The Best Anti Aging Herbs: Herbs for the Liver
A step-by-step guide to better midlife health.
By Steven Foster
January/February 2000
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Artichoke leaf, milk thistle and dandelion are some of the best anti aging herbs for your liver.
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After skin, the liver is our largest organ, and it’s a busy factory where carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are metabolized and carbohydrates are stored as glycogen. Every day, the liver manufactures about a liter of bile, a greenish to brownish yellow liquid that is secreted by the liver, stored in the gallbladder, and released into the duodenum to aid in digestion, particularly of fats.
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The liver is also a filter that removes toxins from the blood, destroys old blood cells, and supports the immune system. Herbs that help improve or increase liver function include milk thistle, dandelion root and artichoke leaves.
Milk thistle
(Silybum marianum)
Milk thistle has been used for more than 2,000 years for liver disease. Since the late 1960s, nearly 400 scientific studies—chemical, pharmacological and clinical—have been published on its use in treating liver disease.
Silymarin, the active component of the seed extract, has been shown to alter the cell structure of the outer liver membrane to prevent toxic chemicals from entering the liver. It stimulates the liver’s own capacity to generate new liver cells and is a powerful liver-specific antioxidant. German health authorities allow milk thistle preparations to be used in supportive treatment of chronic inflammatory liver disorders such as hepatitis, cirrhosis and fatty infiltration caused by alcohol or other toxins.
How to take it: Commercial forms are preferred. One of the best-documented forms on the market is a single dose of 140 mg of silymarin in 175 mg of milk thistle seed extract, taken two to three times a day.
Dandelion
(Taraxacum officinale)
Dandelion is a traditional herb, but its use is not backed by modern clinical studies. Over the centuries, dandelion root has been used to promote bile secretion in liver, gallbladder, and kidney ailments, and as a tonic for weak or impaired digestion. Alcohol extracts of the root increase bile secretion in animal models by more than 40 percent.