Ground Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) seed addition to any food for digestion and liver health.

Hello everybody.

I would like to share a quick hint on adding ground milk thistle seeds to your food (I'm giving it on almost everything). There are quite many papers on the subject especially on silymarin (which is found in Milt Thistle seeds) and on its wonderful properties especially for liver health.

Whats more " The efficacy of Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn. (silymarin) in the treatment of type II diabetes: a randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, clinical trial " states that " silymarin treatment in type II diabetic patients for 4 months has a beneficial effect on improving the glycemic profile"
I've read one paper which stated that it also enhances digestion, it protects the liver etc.

So adding some to your food seems very beneficial and subject seems worth knowing. Its common weed so its rather cheap as well.

With all the best from Poland
(and I'm sorry for my english)

I use it. I buy the seeds and grind in the coffee grinder. I tried by hand but they are too hard to crush.
Also a problem when you are gluten free... there are often "lost foreigners" among the seeds!
So I separate by hand before grinding...

The taste is super good as thick cream or  "milk": I add water. Also good in coffee...

Thank you for reminder, Ineed to get some more. I like to add them to the smoothie.

Joy Oasis wrote:Thank you for reminder, Ineed to get some more. I like to add them to the smoothie.

It works better for liver if you can feel the bitter taste! This is what stimulates.

Xisca Nicolas wrote:

Joy Oasis wrote:Thank you for reminder, Ineed to get some more. I like to add them to the smoothie.

It works better for liver if you can feel the bitter taste! This is what stimulates.

No worries, I always add bitter greens to my smoothie, and I also use bitter herbs in my other coconcoctions. But milk thistle seeds are not bitter, at least not to me. Try haritaki herb, which is great to detox fluoride from or brain, pineal gland especially. That one is bitter. Also lomatium and andrographis is quite bitter as well

Milk thistle seed has a lot of oil in it and therefore goes rancid easily. When I harvest it, or buy it in the late summer/fall I put the seeds in the freezer where they won't go rancid on me. (By the way, I like the really dark, blackish seeds best, but most of it on the market is a lighter colored seed.) I also put the ground seed in the freezer if it will not be used quickly. I have people use the ground seed in food or for those on the go, take it with a water chaser, being careful not to breathe the powder in before swallowing. The hard seed should not be chewed as it may break your teeth. The seeds are really hard. I use rather large doses for some people. I go up to 1 heaping tablespoon of powder three times per day if needed. There have been very few side effects noted in people using prolonged, large doses. I once saw someone microwave their milk thistle tea and it still brought their liver enzymes down to within normal limits. So, this herb seems to shine even when used in a questionable manner. This is an herb that is helpful to almost everyone due to the toxicity we have created around ourselves. Milk thistle is on the invasive list where I live, so it is frowned upon to raise it. However, you can grow much better seed than that found on the market.

HO! I was going to sow some seeds from the packets I use! They are very grey indeed... Where to find better seeds? Does the black color indicate they contain more medicinal substance?

I grind it but I tend to filter it after boiling, to remove the harsh parts, and I would not have thought I could increase the quantity I eat....

It use to be that it was easy to go out and wildcraft Milk thistle seed, but with more people living everywhere and more attention to getting rid of it in my neck of the woods, you don't see it as much now. There was quite a variety of color at that time from brown to almost black. What I find on the market now is a light brown. Still works but just not as strong and vibrant as what I use to get. When I have talked to the people selling it, it all seems to be grown on large farms in South America where it sounds like it is being harvested by machine before fully ripening. I think that is part of the problem. It is not being allowed to fully ripen. This happens to a lot of medicinal seeds on the market unfortunately as it is easier to harvest them before they ripen and fall off or float away with the wind. Do you have any Milk thistle growing wild near you? If so you might check it out. It is ready to harvest as it is getting ready to travel. It will come easily out of the seed head with fluffy tufts. People who harvest a lot of it by hand will collect the heads in bags and then pound on them a little to get the seeds out, throw the whole lot of seed and chaff into buckets of water, and pour off the light stuff leaving the seed, which then has to be dried immediately.