Zap Your Zits Away With Milk Thistle

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum), named for the white veins on its prickly leaves, has historically been used to treat diabetes, indigestion, and liver disease. Its use in medicine dates back at least as far as classical Greece, where physicians used it to treat both the liver and gallbladder. Did you know? It may also be a natural aid for clearing up some forms of acne.

The Clear Link Between Milk Thistle and Healthy Skin

It may seem odd that a plant commonly used to treat liver disease could help clear the zits from your skin, but there’s an important connection. The liver is the largest internal organ and, as part of its many metabolic functions, it is responsible for clearing toxins from your body. Keep that in mind as we discuss your body’s next largest organ: the skin. Our daily bombardment of beauty advertisements seldom mention that our skin is basically a soft wrapper for keeping toxins out of our bodies. It’s an underappreciated service. But what about toxins that are already inside us? Being the body’s largest organ, illness often manifests on the surface. When you’re sick, you may experience:

• acne
• psoriasis
• eczema

That’s because your liver is working overtime to clear out toxins. Milk thistle increases glutathione levels and boosts your liver’s efficiency, which can have the added benefit of clearing up acne. A combination of three amino acids – cysteine, glycine and glutamine – glutathione is an antioxidant found in virtually every cell of your body. The highest concentration of glutathione is in your liver. Glutathione is essential for combating oxidative stress, the primary source for inflammation and cellular damage.

Embrace Your Bile

It’s goopy, it’s gross…and it’s totally necessary for your digestion. Bile is produced by your liver and stored in your gallbladder. It breaks down fats into fatty acids, and is critical for absorbing vitamins and passing waste through your colon. Yep, it’s gross, but it has a very important job to do. So what happens when it can’t do its job? If your bile isn’t flowing like it should, you’ll experience several uncomfortable symptoms, including but not limited to:

• constipation
• acid reflux
• fatigue
• acne

To keep your bile flowing, it’s recommended that you avoid too much sugar and processed foods, eat plenty of fiber, and drink lots of liquids. And taking a milk thistle supplement to strengthen your liver and ensure it keeps the bile flowing is a great plan, too! By supplementing with milk thistle, your bile can help flush away toxins and balance hormones that cause acne when they reach your skin. And speaking of hormones...

Milk Thistle Can Help Balance Your Hormones

For women especially, acne can be the result of a hormone imbalance. Female hormonal acne can occur when there’s an imbalance between estrogen and progesterone. You know what else can mess with your hormones?

• poor diet
• chronic stress
• lack of sleep
• nutritional deficiencies
• over-exercising
• substance abuse
• oral contraception
• an unhealthy liver

A potent and effective milk thistle supplement like UltraThistle can help reclaim your body’s balance! Milk thistle assists in reducing inflammation, and can help your body fight the free radicals that contribute to acne breakouts. Best of all? It’s a natural plant, so there’s none of the nasty side effects of prescribed pharmaceuticals. Most people find that they can take milk thistle with no side effects at all, but a small percentage report gastrointestinal discomfort.