Milked for all it's worth
If you are living with type 2 diabetes, there may be a little helper from the plant kingdom that can help you manage your blood sugar. A recent study has found that silymarin-a milk thistle extract-can reduce the blood glucose level. When 51 adults with type 2 diabetes were given 200 mg three times a day for four months, the average fasting blood glucose level fell 15%, and in the placebo group-which did not receive silymarin-there was an increase of 13%. In addition, when other markers were looked at, such as hemoglobin A1c, triglyceride levels, cholesterol and LDL "bad" cholesterol, there was an improvement in the silymarin recipients, whereas the placebo group maintained.
So what's with milk thistle? Its seeds are used to detoxify and protect the liver in order to improve its ability to function. (Some use it for damage control after a night of overindulgence of alcohol and rich foods, but better to not get to that point in the first place.) Silymarin is extracted from the seeds and used to make capsules, extracts, and teas. It is rich in flavonoid antioxidants, which help fight cell damage. This is important for someone with diabetes, because high blood sugar levels increase the oxidative damage to cells, causing nasty complications such as increasing insulin resistance and damaging the kidneys and blood vessels. Antioxidants have been found to reduce insulin resistance, so this would explain why silymarin-with its antioxidant properties-would have the same effect.
Knowledge of the favorable effect of milk thistle on insulin resistance is not new-this study is in addition to good research that preceded it. The milk thistle I usually recommend is called Thisilyn (Nature's Way). This is a widely available, high-quality German pharmaceutical product.
