PKD DIET

Milk Thistle

Useful Milk Thistle (Silymarin)

Mushroom Poisoning

Milk thistle most impressed the medical world when G. Vogel, M.D., used it to save lives in the 1970s to counteract mushroom poisoning. A leading milk thistle researcher, Dr. Vogel brought to his clinic 60 people suffering from severe mushroom poisoning. He gave them a compound called silymarin that was extracted from milk thistle. The "results ranged from amazing to spectacular" though most of the people were not treated until a full day after eating Death-Cap mushrooms also called toad stools. If these deadly mushrooms are ingested, they damage the liver and cause almost certain death.

Liver

There is strong evidence milk thistle protects the liver from toxins that jeopardize its functioning, anti carcinogenic, inhibits cancer cell growth, guards its cell membranes and high in free radicals. Early studies demonstrate that silymarin reduces liver damage caused by mind-altering drugs. A word of caution here, alcohol, obesity, pot-belly fat, diabetes, and depression all injure the liver. The liver cannot fully recover as long as these lifestyle conditions persist. In other words, no herb-however beneficial substitutes for good health habits.

Silymarin increases the liver's content of another important antioxidant, glutathione. Glutathione is needed for the detoxification of cancer-producing agents. Common lifestyle problems like stress, obesity, toxins, medications, too much dietary fat, and an excessive amount of niacin, all deplete the liver of glutathione. A modest supplementation of milk thistle could benefit people affected by such conditions-especially when coupled with the adoption of healthful lifestyle practices. Because the trace mineral selenium is essential to glutathione production, no amount of milk thistle will bolster the liver's glutathione if one's diet contains insufficient selenium.

Gallbladder

Tucked below the lower edge of the liver is the gallbladder. This organ stores and concentrates the bile which the liver produces. Bile is important, because it physically breaks up (emulsifies) fats, making them more susceptible to digestive enzymes. Sometimes the flow of bile from the gall bladder through its duct leading into the intestine becomes sluggish. Some studies suggest that silymarin improves the excretion of bile from the gallbladder, reducing the risk of gallstones.

Kidneys

Active ingredients in Milk Thistle protects the kidneys against inflammation, free radical damage and poisons. The drug cisplatin is a very powerful agent in the treatment of testicular cancer. It has, however, devastating side-effects, including damaging the nerves and poisoning the kidneys. An infusion of silibinin given before or after the administration of cisplatin significantly reduced damage to the nephrons of the kidneys. Milk thistle stimulates overall repair in the kidneys by improving their ability to synthesize proteins. Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride Tea by celestial seasonings contains milk thistle. This tea with a bit of tupelo honey makes a pleasant hot drink.

Milk thistle (silymarin) is beneficial to cystic livers. It relieves the associated pain from cystic organs. Organic herbs are good. Demeter or bio dynamically grown by the methods of Rudolph Steiner are even better. Pesticides & herbicides are poisons and known as endocrine disruptors, false estrogens, xenoestrogens, or estrogen disruptors causing a cystic liver to grow.
Caution: Milk thistle is a diuretic, interfering with Cyclosporine, as well as other immunosuppressive medications. Follow your doctor's advice.

Anti oxidant effect Milk Thistle

Herb researchers have found antioxidants in milk thistle called flavonoids are some of the most potent liver-protecting substances known. One important function of antioxidants is to protect the liver against damage from heavy metals and other toxic substances in food we eat as well as exposure from the air.

Milk Thistle is a liver healing herb. Milk thistle boosts the immune and nervous systems, helping nerve cells produce more neurites keeping cells alive longer, protecting DNA integrity. It destroys free radicals. Free-radical damage has been indicted for at least 50 chronic diseases. Protecting the integrity of the cell's membranes is important. These membranes shield the contents of the cells from free-radical damage.

Ancient Uses for Milk Thistle

Greco-Roman times Milk Thistle has been used as a remedy for a variety of ailments, particularly liver problems. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries physicians in the United States used milk thistle seeds to relieve congestion of the liver, spleen, and kidneys. Today, several scientific studies suggest that active substances in milk thistle (particularly silymarin) protect the liver from damage caused by viruses, toxins, alcohol, and certain drugs such as acetaminophen, a common over the counter medication used for headaches and pain; acetaminophen, also called paracetamol. TylenolŪ can cause liver damage especially if taken with alcohol.

Cancer

Preliminary laboratory studies suggest that active substances in milk thistle may have anti-cancer effects. Silymarin may inhibit the growth of human prostate, breast, and cervical cancer cells. In dogs milk thistle reversed the kidney toxic effects of gentamicin. cancer. Additional studies demonstrate Milk Thistle significantly inhibits the proliferation of skin cells with damaged DNA. Animal studies suggest that silymarin could also reduce or retard the ability of damaged cells to multiply in the colon. Rodent and test-tube studies reveal that silymarin, taken orally, may inhibit the progression of prostate cancer in both its early and advanced stages. Silymarin seemed to inhibit the growth and DNA synthesis in human breast and cervical carcinoma cells as well.

Anti Inflammatory

Milk thistle blocks inflammation. It is a natural Cox-2 inhibitor. Cox-2 is essential in the production of a hormone called PGE-2. Excess amounts of PGE-2 suppress the immune system and spells serious inflammation. Because Milk Thistle is a natural Cox-2 inhibitor, it reduces inflammation.

We are  sharing our experiences with PKD/PLD Diet, an adjunct diet envisioning it complementing a physician's prescribed medical therapy. Consider testing this with your doctor's prior knowledge, who can  adjust it according to your own uniqueness by adding it to your current  treatment.

Medical Disclaimer