Milk Thistle

What is milk thistle and how is it prepared for ingestion? What health benefits does it offer?

The mature seeds of the milk thistle plant are used in their dried form to make a tea or made into an alcoholic tincture. Milk thistle stimulates the secretion and flow of bile from the gall bladder, making it useful in gall bladder problems, and protects and generates liver cells, making it useful in liver disease. It helps in detoxification when the liver has been overworked by the ingestion of prescription drugs, excess alcohol or fatty meats, environmental poisons or chronic disease . It promotes milk secretion and can be used by breastfeeding mothers.
For a tea, steep one half teaspoon of the dried seeds in a cup of boiling water for 15 minutes. This should be drunk three times a day. One to two milliliters of the alcoholic tincture can be taken three times a day.
For more information on Milk Thistle, see "Milk Thistle: The Liver Herb" by Christopher Hobbs (available at Richters).