Milk thistle for diabetes

Milk thistle to lower sugar naturally and regenerate the liver

Milk thistle to lower blood sugar

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn.) is a medicinal plant used mainly to treat liver ailments, since its active ingredient, silymarin, is a powerful liver regenerator.

This plant is also widely used in the natural treatment of diabetes, since the combination of its hypoglycemic and hepatotonic properties makes it a highly recommended plant in case of high blood sugar, diabetes, when there is obesity, or for a combination of symptoms of metabolic syndrome (high bad cholesterol, high triglycerides, fatty liver). With medical advice, milk thistle could be used in some cases as a natural substitute for metformin.

The combination of its hypoglycemic and hepatotonic properties makes it a highly recommended plant in case of high blood sugar, diabetes, obesity, or for the combination of symptoms of metabolic syndrome (high bad cholesterol, high triglycerides, fatty liver)

How milk thistle works for diabetes

• The active ingredients of milk thistle (silymarin and other flavolignans) have hypoglycemic

  

  properties to lower blood sugar levels without the risk of causing hypoglycemia.

• In addition, in people with diabetes, this plant is a powerful agent against insulin resistance and hyperglycemia.
• Milk thistle extract prevents the damage caused by excess sugar in cells, in the kidneys, eyes, and other consequences of poorly controlled diabetes.
• It is also an antioxidant and reduces free radicals, helping to stop and slow down the evolution of diabetes.

Uses of milk thistle for people with diabetes

This plant is effective for the treatment of all those affections in which the health of the liver may be compromised. Diabetes can be improved with the administration of milk thistle because the health of a congested liver is closely related to good control of diabetes.

Milk thistle to increase insulin sensitivity

This plant is especially advisable in those cases in which there is type 2 diabetes, which is one that appears associated with obesity. (Obesity is understood as an excess of body fat, which is associated with a whole series of metabolic alterations, such as high cholesterol or fatty liver. It should not be understood only as an issue of excess weight).

Supplements with silymarin improve transaminase levels and regulate sugar levels by improving cell permeability, which in blood tests translates into better levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (Studies that show this were tested with 600mg silymarin daily for 4 months).

Natural treatment of diabetes with milk thistle

The properties of milk thistle for diabetes should not be understood as a magical or anecdotal use, but rather research shows that milk thistle is so effective that it is already used by many doctors in conventional medicine treatments.

For all these reasons, it is recommended to assess, together with the specialist doctor, the serious possibility of including this plant in treatments for diabetes, since a possible improvement can always be expected.

Currently, milk thistle is used in official or conventional medicine treatments for liver patients, cancer, diabetes, dyspepsia and other ailments.

How is milk thistle taken for cancer?

All studies have used milk thistle supplements in tablets or capsules. Infusions or ingestion of the seeds of the plant may not be effective, because they do not contain enough of the active ingredient.

Milk thistle dosage for diabetes

Milk thistle is one of the plants that has fewer side effects and contraindications, since it could practically be said that it lacks toxicity. For this reason, the doses used of milk thistle can range:

• In a clinical study, in patients with diabetes and alcoholic liver cirrhosis, the administration of milk thistle tablets with 600 mg of silymarin (active ingredient) per day for 6 months produced a significant reduction in fasting flucose and decreased mean levels of daily glucose from the second month of treatment, without hypoglycemia.
• Other doses used were 140 mg of silymarin 3 times a day for 6 months to treat type 2 diabetes and high sugar damage to the body. Another similar study used 200 mg of silymarin, 3 times a day (600 mg of silymarin a day).

It is recommended to consult with your doctor, who assesses the convenience of combining milk thistle therapy for each particular case.

*See: How to take milk thistle

More information on milk thistle

Written by Editorial Botanical-online team in charge of content writing

8 September, 2024