Milk Thistle
Most bodybuilders use Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) to protect their liver when they are using oral steroids. But this herbal medicine has much more benificial properties.
The brains of a mouse type that develops Alzheimer's at a young age keep functioning well for longer if the animals are given extracts of milk thistle [Silybum marianum] mixed with their food, researchers at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology discovered.
Supplementation with Silybum marianum – the plant is also known as milk thistle – induces liver cells to synthesise more glutathione, a detoxifier which improves the functioning of the liver. Animal studies have shown that Silybum marianum protects the liver against the effects of oral anabolic steroids. [Med Pregl. 2003;56 Suppl 1:79-83.]
It is also possible that the plant has a similar protective effect on the prostate. [Integr Cancer Ther. 2007 Jun; 6(2): 130-45.] Prostate cancer may occur as a result of the decrease in production of detoxifying enzymes that occurs with aging. [Exp Gerontol. 2012 Mar; 47(3): 223-8.] There are also indications that Silybum marianum blocks the growth-enhancing effects of androgens on prostate cancer cells. [Carcinogenesis. 2001 Sep;22(9):1399-403.]
