St. Mary’s Thistle is one of the most important plants to preserve liver health and to promote daily detoxification from body wastes and environmental toxins.

Today’s uses:

Detoxification, reduce heavy metal burden, liver function insufficiency, liver damage, liver cirrhosis, hepatitis A B & C, fatty liver, gall stones, dyspepsia, nausea, flatulent colic, constipation, flatulence, abdominal bloating, Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome X, haemochromatosis.

Traditional uses

The plant was well known by the antique and medieval physicians and the summary action could be described as nourishing “mother’s milk for the liver”.  The beneficial actions on the liver as described in antique and modern text books are abundant: St. Mary’s Thistle, and in particular its active constituents silymarin and silybin, exhibit unique hepatoprotective,  hepatic trophorestorative and antioxidant properties which are described as far back as Disocurides. These properties mean that this plant has the rare ability to mend damaged liver tissue as well as protect it from harmful toxins and poisons. This action is most remarkably demonstrated in accidental mushroom poisoning with Death Cap mushroom (Amanita phalloides) where it has been administered successfully to save lives. Today, it is usually an intravenous infusion that is used for such life threatening situations, although there is anecdotal evidence that high doses of oral preparations have been life saving as well.

Its signature action of sharp pricks was interpreted by the old herbalists as being beneficial to treat the “inward pricking” as experience with the stitch and in liver disorders associated stabbing pains. Diosurides praised St. Mary’s Thistle choleretic properties and recommended the plant in gall bladder symptoms, to improve liver function and treat fat intolerance, nausea or chronic constipation. Whilst it is predominantly the seeds that are medicinally used today, Tabernaemontanus describes in 1588 a number of interesting root preparations: “The root boiled in water and drunk opens the constipated liver, propels the urine, gravel and stones [and the woman’s time], cleanses the kidneys and bladder. Hence it is good against water retention and jaundice.[1]” He further recommends soaking the astringent acting root in vinegar to be eaten with meals to mitigate diarrhoea and vomiting of blood. To stimulate lactation he recommends mothers eat the root together with fennel and long pepper mixed with food. To cleanse “all rubbish” from the body he recommends extracting the crushed seeds with a distillation made from the fresh young plant, a tincture preparation that he also prescribes to treat an inflamed liver, fever (especially in children), infections such as the plague and other “poisons in the body”. In the 18^th century a St. Mary’s Thistle tincture was recommended for the fist time by the physician Rademacher to be used preventatively to protect the liver from potential harm.

Modern research

St. Mary’s Thistle is well researched[2] today and has been shown to protect against modern liver toxins such as carbon tetrachloride, galactosamine, ethanol and paracetamol. It is used to treat alcoholic liver damage, chemical food or drug intolerances and low grade toxic effects of drugs or environmental pollutants such as pesticides and herbicides. It is often prescribed (together with complementing herbs) for the treatment of acute and chronic hepatitis of autoimmune or viral origin. When silymarin (or the whole herb extract) is administered before and after surgery it helps to protect the liver from the toxic effects of general anesthesia which in turn helps to prevent or mitigate the nausea often experienced following surgery. I often prescribe St. Mary’s Thistle when patients are on a pharmaceutical drug regime as it protects the liver and supports its essential cleansing function without exhibiting herb-drug interactions.

Other studies have shown that silymarin protects against histologic changes in the livers of pregnant women and those taking oral contraceptives whilst also stopping associated nausea. This is very useful to know, especially with regards to the treatment of resistant nausea in pregnancy. The skin also benefits from a healthy liver in that it cleanses the body of potentially skin-irritating metabolic wastes and toxins. St. Mary’s Thistle contributes therefore to the restoration of skin health by restoring the body’s biochemical balance from the inside out. It has further shown good results in pruritis associated with intra-hepatic cholestatis of pregnancy and pruritis associated with medication, e.g. opiates.

St. Mary’s Thistle has shown promising anti-carcinogenic properties and should be considered as a preventative remedy where a case history indicates an increased risk of cancer, as well as for curative purposes. Traditionally St. Mary’s Thistle was also used as a treatment for loss of appetite, detoxification after snakebites and in cases of varicose veins because of its circulatory stimulant properties.

Daily use to stay well

In conclusion we can say that St. Mary’s Thistle is the plant of choice in a number of severe illnesses associated with the liver. However, because it is such a nourishing and safe plant to use long term I find it very useful as a daily health tonic in preventative health care as well. In the 21^st century we are all exposed to a large number of environmental toxins like agrochemicals, industrial pollution, contaminated water, air pollution, building materials laced with paint solvents and formaldehyde, foods laced with additives, growth hormones, antibiotics and preservatives. Our livers are working much harder than in earlier centuries and even then our ancestors saw a need for regular detoxification! It is the daily small step of nurturing and cleansing that will support good health now and in the future. I drink a cup of ARTEMIS Liver Detox Tea containing St. Mary’s Thistle and complementing herbs every morning before breakfast as my daily inner hygiene ritual. This regime has paid off in fewer sick days (remember that the liver also filters viruses), higher energy levels and less grumpiness!

For more information check out www.artemis.co.nz

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[1] Theodorus Jacobus Tabernaemontanus, New vollkommen Kräuter-Buch, 4. Ausgabe, Basel, 1664, 1078-1079.

[2] For a comprehensive summery of research data refer to “Mills S, Bone K: Principles and Practise of Phyotherapy: Modern Herbal Medicine, Edinburgh, 2000, pp 553-561.