It takes two to tango: Double the benefits of Milk Thistle and Artichoke for optimal Liver Health

In the grand theatre of the human body, the liver and heart have always engaged in a combat for supremacy. While the liver stands tall with its impressive repute of metabolizing nutrients and removing toxins. The heart is no sidekick; it boasts about pumping blood through an endless network of veins and arteries.
The battle between the liver and the heart is as ancient as the debates between tradition and innovation or reason and emotion. The heart’s relentless, rhythmic drive is undeniably critical, and the liver’s detoxification power is equally essential.
But for this writing, the spotlight is on the liver, the G.O.A.T (Greatest Of All Time) organ that performs multiple functions. Let’s dive into the nitty-gritty of the liver’s role as a detoxifier.

Role of liver in detoxification

Liver detoxification also has phases just like your mood. Phase 1 is the fundamental phase where a group of enzymes called cytochrome P450, which sounds like the name of a spy agent, work in secrecy to handle all the tricky chemicals, medicines, alcohol, and caffeine. The by-products of this phase are still toxic! (It’s not easy to remove toxicity from your life and your body).
This is where Phase 2 comes in handy. The by-products of Phase 1 and other toxins that escaped Phase 1 are broken down to make them soluble. The soluble substances, now officially demoted from the status of toxins, travel to the kidneys through the blood and are eliminated from the body.

Benefits of milk thistle in liver health

Milk thistle-one might think it has something to do with milk. To burst the bubble, milk thistle is a plant that is native to Europe and got this name because of the white veins that appear on the leaves. The white sap that flows within them is the real reason behind it. There is more to the milk thistle than what meets the eye. A functional component of milk thistle is the silymarin which has threefold properties to improve liver health.

Antioxidant

Silymarin has antioxidant properties to scavenge free radicals. These free radicals come from toxins. It also increases the production of bile salts and has a stimulatory effect on bile flow.

Anti-inflammatory

While inflammation itself isn’t considered to be fatal, it often leads to diseases like hepatitis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Milk thistle looks at inflammation, square in the face. It helps reduce inflammation by controlling certain proteins and molecules that cause it. Specifically, it lowers the levels of COX-2, a key player in inflammation, and blocks NF-κB, a protein complex that promotes inflammation and supports the survival of immune cells involved in the inflammatory response. Research has shown that milk thistle’s compound, silybin, reduces harmful inflammation in the liver and blood.

Anti-fibrotic

Milk thistle helps prevent liver damage by stopping the development of scar tissue. It does this by blocking certain growth factors and processes that turn liver cells into scar-forming cells called myofibroblasts.

Benefits of artichoke for liver health

Artichoke is the new avocado in the health and fitness world. Together with milk thistle, it has a synergistic effect, doubling up on the power of silymarin.

Digestive symptoms are commonly attributed to inadequate flow of bile from the gallbladder. Evidence tells us that artichoke leaf does indeed stimulate the gallbladder. A large double-blind study evaluated artichoke leaf as a treatment for dyspepsia, commonly known as indigestion. In this carefully conducted study, artichoke extract proved significantly effective for alleviating digestive symptoms.

While “detox” has become the new vogue word. Detox diets, detox waters and the ‘detox everything’ on the market shelves claim their detoxification power. However, LIVEROVIT’s claim isn’t just a tall tale, because it has compounds that are proven by research to aid liver health and digestion. Nutrifactor’s LIVEROVIT has both milk thistle and artichoke extract to give your liver a much-needed power-up.

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541075/
https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/s0006-2952(99)00407-4
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10942912.2023.2244685#abstract
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14653829/