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Milk Thistle Seed Extract (Silybum marianum) 1 fl oz: K
About 30-40 dropperfuls per bottle. 30-40 drops per dropperful. Gaia Herb Farm receives Annual Organic Certification. Oregon Tilth has certified Gaia Farms as an Organic Grower of more than 50 medicinal plants. Gaia Herbs Analytical Laboratory analyzes every batch of every product to ensure quality, product consistency, and activity with state of the art instruments. Gaia has become a leader in herbal product analysis, headed up by Dr. Xiping Wang, Chief Scientist and Natural products Chemist. Herbal extracts are a highly effective way to administer herbs. They are very concentrated, they work faster than teas and are four to eight times stronger than capsules. Extracts are easily digestible and quickly assimilated into the system. The 1997 Commission E on Phytotherapy and Herbal Substances of the German Federal Institute for Drugs recommends Milk Thistle ripe seed: 'The drug contains silibinin, silydianin, and silychristin. Uses: Crude drug: Dyspeptic complaints. Formulations [an extract standardized to at least 70 percent silymarin, the collective name for the three compounds listed]: Toxic liver damage; for supportive treatment in chronic inflammatory liver disease and hepatic cirrhosis.' 'Average daily dose of drug: 12 - 15 g; Formulations equivalent to 200 - 400 mg of silymarin, calculated as silibinin. Mode of Administration: Powdered drug for making infusions and other galenical formulations to be taken by mouth.' 'Actions: Silymarin acts as an antagonist in many experimental liver-damage models: phalloidin and -amanitin (death-cap toxins), lanthanides, carbon tetrachloride, galactosamine, thioacetamide, and the hepatotoxic virus FV3 of cold-blooded vertebrates. The therapeutic activity of silymarin is based on two sites or mechanisms of action: (a) it alters the structure of the outer cell membrane of the hepatocytes in such a way as to prevent penetration of the liver toxin into the interior of the cell; (b) it stimulates the action of nucleolar polymerase A, resulting in an increase in ribosomal protein synthesis, and thus stimulates the regenerative ability of the liver and the formation of new hepatocytes.' Milk thistle is believed to protect the cells of the liver by blocking the entrance of harmful toxins and helping to remove these toxins from the liver cells. Milk thistle seeds contain a bioflavonoid complex known as silymarin. As with other bioflavonoids, silymarin is a powerful antioxidant. Milk thistle also regenerates injured liver cells. Milk thistle extract is most commonly recommended to counteract the harmful actions of alcohol on the liver. Long-term placebo-controlled, double blind studies have shown milk thistle extracts to be effective in patients with liver cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis, and even diabetes due to cirrhosis. Milk thistle alters bile makeup, thereby potentially reducing risk of gallstones. Since silymarin is not very soluble in water, a strong boiled decoction of the groun
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