Milk Thistle and Glutathione

milk thistle: thistles flower isolated on white


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. Glutathione is found naturally in the human body, as well as in some plants, mushrooms, fungus and algae.
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.


Think of Milk Thistle as a tune-up for your liver. Your liver is one of the hardest working and most important organs in your body. It filters and clears everything your body is exposed to – food, drugs, alcohol, pollution – you name it! Milk Thistle protects the liver and helps it with all its housekeeping. It is also a great herb for helping digestion because it stimulates the bile flow. Love your liver!  

Extensive Research on Milk Thistle

Milk Thistle’s active medicinal ingredient, an antioxidant known as silymarin, resides in the shell of the Milk Thistle seed and is responsible for its protective and regenerative effects on the liver. Clinical results are impressive and have shown that Milk Thistle can help the liver to regenerate at four times its normal rate! Because it is rich in antioxidants, Milk Thistle may also prevent toxins from causing oxidative damage to the liver, thought to be one of the main causes of chronic liver disease.

Milk Thistle’s Effect on the Liver

How does Milk Thistle have such miraculous effects on this key organ? It is thought that Milk Thistle works by protecting specialized immune cells in the liver that scoop up and destroy bacteria, toxins and other foreign matter. By protecting these cells, Milk Thistle helps keep the liver healthy and up to the task of clearing toxins from our bodies.

Other Health Benefits of Milk Thistle – digestion, blood sugar and cholesterol levels, hormone balance

Such promising health benefits for the liver have led researchers to study Milk Thistle for other positive activities in the body. They have found it to be helpful in regulating the digestion of fats, stabilizing blood sugar and cholesterol levels, reducing inflammation in the digestive tract and promoting the excretion of excess hormones. Using Milk Thistle may just help you to feel better all over! But, please be patient with Milk Thistle – it must be used for a minimum of three weeks before you experience its beneficial effects.  
So, start your tune-up now. Support your liver with the marvelous regenerating power of milk thistle. Your liver will love it! 


milk thistle:  thistle flower isolated on white


One of the biggest milk thistle benefits is that it preserves glutathione. The modern American diet, pollution, toxins, medications, stress, trauma, aging, infections and radiation all work to deplete liver capabilities and also glutathione in the body. Milk thistle helps increase glutathione levels by improving liver detox functions. Milk thistle strengthens the liver cell walls, buffering them from invading toxins, and supports liver regeneration and glutathione formation.