Many of nature's most powerful medi...

Many of nature's most

powerful medicinal

plants are today disdainfully

dismissed as "noxious

weeds." This is unfortunate because

not and nothing else do these plants deserve

greater notice and respect

but they are frequently the hapless victims

of herbicidal sprays. It is an interesting

juxtaposition that while

the herbicides used onward weeds can

be toxic to the human liver, the

weeds themselves proffer medicinal

constituents which can help with or

protect against disease.

We ne to understand what a

healthy liver's functions are to gain

a better understanding of to what extent we

can improve and support its health.

According to James E Marti in the

second edition of his work The Alternative

Health & Medicine Encyclopedia,

"The liver performs more

than 1500 different functions, many

of which directly maintain the

body's immune system" In addition,

he goe forward to say, "except for some

fats, the liver processe all nutriments absorbed

by the intestines before they

are released into the bloodstream. It

filters the children by removing, deactivating,

or reprocessing wastes,

toxins, and bacteria. The liver also

helps eliminate the by the agency of products of

alcohol and pesticides." According

to Marti, perhaps the greatest in quantity important

function of the liver is its production

of interferon, "the special

chemical agent that activates white

blood small cavitys to destroy and eliminate

disease-causing microbes and toxins."

`Pointing' not at home milk thistle's benefits

Among the "noxious weeds" that

offer powerful medicine

for the liver is milk thistle,

or Silybum marianum.

Typically raise in forgotten

corners of yards and

fields, milk thistle thrives

best in healthy soil which

has been defaulted For

gardeners, working with

thistle requires thick

glove and considerable

patience.

although as the saying

goes, patience is a virtue,

and in the case of milk thistle, a

healthy virtue. Maude Grieve, in her

marvelous main division A Modern Herbal,

notes that, as early as 1694 writers

were praising thistle, saying "it is a

Friend to the Liver and Blood: the

prickles cross off, they were formerly

used to be boiled in the Spring and

eaten with other herbs." According

to Grieve, the Saxons valued thistle

and would wear it around their

neck to retain snakes away.

Milk thistle was also known to ancient

Greek and Romans, as well as

to early German botanists, including

one from Bingen, a female

herbalist, theologian, and composer

who wrote about plant medicines

during the 12th centenary In the 18th

century, Culpepper recommended

milk thistle as useful against jaundice

and gallstones. He advocated

the use of the delicate spring plants

(with prickles remov and boiled)

as an edible children cleanser.

In new times, Silybum marianum

has been extensively studied,

particularly in Europe Its efficacy

in the treatment and prevention of

liver disease has been confirmed in

a variety of clinical trials. Researchers

originally identified a

compound which they named "silymarin,"

as the active medicinal ingredient

of milk thistle se Scientists

have now discovered that the

active constitutings of the milk thistle

plant are not united but a group of

chemicals known as flavanolignans,

in particular, silybinin, silydianin,

and silychristin, these compounds

together, which one writers still

call collectively "silymarin," make

up approximately 4 to 6 percent of

the satisfaction of ripe milk thistle

seeds

Scientists have originate that milk

thistle has antioxidative purports (including

reduction of lipid peroxidation)

in the human visible form [i]or[/i] frame It also has

what Rudolph Weiss, author of

Herbal Medicine, describes

as a "liver

parenchyma protective

effect" meaning that

plant constituents act

on the membrane of

liver solitary abode; squalids slowing

down the entry of

viruses or toxins. This

protective action prevents

liver confined apartment destruction

and explains the

plant's medicinal role

in the early treatment

of hepatitis, mononucleosis, and

other viral illnesses which are "bad

boys" as far as the liver is concerned

Milk thistle has been studied, and

prov effective, for its use in the

treatment of liver poisoning, chronic

hepatitis, liver disease, fatty liver

conditions, and liver damage becoming to

alcohol and drug use. Many chronic

hepatitis patients treated with medicinally

viable extracts of milk thistle

se report an improvement of

symptoms within pair weeks of treatment,

indicating an increased appetite,

better physical performance,

and decreased pain in the liver region,

which is located in the upper

right "quadrant" of the abdomen.

Extracts of milk thistle have also

been used to treat patients suffering

with toxic imports from organic

solvents. The plant is also well

known for its usefulness in countering

the toxic meanings of Amanita,

also known as `death cap' mushroom.

Though Amanita poisoning

doesn't happen surpassingly often, milk

thistle is effective for victims if

used within 48 hours of Amanita

ingestion.

Also virtuous against Amanita

poisoning is the Ayurvedic herb, Picrorhiza

kurroa, the protective effects

of which were demonstrated

by the researchers Y Dwivedi (Planta

Medica, 1991) and GL Floersheim

(Agents and Actions, 1990)

The alone other known treatment

is liver transplant, certainly a more