special subjects
Milk Thistle
Introduction
Milk thistle(Silybum marianum) is a purple-flowered plant. Its sap and seeds contain the active ingredient silymarin, a potent antioxidant and a term often used interchangeably withmilk thistle. Silymarin can be further divided into 3 primary flavonoids: silybin, silydianin, and silychristin. Extracts ofmilk thistleshould be standardized to 80 percent silymarin. (See also Overview of Dietary Supplements and 