Product Overview
Genestra Milk Thistle Plus- 60 capsules
• Milk thistle standardized extract combined with the whole seed • Helps to support liver function (1) • Ideal for vegans • Convenient capsule format increase patient compliance
Milk Thistle Plus provides a high quality standardized extract with the whole seed developed to support liver function (2). The capsules are 100% pure vegetable-sourced.
References: 1 NHPD Monograph on Milk Thistle. June 2009. 2 NHPD Monograph on Milk Thistle. June 2009.
Additional product info: Milk thistle or its purified extract, silymarin (Silybum marianum), is widely used in treating acute or chronic hepatitis. A randomized, placebo-controlled trial in which participants, treating physicians and data management staff were blinded to treatment group was performed to determine whether silymarin improves symptoms, signs and laboratory test results in patients with acute clinical hepatitis, regardless of etiology. The intervention consisted of three times daily ingestion of either a standard recommended dose of 140 mg of silymarin or a vitamin placebo for four weeks with an additional four-week follow-up. The primary outcomes were symptoms and signs of acute hepatitis and results of liver function tests on days 2, 4 and 7 and weeks 2, 4, and 8. Patients receiving silymarin had earlier improvement in subjective and clinical markers of biliary excretion. The results suggest that standard recommended doses of silymarin are safe and may be potentially effective in improving symptoms of acute clinical hepatitis (3).
The incidence of accelerated atherosclerosis among patients on hemodialysis is very high. Eighty patients on hemodialysis were randomized into four groups to evaluate the effects of Silymarin and/or vitamin E on Oxidative Stress (OS) markers and hemoglobin levels in patients on hemodialysis. Group 1 received silymarin 140 mg 3 times daily; Group 2 received vitamin E 400 IU/day; Group 3 received silymarin 140 mg 3 times daily and vitamin E 400 IU/day; and Group 4 was the control. Oral supplementation with silymarin alone or in combination with vitamin E leads to reduction in malondialdehyde (MDA), increase in red blood cell (RBC) glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and increase in hemoglobin levels (4).
Milk thistle seed at 3-14.5 grams per day or Silymarin at 140-600 mg per day are used in Herbal Medicine to help support liver function, have been traditionally used in Herbal Medicine as hepatoprotectants and are used in Herbal Medicine to help relieve digestive disturbances and dyspepsia (5).
References: 3 El-Kamary SS, Shardell MD, Abdel-Hamid M, Ismail S, El-Ateek M, Metwally M, Mikhail N, Hashem M, Mousa A, Aboul-Fotouh A, El-Kassas M, Esmat G, Strickland GT. A randomized controlled trial to assess the safety and efficacy of silymarin on symptoms, signs and biomarkers of acute hepatitis. Phytomedicine. 2009 May;16(5):391-400. 4 Roozbeh J, Shahriyari B, Akmali M, Vessal G, Pakfetrat M, Raees Jalali GA, Afshariani R, Hasheminasab M, Ghahramani N. Comparative effects of silymarin and vitamin E supplementation on oxidative stress markers, and hemoglobin levels among patients on hemodialysis. Ren Fail. 2011;33(2):118-23. 5 NHPD Monograph on Milk Thistle. June 2009.
