What is Silybum used for?
Milk thistle may be useful in treating liver disease, cancer, and diabetes. But the evidence is limited, and some research methodologies are flawed, so it’s difficult to confirm these effects. Milk thistle is an herbal remedy derived from the milk thistle plant, also known as Silybum marianum. If you have diabetes, use milk thistle with caution, since the supplement might lower blood sugar. There is also concern that milk thistle might affect estrogen levels. If you have breast cancer, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, endometriosis or uterine fibroids, consider avoiding milk thistle.Milk thistle has not been implicated in causing liver injury and is still used widely as a liver tonic in patients with acute and chronic liver diseases.There’s evidence that milk thistle might help lower cholesterol and lower the risk of heart disease. However, those results came from studies of people with diabetes, so it’s unclear if people without diabetes would experience the same benefits.Milk thistle extract can attenuate diabetic renal damage (by decreasing urinary protein excretion), possibly due to its antioxidant action. This effect was also shown with silymarin, the most dominant flavonolignan in milk thistle extract, but to a lesser extent.Researchers say milk thistle is well tolerated by most people. And they suggest taking up to 700 mg of milk thistle three times per day for 24 weeks has been shown to be safe. Side effects are usually mild and may include symptoms like headaches, nausea and other stomach discomforts.
Is silymarin good for the liver and kidneys?
It is suggested that supplementation with silymarin (SIL) has beneficial impacts on kidney and liver functions. This systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis assessed the impact of SIL administration on certain hepatic, renal, and oxidative stress markers. Antioxidant properties have been reported for silymarin, which increases the superoxide dismutase activity within the erythrocytes and lymphocytes (3). Silymarin can also alleviate hepatocyte membrane and thus prevent the xenobiotics from going into the cell via enterohepatic circulation.Silymarin significantly reduces cholesterol absorption, thereby lowering cholesterol and low density lipoproteins (LDL) levels and dramatically increasing blood high density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol (Sobolova et al.The hypoglycemic potential of silymarin may be due its antioxidant activity by reducing insulin resistance. Our study revealed that silymarin has good effect in the restoration of liver function and also established efficacy in controlling blood glucose level in diabetes patients with liver diseases.Silymarin acts as a free radical scavenger and modulates enzymes associated with the development of cellular damage, fibrosis and cirrhosis. These hepatoprotective effects were observed in clinical studies in patients with alcoholic or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, including patients with cirrhosis.
Is it safe to take silymarin every day?
Silymarin is safe in humans at therapeutic doses and is well tolerated even at a high dose of 700 mg three times a day for 24 weeks. Some gastrointestinal discomforts occurred like nausea and diarrhea. One clinical trial showed silymarin is safe in pregnancy, and there were no anomalies. Silymarin 70mg is also not recommended for pregnant or breastfeeding women, or individuals under 18, as there is insufficient data on the safety of the drug for these groups. Silymarin 70mg should be used as directed.
What is the best time to take silymarin?
When to take a Silymarin capsule? The dosage recommended for liver health, or hepatoprotection is 420 mg/day for adults. Take the capsule of strength 140 mg thrice daily for 6-8 weeks for hepatoprotective effects. However, it’s better if you take the capsule intake with/after meals. Benefits of Silymarin Research shows that patients who took 600 mg daily for 12 months had lower fasting insulin levels. It can also improve your heart health by reducing LDL cholesterol levels. The antioxidant properties are a great way to get better skin health and manage allergic asthma symptoms.For fatty liver due to long-term alcohol use, a typical recommended dose of milk thistle (silymarin) is 140-800 mg per day, divided into 2-3 doses, as supported by recent studies such as 1 and 2.Silymarin (Milk Thistle) – This herb has been used to treat liver diseases for many years. Recent research has shown that silymarin reduces insulin resistance and significantly decreases fasting insulin levels and lowering liver enzyme levels better than patients taking metformin (27).It may have protective effects on the liver, preventing damage. There’s some evidence that milk thistle can treat cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis, which can be caused by alcohol abuse, autoimmune disease, or viruses. But experts say that the evidence isn’t clear.