For a Healthy Liver: Milk Thistle Tincture

Do you know how essential it is to maintain good liver health? "We never stop to think about it, but the liver is essential to life" quotes the Canadian Liver Foundation. Indeed, taking care of your liver is taking care of yourself.

And La Clef des Champs has just the plant you need to do just that.

Liver health

If you ask people which vital organ is the most important, many will think of the heart or the brain. Few people will refer to the liver. Without the liver, the body could not regulate itself. It would be impossible to maintain metabolic rate, hormonal health, immunity, digestion or elimination. In short, without the liver, the body does not operate.

The liver is the largest and heaviest of the internal organs. The size of a football, it is involved in more than 500 functions essential to life. The liver cleans the blood and everything in it. It metabolizes drugs, filters out toxins, regulates cholesterol levels, helps balance hormones and ensures the balance of sugars, vitamins and minerals. Its role is crucial in maintaining homeostasis. It is said that the liver is an emunctory, an organ that detoxifies the body from harmful substances.⁵

As the modern world is filled with toxic substances, the liver receives an overload of work. Environmental pollutants, preservatives, pesticides and synthetic hormones are all agents of modern life that tax the liver, the natural detoxification organ. Today, the liver needs a boost to perform its functions optimally.

To help the liver stay healthy, we can turn to Milk Thistle Tincture. 

What is milk thistle?

Milk Thistle is a biennial plant with purple flowers with prickly teeth. It is found in wild fields in many different soil types and climates.

In herbal medicine, milk thistle is best known and used for its liver health benefits. Much research has focused on silymarin, a compound found in the aerial parts of the plant, including the leaves and flower. Silymarin, when properly dosed, protects the liver against the aggressions due to alcohol abuse, drug abuse (pharmaceutical or recreational) and overeating^{. 1,2}

Antioxidant and regenerative, silymarin ensures the formation of new liver cells while detoxifying the liver. Specifically, studies conducted on milk thistle report positive and measurable effects giving it properties :

• Hepatoprotective;
• Antioxidant ;
• Anti-fibrotic ;
• Anti-inflammatory ;
• Immuno-modulator. ³

According to clinical studies, milk thistle protects the membranes of liver cells, which prevents chemical agents from penetrating them. In addition, this therapeutic plant binds to estrogen and androgen receptors, which prevents the risk of ovarian and prostate cancer. ^{3, 4}

This is why milk thistle is used in cases of :

• Cirrhosis of the liver (slows down the progression);
• Acute or chronic hepatitis;
• Drug intoxication;
• Jaundice;
• Cancerous tumors (inhibits proliferation);
• Gallstones ;
• Liver detoxification cure (benefits digestion, mood, energy) ;
• Hormonal imbalance.

What is a mother tincture?

Natural medicine often refers to the term mother tincture. But what is it really?

It is a maceration of fresh plants in a solvent (a liquid base with the capacity to dissolve the therapeutic properties of the plants - generally alcohol). This maceration takes place over several weeks in order to concentrate the therapeutic potential of a medicinal plant.

At La Clef des Champs, mother tinctures are made from fresh organic plants grown in Quebec. Only the most active components of the plants are used for the maceration which takes place in organic grain alcohol, a powerful and versatile traditional solvent that preserves the integrity of the medicinal properties.

Mother tinctures can be simple (made from a single plant) or compound (made from a mixture of synergistic plants in order to achieve a specific therapeutic objective).

Consuming the milk thistle in mother tincture is the most effective way to get the maximum benefit. As silymarin is not easily absorbed and assimilated, it is important to take a large quantity in a form that concentrates its therapeutic properties (which is the case with the mother tincture).

The treatment dose is 30 to 60 drops, once or twice a day for 4 to 6 weeks.

Some tips for a healthy liver

Given the primary role of the liver in our health, it is important to take care of this organ and ensure its proper functioning. To do so, it is recommended to :

• Maintain a healthy weight;
• Eat foods that are beneficial to the liver, including green vegetables and beets;
• Limit liver taxing foods such as fried foods, hydrogenated and rancid oils;
• Drink purified water;
• Prioritize organic foods;
• Limit or avoid alcohol consumption;
• Limiting exposure to environmental toxins including pesticides, household products and perfumes;
• Supplement the diet with omega 3 concentrates;
• Take some mother tincture of milk thistle.

Good liver health!
The team of La Boite à Grains

_______________________

Research and writing:
Véronique Cousineau, ND health and wellness editor

Sources

1. Teaching team of the DUMENAT Phytotherapy, Faculty of Medicine Paris-XIII, Bobigny (2003). Milk thistle. Les médecines de la nature - 200 plantes pour se soigner. (Adapted from La Santé par les plantes). (p. 72) Canada, Montreal: Reader's Digest selection. P.
2. Silybum marianum. The naturopathic herbalist, Botanical medicine for the medical student. Dr. M. Marciano, ND. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
3. Mulrow C, Lawrence V, Jacobs B, et al. Milk Thistle: Effects on Liver Disease and Cirrhosis and Clinical Adverse Effects: Summary. 2000. In: AHRQ Evidence Report Summaries. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 1998-2005. 21
4. Rajesh Agarwal, Charu Agarwal, Haruyo Ichikawa, Rana P. Singh, Bharat B. Aggarwal. Anticancer potential of silymarin: from bench to bed side. Anticancer Research 2006 Nov-Dec; 26(6B): 4457-4498.
5. Canadian Liver Foundation. About the liver. Accessed October 10, 2019.