Milk thistle should be on everyone’s festive shopping list. The reason being, your liver often takes a beating over the holiday period with too much overeating and drinking. Milk thistle can be used to relieve the symptoms associated with occasional over-indulgence of drinks and food such as indigestion and upset stomachs.
Alcohol and Your Body
The festive period often means people eat and mostly drink more than usual. Alcohol is what is known as a diuretic. It purges your body of water before it can be absorbed. So when you drink too much alcohol you get a hangover. Paradoxical right? Despite “drinking” so much the night before, your body gets dehydrated and this causes a hangover.
Well the fact is not only does alcohol make your head sore, but it is also an irritant to the stomach. This is why some people suffer from an upset tummy and even nausea after a night of drinking.
Alcohol also strips your body of vitamins and minerals and disrupts the quality of the sleep you get.
And did you know, women are less tolerant than men when it comes to consuming alcohol? Yes, indeed. Women have fewer enzymes that metabolise alcohol in the body when compared to men. This means women are much more likely to suffer from a hangover.
Hangovers Get Worse With Age
As you age your tolerance will also lessen. Scientists have proven hangovers get worse as you get older. This explains why you cannot recover as well from a big night out as you could when you were a student!
This is why it is important to support your liver as you age.
Why Milk Thistle For Your Liver?
Milk thistle is a popular herbal remedy for a hangover due to its long history of having been taken to help protect the liver from damage. Silybum marianum or milk thistle (MT) as it is more popularly known, is in fact the most well-researched plant in the treatment of liver disease. Silymarin acts as an antioxidant by reducing free radical production and lipid peroxidation, has antifibrotic activity and may act as a toxin blockade agent by inhibiting binding of toxins to the hepatocyte cell membrane receptors. In animals, silymarin reduces liver injury caused by acetaminophen, carbon tetrachloride, radiation, iron overload, phenylhydrazine, alcohol, cold ischaemia and Amanita phalloides. Silymarin has been used to treat alcoholic liver disease, acute and chronic viral hepatitis and toxin-induced liver diseases.
Other Benefits of Milk Thistle
Milk thistle is sometimes used as a natural treatment for liver problems. According to WebMD these liver problems include cirrhosis, jaundice, hepatitis, and gallbladder disorders.
Milk thistle may also help with:
- Providing heart benefits by lowering cholesterol levels
- Help diabetes in people with type 2 diabetes and cirrhosis
The most convenient form to take milk thistle is in tablet form as a supplement.
There are many reputable brands on the market, but it is always best to buy products that have been certified for Good Manufacturing Process (GMP) by the regulating authority in your country.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate it in the same way as they regulate drugs. For this reason, it is important to buy milk thistle from reputable retailers.
You should discuss using milk thistle with a doctor before taking it as it may interact with some medications. This is of particular concern if a person is already receiving treatment for liver conditions.
Other Hangover cures
Unfortunately, despite great advances in several areas, science has yet to come up with a fool-proof hangover cure. So if you are going to overdo it, unfortunately you will just have to suffer the consequences. However, you can limit the damage by taking some proactive steps.
Eat Before You Drink Alcohol
More a prevention than a cure, making sure that you have eaten before drinking alcohol will help to delay the effect of alcohol on your system.
Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach means that it will be absorbed into your body much more quickly and you will feel the effects faster too.
Drink more water during the evening and before you go to bed
Alternating your drinks is another good preventative measure. By alternating between an alcoholic drink and a non-alcoholic drink you cut down the amount of alcohol that you drink, may cut the number of calories and will help to rehydrate the body.
And speaking of hydration, making sure that you drink water before retiring for the evening will help to keep you hydrated through the night and therefore minimise the effects of dehydration.
Bottom Line
The best way to avoid a hangover is to simply moderate your drinking. Don’t get drunk. Anyway, as you age you are less tolerant and alcohol will age you more. If you really want to live healthier longer, don’t abuse alcohol. Milk thistle may be helpful generally, but ultimately your own love of your body and health will ensure you don’t abuse your liver!
Dry January. Should we really give up alcohol in the New Year? Read and find out.
References:
1. Study: Ethanol-induced liver injury and changes in sulfur amino acid metabolomics in glutathione peroxidase and catalase double knockout mice.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19398231.
2. Study: Milk thistle in liver diseases: past, present, future.
3. Study: Silymarin improved diet-induced liver damage and insulin resistance by decreasing inflammation in mice.
Authors: Guo Y1,2, Wang S2, Wang Y2, Zhu T1,2.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27387273
4. Several references and links from: Web MD. https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/picture-of-the-liver
