Milk Thistle: What You Need To Know & Uses
As I start my trek into seed inventory and supplies for the upcoming gardening season, I have more than a few seeds that are very new to me and my garden. One of them is milk thistle. I had heard about it one day when I was listening/watching a youtube video and it struck me as a must have in my herb and flower garden.
What Is Milk Thistle?
Coming from its native area of Mediterranean countries, Milk thistle is a flowering herb that's related to both the daisy and ragweed families.
Some ailments milk thistle is known to help include:
- Liver (cirrhosis)
- Jaundice
- Hepatitis
- Gallbladder disorders
- Some even believe it helps with diabetes
While no one in my household suffers from the above mentioned health issues, we do have some concerns with aches and pains and wanting better all-around health.
The main active ingredient, silymarin, in milk thistle is considered an anti-inflammatory (ache and pains) and an antioxidant (better overall health).
Plus after reading and researching, I discovered some medical based websites have claimed milk thistle is good for lowering the bad cholesterol in a person's body; and knowing the recent cholesterol health issue of my husband, this made the light bulb go off in my head. I decided I needed to grow this plant in my garden.
How To Intake Milk Thistle
Normally it is taken while drinking tea (leaves and seeds can be used) can be combined with other herbs. It also apparently comes in pill form s a supplement.
Possible Side Effects
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Bloating and/or gas
- Upset stomach
- If you have an allergy to ragweed, it's advised to avoid taking or using milk thistle
- Pregnant and/or nursing woman should avoid taking/using milk thistle
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Very useful information... We have a lot of it, but I didn't know it was good for health.
Everything in nature is good for our lives.
thank you.@goldendawne for this information
I am amazed some days at how much nature has to offer us; and have forgotten about.
It's such a beautiful flower too! Added bonus for my herb garden area!
I make my own muesli and the original recipe given to me by a naturopath included ground milk thistle seed. I have stopped using it as it was hard to find and very expensive but I should try looking for it again, or duh, maybe try growing it 🤪. Thanks for the great info.
lol- yes! GROW some!
I am thrilled with new addition. I have some more that I will be sharing over the next few weeks.
Have you made a post with the muesli recipe? I'd love to learn more about it.
Another woman in my life telling me to grow some. If I had a dime for . . . Oh wait, sorry. :)
Can you also strip the stem of all the spikes and eat it akin to celery?
Nothing that I saw about the stem- only the seeds and flowers. I'll have to research the stem info some more.
I did a bit of digging around on the web :)
http://www.ediblewildfood.com/milk-thistle.aspx
Oh thank you! I like how it says cooked milk thistle is compared to spinach. This would be a nice addition to my culinary skills and recipes!
I saved this page for the future- milk thistle is really full of versatility. So glad I am adding this to my garden even more now.
You're welcome :)
I think it's common in the UK, well, it looks familiar. So much foraging potential to the trained eye :)
That’s sounds hard core!
Keep 'em coming Golden :)
Thank you! And you know me... I surely will!
Its an awesome plant. @artystuff is really into medicinal herbs, she introduced me into plantain for colds and general feeling rough.
Plantain has always been a plant I have looked at, but not sure how well it would thrive, or survive, where I live. I'd have to look at the zone map and see what it says about plantain.
Yeah does it grow in the US naturally anywhere? Maybe an indoor grow depending on how beneficial it could be =D
The stalkes cook up good in stirfries and such, and they can well.
Oh wow! We love stir fry here. I'm always making it once a week.
Can them? Oh now I am really intrigued!
Seems as though this is quite a versatile plant from stem to seed!
I remember these growing up on the Mediterranean. For sure avoid falling on them.
Thank you for the read and the new acquired knowledge. We are starting to look into what to grow this year. It will be our first time on the land we purchased to build a homestead on.
OUCH! I definitely don't want to take a tumble into a thicket of these at all. I can only imagine!
Mostly I remember scraping my legs on these here and there!