Milk thistle. Uses beyond liver support and are you buying a fake milk thistle product?

Adulterations, promising use for people with RA, products, benefits

Photo by alksndra on Unsplash

Milk Thistle and its benefits for Rheumatoid Arthritis

A recent study (Zugravu et al., 2024) that used MT (milk thistle) in an 8-week trial in people with active RA found that people in the MT group had improved symptoms.

The study included 122 people, of whom 85% were women diagnosed with RA and receiving conventional medical treatment for it. They were divided into a placebo group or a group taking 300 mg. of silymarin in a 375 mg standardized MT extract. The MT was taken in conjunction with their medication, and the placebo group was taking their RA medication.

After 8 weeks, the MT group had improved outcomes such as less tender and swollen joints, less pain intensity, and less morning stiffness. Because of improved pain outcomes, the MT group also unsurprisingly had improved fatigue, depression, and anxiety outcomes.

Milk Thistle. Uses

Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) grows wild in various settings, even along roadsides. The dried fruit is used in herbal products, and its medicinal uses date back over 2,000 years when it was used for liver and spleen conditions.

The dried fruit contains a flavonoid complex called silymarin, responsible for the plant's medicinal benefits. It is called a complex because silymarin comprises three parts: silibinin, silibinin, and silicristin.

Only MT has green and white marbled leaves but can be mistaken for bull, Canadian, or other invasive thistle species since all have sharp, spiny bracts surrounding the flower head, but those found on bull thistle are smaller and denser.

This site helps you identify milk thistle so that you do not kill and destroy it when trying to eliminate the invasive species growing in your yard. You do not want to destroy native thistle since it is a food source for wildlife and a nectar and pollen source for bees and other pollinators. Also, the more native thistles you have on your property, the harder it is for the aggressive non-native species to invade the area.

I admit I have difficulty distinguishing between invasive and milk thistle and am uncertain if I have milk thistle.

Milk thistle can be used for:

Milk thistle is believed to block toxins from entering the cells and remove toxins from the liver.

• Detoxification of hormones, drugs, alcohol, heavy metals and other toxins

• MT can be used for those with poor liver function, cirrhosis, jaundice, liver disease, hepatitis A, B, and C, or liver poisoning.

• MT can be useful for people with chronic skin conditions, which may suggest an involvement of a sluggish liver.

• Take it immediately if you ingest poisonous mushrooms.

• It may be useful to inhibit the growth of cancer cells in the breast, cervix, and prostate.

  (Gaby, 2006).

How to Take Milk Thistle

Please do not take it as a tea for therapeutic purposes since it is less effective in this manner. Some, such as Balch (Prescriptions for Herbal Healing, 2012), suggest that tinctures are less effective, but other herbalists disagree. Balch may have made this suggestion since a non-glycerine tincture contains alcohol, and some people who are using MT may need to avoid alcohol.

Balch believes the best method is via a capsule containing phosphatidylcholine (PC). The PC assists the digestive tract in absorbing the silymarin and can deliver 97% of the silymarin to the tissues where it is needed.

Gaby (2006) advises that people with impaired liver function take 420-600 mg of silymarin per day from an herbal extract of MT standardized to 80% silymarin content. Improvement should be seen in 8 to 12 weeks, but long-term use may still be required.

In a product search, most products did not contain a binder to assist with absorption and did not indicate standardization. This was disappointing, as I was looking at professional brands and could not find only one that would meet both criteria advised by Gaby (2006) and Balch (2012).

Nature’s Way, Douglas Laboratories, and Designs for Health have an MT product standardized to 80% silymarin. To meet Gaby's dose recommendation, a dose would require several capsules, even up to 6 caps per dose, depending on the product’s milligram content per capsule.

Nature’s Way Super Milk Thistle product was the only one I located that contained phosphatidylcholine.

If a product does not indicate standardization, a high dose may be needed in which 12 to 15 grams of milk thistle is equivalent to 200 to 400 mg of silymarin.

Take MT away from an iron supplement. Absorption is low, so the product should contain a binder such as the PC or lecithin. A low dose is not going to be effective for therapeutic purposes. Stick with it. For issues such as liver cirrhosis or RA, it may take 6 months to a year of daily dosing to resolve the issue entirely.

Milk Thistle is a very safe herb and can be used by pregnant and breastfeeding women.

In some cases, a liposomal MT product may be preferable since this form increases absorption and the rate and speed of absorption. Quick Silver Scientific (https://www.quicksilverscientific.com) uses a particle size of 20-70 nm versus some other products that use 200-600 nm particle size. The smaller the particle size, the more bioavailable it is.

Adultered MT products

Many products are not what they seem to be.

In a study that analyzed 31 MT products, 2 samples showed no MT in the capsule, and 11 others were considered questionable. One MT product analyzed contained only 5% MT extract and 95% maltodextrin.

This is not an MT issue but an issue with herbal products and supplements in general. When purchasing herbal products, stick with reputable brands, not big box generic brands, and do not buy herbal products from Amazon due to the many counterfeit products. Before buying any herbal products, know the parts of the plant that have the medicinal properties and the standardization so that you can be informed when reading labels.

Other Sources

Balch, P. (2012). Prescriptions for herbal healing. 2nd ed. Avery Publishing

Gaby, A. (2006). The natural pharmacy. 3rd ed. Three Rivers Press.

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