Definition of Milk Thistle

Milk thistle or borriquero thistle, whose scientific name is Silybum marianum, is a plant especially valued for its medicinal properties. It has stiff leaves and a whitish color on the obverse. Its appearance is very similar to the artichoke, but there are some small differences between them.

Appreciating its therapeutic properties

As a medicinal plant it is consumed in the form of an infusion from its crushed seeds or in the form of an extract. So that the fruit of the plant is effective it is advisable to collect it between the months of August and November.

Its main active components are silymarin, sibylin, flavonoids and histamine. The combination of these four elements allows milk thistle to have unique properties. In this sense, industry Pharmaceutical normally extracts one of its active ingredients, silymarin.

In recent years, sibylin has also been used to treat patients with lung cancer or as a therapy to reduce metastasis.

These advances make think that the active components of milk thistle could be beneficial to treat other diseases.

To the margin of its use in the pharmaceutical industry, as a medicinal plant it is highly valued for treating liver diseases, since it allows the regeneration of hepatocytes. Because of this milk thistle is used in people with alcoholism problems with hepatitis.

It is an antitoxic plant and for this reason some people who take a lot of medication do. It is also used as a digestive, to avoid dryness in the language or to treat some skin problems.

It is a product that helps regulate different types of cholesterol and helps stop digestive and nasal bleeding. It also serves to relieve cystitis, flu, migraine and allergies (these ailments disappear or are reduced by the effect of histamine). It is also used to combat gallstones and kidney stones.

Some experts in natural medicine recommend combining it with other plants

The combination of milk thistle and Lion it is beneficial to treat varicose veins. Combined with ginger, it helps to combat the effects of dizziness. Regarding its consumption, it does not have a lethal dose, so it can be taken without any fear.

The expression be a borriquero thistle

Borriquero thistle and milk thistle are two names of the same plant. In Spain a expression in relation to this thistle. Thus, it is said of someone that he is a borriquero thistle when he has a bad character or when it comes to a person who is very physically unattractive.

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