Milk Thistle for Fat Burning and Detoxification

Are you considering taking supplementing with milk thistle? If you’ve been reading Healing Gourmet for a while, you know that we are not big proponents of taking handfuls of nutritional supplements every day.

We believe Hippocrates had it right more than two thousand years ago, when he said:

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.

If you’re consuming a rich, organic diet, based on protein and healthy fats, with a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, nuts, berries and other superfoods… then most supplements are simply unnecessary.

But that’s not the worst of it…

In fact, many popular nutritional supplements are not only ineffective, they’re made from synthetic ingredients (including petroleum extracts and coal tar derivatives) and can be downright harmful!

Consider cyanocobalamin, for example, the synthetic form of vitamin B12 that’s found in almost every vitamin B12 supplement and multivitamin. Its breakdown product is cyanide!

Synthetic supplements can never replace the real nutrients you get from wholesome foods. Nor will an isolated molecule ever replace the powerful synergy that is found when dozens of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals are balanced in nature.

But that is not to say that there are not many nutritional supplements that are safe and effective and can make a profound impact on your health…

One of those is milk thistle.

Milk Thistle: Boost Your Body’s #1 Antioxidant

Used for centuries as a liver tonic, milk thistle contains powerful phytonutrients (including silymarin and silybinin) that have been proven to help regenerate liver cells and boost glutathione production.

This is extremely important, because glutathione is your body’s most powerful antioxidant and detoxifier. Here is just a short list of what it can do:

Neutralize free radicals
Break down toxic and damaging compounds like BPA and other xenoestrogens
Protect cell membranes from damage
Repair damaged DNA
Bind to carcinogens and help to remove them from the body
Boost the immune system
Recycle vitamins C and E back to their active forms

Higher glutathione levels are associated with longer life, a more youthful appearance and less risk of chronic disease.

Clean Your Liver, Burn More Fat

But that’s not the only benefit to boosting your liver health. Your liver is also your body’s principal fat burning organ, helping to convert stored fat into energy.

When your liver is sluggish and overworked, fat burning slows to a crawl and that extra “padding” accumulates on your belly, butt and thighs.

And while following a healthy diet is essential to keeping your liver strong, these days it’s just not enough: Our livers are on toxic overload.

In fact, never before have we been exposed to as many toxins are we are today – from the contaminants in our water supplies… to BPA in plastics and can liners… to the polluted air we breathe. These toxins have become all but unavoidable – even for those who follow an all-organic diet.

Adding a milk thistle supplement to your diet means more glutathione production, more fat burning ability, and more powerful detoxification – all of which equals better long term health, not to mention less wrinkles and a leaner physique!