Poisonous mushrooms can damage the liver, and milk thistle contains silymarin, a chemical that protects the liver from mushroom poisoning. But if you haven't eaten toadstools, silymarin and milk thistle have not been shown to offer any advantage to the liver. Your liver is the organ that picks up breakdown products of your own metabolism and removes them from your body. They may also contain antioxidant vitamins, B12 and Niacin, that have been shown to protect the liver from damage from certain poisons, but these vitamins are also found in your food. So you gain nothing from liver-detoxifying supplements that is not found in an ordinary, reasonably varied diet.
Food is cheaper than supplements and provides other nutrients also.
If we had anything that would truly detoxify the liver, people would not die from hepatis C and B and other liver diseases. The National Institutes of Health are sponsoring research in Vietnam and China to see if herbal remedies can help treat liver discase. We have no results yet. If you have signs of liver disease, such as fatigue, aches and pains, yellow skin and eyes, dark urine or light stools, check with your doctor immediately. 20895 Transcripts of segments of The Dr. Gabe Mirkin Show are provided as a service to listeners at no charge.