written on this post, but in case anyone happens upon this very old post I just thought someone should respond and point out you're just like the rest of us, trying to live as long as possible as healthfully as possible without doing damage to yourself to the point you have to put yourself in the hands of doctors, and I hope you're successful in this.  But you really need to know science isn't what you think it is, it's not facts, just the pursuit of them, and it has always been practiced by humans as long as we've had recorded history.

[morganotoole]

We do have the right to express our opinions, with a few exceptions, health matters being one of them, that arena needs peer reviewed science. Did I miss something regarding milk thistle? The main point seems to be milk thistle "walls" off the live preventing it from doing its job. Here's what The New England Journal of Medicine wrote: "Web sites that may make unsubstantiated claims — assertions that macrobiotic diets cure aggressive lymphoma, that AIDS can be treated with hyperbaric oxygen, that milk thistle remedies chronic hepatitis, and myriad other fallacious claims." Wouldn't it be great if Milk Thistle cured liver diseases or liver stresses. But that hasn't been established. We love to think there's a magic potion, pill or guru making life a paradise, but we have allowed money maniacs to rule us, enslave us, and poison the planet. Health, good health, is the key to happiness. It means fun, laughter, love, security, relaxation, deep sleep, beauty and connection to our fellow travelers. We are social beings, not distanced by technology, but what do we do? We text, send emails, go Facebook and make a billionaires out of people who produce nothing, we call that our way of life. Meanwhile, we drink booze, smoke pot, sniff cocaine, pop opiates, take heroine, pay taxes to a criminal empire whose only interest is self-interest and we even imagine ourselves to be knowledgeable when in truth we're sitting ducks blabbering nonsensical mutterings that prevent us from living life. We work and accumulate, then get sick, spend what we accumulated, think we'll never die and then die having never lived. Mercy, I think I'll blow my brains out.  Actually, I won't, I'll have a watered down drink of Pinot Noir, eat Paleo, exercise, and live life as free as one can be. Isn't it amazing that we allow obnoxious creeps to rule our lives and demand we pay them as if they matter. They don't.

[Paxiled]

Actually, Sassy, dandelion root is for the liver, the diuretic is dandelion leaf.  Dandelion is one of the most incredible plants we have, and yet its considered a weed.  The tops are one of the most nutritious greens, the dried leaves are used for the bladder and kidney, the root is used for the liver and in famine conditions can be cooked and eaten.  What a miracle plant!

[SassyLassie]

Well, I do not think I can add much more to Paxiled's post. I will say that if you ask most pharmacists, they probably will not be able to tell you anything about this herb or any other for that matter, most just are not taught that way. I remember, a long time ago, my  mother and I asking our pharmacist about things for the liver and he said he had no idea, that to his knowledge, there was nothing. Wow, have I ever learned since then.

I believe Milk thistle is a "bitter" and bitters are great for the liver as well as the gall bladder, if I remember correctly, Dandelion root is also good for the liver AND the gall bladder, it is actually good for lots of things. Oh, it also makes a great natural Potassium sparing diuretic without the side effects.

I really was not aware about doing a de-tox before taking the thistle, see, I just learned something. :) Makes sense however.

[Paxiled]

Milk thistle comes in many varieties.  Most recommend the standardized version, but most herbalists would use a combination of herbs rather than just milk thistle, such as dandelion, turmeric and other liver aids.  However, there is a problem when you're on medication.  Virtually all medications are liver toxic to some degree, as the body doesn't recognize these new substances it has never been exposed to before.  A liver cleanse might clean out some of the medication, therefore; the liver generally does that anyway, which explains in some part the side effects of medications and the difficulty getting them where the body needs them.  There are nutrients you can use to protect you liver without cleansing it, such as alpha lipoic acid and the amino acids that produce glutathione in the system, but if you're going to use herbs like milk thistle you should probably consult with a naturopath first.  Consulting with doctors about herbs is usually a dead end, since they know nothing about them, and are generally hostile to them.  This is what they are and are not taught in medical school.

[margypops]

Welcome to this community Cat I have also heard good reports about milk Thistle ,never taken it myself however.You should get more input here soon, as deep diver is on his way back..or so he says..

[laura1967]

Milk thistle is an excellent liver support, which is the main support and filter system of your body.
I don't know of any contraindications of meds and milk thistle, but it is wise to ask a pharmacist and/or go on line and find the drug interaction websites.