Alchemica Posted March 6, 2018 (edited) While well known for it's hepatoprotective benefits, you seldom hear of Milk Thistle being used for other reasons. It has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulating, anticancer, cardioprotective and intriguing CNS effects. I've used this a bit on top of my other polyphenols and some high silymarin extract is cheap. It has anxiolytic and antidepressive effects in brain injury in animal models Back on it at the moment as it's one I've kind of got some bulk powder left of and ran out of other solid polyphenol sources for a bit. It's hard to tell what it feels like alone but I just find it beneficial to keep the polyphenols flowing in my diet, otherwise I get extra sick. Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is a medicinal plant that has been used for thousands of years as a remedy for a variety of ailments. As a traditional medicine it has been used for treatment of liver diseases and is known to provide a wide range of hepatoprotective effects. It has been found effective in various neurological disorders and things like Rheumatoid Arthritis and diabetic complications. "Clinical trials have shown silymarin is safe at high doses (>1500 mg/day) in humans, the pharmacokinetic studies over the past three decades related to absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of silymarin have revealed poor absorption, rapid metabolism, and ultimately poor oral bioavailability." That said, I feel there's still benefits to use in the diet, You can consider complexes with improved bioavailability. Please note there may be drug interactions, sometimes this can be exploited beneficially. "The neuroprotective effects conferred by silymarin include modulation of various antioxidant mechanisms, and several kinases involved in cell signaling pathways, inhibition of the inflammatory response generated during neurodegeneration, neurotropic effects, regulation of neurotransmitters and inhibition of apoptosis." [1] Aside from being a good anti-oxidant, silymarin, a plant-derived polyphenolic flavonoid of Silybum marianum, elicited significant antidepressant-like activity in an acute restraint stress model of depression. It improved monoamines, mainly 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) levels in the cortex, dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) in the cerebellum in mice. It alleviates monoaminergic deficits, neurogenesis (enhancing 5-HT, NE and BDNF levels), and attenuation of inflammatory cytokines system and oxidative stress by modulation of corticosterone response, restoration of antioxidant defense system in cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Silibinin-treatment up-regulated the BDNF/TrkB pathway and attenuated autophagy in the hippocampus. Silymarin/silybin reveals immunomodulatory effects with both immunostimulatory and immunosuppressive activities. Different studies have shown that silymarin has the anti-inflammatory effect through the suppression of NF-κB signaling pathway and TNF-α activation. Silymarin attenuated IL-6, and TNF-α significantly It can be considered a potential treatment for Parkinson's Disease and other neurodegenerative diseases associated with neuroinflammation. Silybum marianum could be a new source for the isolation of phytoconstituents useful in cognition and memory disorders such as Alzheimer's disease Silymarin is a potential option for preventing aging and age-related diseases. Edited March 6, 2018 by Alchemica 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
