25 replies to this topic

[Lurker]

Milk Thistle appears to have a good amount of study on it to show that it promotes healthy liver function, are there any others one would recommend?

[superpooper]

Milk Thistle appears to have a good amount of study on it to show that it promotes healthy liver function, are there any others one would recommend?

Sorry it's not a supplement but I would recommend coffee, especially if you like to drink alcohol.

[mitkat]

There are a number of supps that stimulate the liver in different ways. Milk thistle, like you mentioned also, artichoke leaf for bile production, Schizandra berry extract and NAC (look at some current threads about NAC, there is some controversy)

[luv2increase]

Don't drink alcohol or take acetametaphin (tylenol), and take your NAC and milk thistle. SAM-e is great also. Coffee and green tea are good for the liver. Lots of good water, exercise, and good eating habits are obviously good.

Edited by luv2increase, 08 April 2008 - 06:25 AM.

[snake]

Stimuliv by ortho core is a traditional aryuvedic supplement .

http://www.aor.ca/in...ch/stimuliv.php

[Lurker]

Thanks for the responses. After doing a little research, it looks like Milk Thistle is the most prominent thing for liver health. In addition to artichokes, i've read that asparagus may help the liver (although there is a lack of evidence for this).

[pycnogenol]

Thanks for the responses. After doing a little research, it looks like Milk Thistle is the most prominent thing for liver health. In addition to artichokes, i've read that asparagus may help the liver
(although there is a lack of evidence for this).

When buying Milk Thistle, make sure it is a phytosome brand to improve absorption.

This is the one I take:

http://www.iherb.com...px?c=1&pid=2218

[unbreakable]

Supplements for liver health:

Silymarin (Siliphos is best IMHO)
S-Adenosylmethionine
Polyenylphosphatidylcholine
(R-)Alpha Lipoic Acid
N-Acetylcysteine


SAMe improved survival of patients with alcoholic liver cirrhoses in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Multicenter-study. I think it's a very good supplement for the liver. Silymarin and PPC (which also increases production of SAMe) are also very good.

Edited by unbreakable, 15 April 2008 - 05:34 AM.

[krillin]

Siliphos is only ten times better than the powder, but costs more than ten times as much. Glycyrrhizic acid scares me: it increases cortisol in the kidneys, increasing blood pressure.

[Ironman]

Ditto what unbreakable said. Especially N-Acetyl Cysteine. Smells like burnt sauerkraut but oh boy is it good for your liver. Any of the sulfur containing antioxidants.

Supplements for liver health:

Silymarin (Siliphos is best IMHO)
S-Adenosylmethionine
Polyenylphosphatidylcholine
(R-)Alpha Lipoic Acid
N-Acetylcysteine


SAMe improved survival of patients with alcoholic liver cirrhoses in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Multicenter-study. I think it's a very good supplement for the liver. Silymarin and PPC (which also increases production of SAMe) are also very good.

[Shepard]

Lecithin is worth a look, too.

[unbreakable]

PolyenylPhosphatidylCholine is the active ingredient of lecithin regarding liver health, but lecithin costs less. Most of the supplements listed in this thread are potentially hepatoprotective and antifbrotic, and if I had liver problems I would take SiliPhos, PPC, SAM-e, Lipoic Acid and NAC. If you drink too much alcohol (which is of course a bad idea) you should consume larger amounts of coffee which reduces the risk of cirrhosis drastically and should also reduce the chance of alcoholic induced acute pancreatits which has very high mortality rates. Controlling the underlying illness is the most important step. The problem with substances that can't be patended is that there are seldom good designed, randomizd, doubleblind, plazebo-controlled Multicenter studies with many patients done. PPC could not improve survival of people with alcoholic liver cirrhosis which included many patients. The studies regarding Silymarin were often very poorly desigend and small. High dose NAC rescues patients after a Paracetamol overdose by restoring Glutathione levels, this is proven.

[tham]

Jarrow's product looks good.

http://www.jarrow.co...duct/380/PolyPC


Oops, PolyPC has been mentioned above already.

Himalaya's Liv 52 is a time-tested Ayurvedic herbal formula
for liver support. It's been selling in Malaysia for ages.
Used to cost M$8 - 12 per bottle of 100 tabs some ten years
ago, but currently retailing around M$40 now for just 60 tabs.

I've heard that some of the Indian heavy alcoholics here
who take this don't seem to get cirrhosis, despite drinking
tons of hard liquor over the years.

Seems they also call it "Livercare" in the USA.


http://www.himalayau...ivercaretab.htm

http://liv52.net/

http://www.raysahelian.com/liv52.html

https://shop.natural...asp?number=N502

http://liv52.com/

http://www.liversupport.com/Liv52.htm

Edited by tham, 30 April 2008 - 03:51 PM.

[mikeinnaples]

Lecithin is worth a look, too.

I take a few grams of lecithin mixed with a 700mg or so of 80% silymarin milk thistle extract powder.

Lecithin should increase the bioavailability of the silymarin while helping the liver itself, seems like a potent 1-2 punch to me. Plus silymarin activates sirt1 and is cheaper than resv..... though i take resv (1g) as well a day.

[tham]

This Indian caretaker at the nursing home where my
father is staying now, told me that coconut juice repalrs
the liver, presumably according to traditional or Ayurvedic
principles.

It appears his advice has good grounds :

http://www.niscair.r...bb_oct03.asp#A9

http://www.hashmi.com/coconut.html

http://kurlylox.com/.../coconut-water/

http://www.happystom...com/coconut.htm

http://www.mapi.com/...t_ayurveda.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm....l=pubmed_docsum


He cautioned against drinking too much though, particularly
at night, as it may "chill" the lungs, causing mucus production.

[ajnast4r]

LIV52

[unbreakable]

LIV.52. An extract of several plants prepared for ayurvedic medicine has been marketed in the West as LIV.52. Standardization, chemical characterization, functional, and pharmacological studies are not well documented. The extract was reported to improve serum biochemistry values in rats with toxic liver damage,75 and uncontrolled observations in patients with liver disease seemingly gave similar results.76 Furthermore, it lowered circulating levels of acetaldehyde in healthy adults consuming alcohol.77 Therefore, Fleig et al.78 performed a randomized, placebo-controlled, 2-year clinical trial in 188 patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis. LIV.52 did not affect the survival rate of Child class A and B patients but increased mortality among the 59 Child class C patients (81% in the treated group, compared with 40% in the placebo group). Twenty-two of 23 deaths in the LIV.52 group were related to bleeding or liver disease compared with only 3 of 11 deaths in the placebo group. This result led to immediate withdrawal of the drug. It highlights the danger of ill-defined herbal preparations and the necessity for in-depth preclinical testing.

[ortcloud]

The most powerful thing I have done for my liver was some hulda clark style liver flushes,
I felt SOO much better after doing them, much more than anything I have ever taken and
I have taken almost everything for the liver.

[mike250]

LIV.52. An extract of several plants prepared for ayurvedic medicine has been marketed in the West as LIV.52. Standardization, chemical characterization, functional, and pharmacological studies are not well documented. The extract was reported to improve serum biochemistry values in rats with toxic liver damage,75 and uncontrolled observations in patients with liver disease seemingly gave similar results.76 Furthermore, it lowered circulating levels of acetaldehyde in healthy adults consuming alcohol.77 Therefore, Fleig et al.78 performed a randomized, placebo-controlled, 2-year clinical trial in 188 patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis. LIV.52 did not affect the survival rate of Child class A and B patients but increased mortality among the 59 Child class C patients (81% in the treated group, compared with 40% in the placebo group). Twenty-two of 23 deaths in the LIV.52 group were related to bleeding or liver disease compared with only 3 of 11 deaths in the placebo group. This result led to immediate withdrawal of the drug. It highlights the danger of ill-defined herbal preparations and the necessity for in-depth preclinical testing.

this is interesting. can you give us the link to the full text/article

[renwosing]

Try Livercure.

That's the only one that will work.

[ortcloud]

Try Livercure.

That's the only one that will work.

Got a link for it ? I googled it but all the domains are dead. Whats in it ?

[pycnogenol]

My liver enzymes were slightly elevated at 50 (fifty) due to red yeast rice supplementation but after 4 months of taking polyenylphosphatidylcholine "PolyPC" with Siliphos my liver enzymes are now better at 32 (thirty-two).

I just got back from blood work and should get my 25-OH Vitamin D results in the next couple of days. I take 4000 IU of D-3 in softgel form. I'll post the results in a few days. Good thing I have insurance because the vitamin D test
alone would of set me back $50. My blood glucose was slightly elevated still (I'm working on it!) with a 12 hour fast however my A1c was pretty decent at 5.8 so I can't complain too much.

Edited by pycnogenol, 27 May 2008 - 05:26 PM.

[pycnogenol]

I just got back from blood work and should get my 25-OH Vitamin D results in the next couple of days. I take 4000 IU of D-3 in softgel form. I'll post the results in a few days.

I got my vitamin D 25-Hydroxy results in the mail today. My results: 34 [after taking 4000 IU D-3 in sofgel form for 6 months].

My doctor notes: "...at low end, continue vitamin D supplements, increase to 5000 IU, return in 6 months for retest..."

Vitamin D 25-OH performed at: ARUP Laboratories, 500 Chipeta Way, Salt Lake City, UT, 84108.

Reference Interval:
Deficiency: Less than 20 ng/mL
Insufficiency: 20-29 ng/mL
Optimum Level: 30-80 ng/mL
Possible Toxicity: Greater than 80 ng/mL
[above from ARUP]

http://www.aruplab.com/index.jsp

Edited by pycnogenol, 31 May 2008 - 05:41 PM.

[tokyo7788]

I have been suffering from hepatitis C for 20 years. Blood test once a month was a nightmare for me and I have done a lot of efforts and tried to use various methods, but the results is poor.
I know a kind of supplement "SPAM" from my friends and the only ten-day intakes made me feel better. The results from hospital proved my feeling: GPT (ALT) has been reduced in a normal range and GOT（AST）has also been reduced so much.

I often visited their site www.i-am-a-spammer.info, which contents lots of info about liver disease, such as NASH, hepatitis c, fatty liver, liver cirrhosis, liver cancer.



The most recent graduate from "English As A Second Language Spam School"

Edited by FunkOdyssey, 02 December 2008 - 02:17 PM.

[kismet]

PolyenylPhosphatidylCholine is the active ingredient of lecithin regarding liver health, but lecithin costs less. Most of the supplements listed in this thread are potentially hepatoprotective and antifbrotic, and if I had liver problems I would take SiliPhos, PPC, SAM-e, Lipoic Acid and NAC. If you drink too much alcohol (which is of course a bad idea) you should consume larger amounts of coffee which reduces the risk of cirrhosis drastically and should also reduce the chance of alcoholic induced acute pancreatits which has very high mortality rates. Controlling the underlying illness is the most important step. The problem with substances that can't be patended is that there are seldom good designed, randomizd, doubleblind, plazebo-controlled Multicenter studies with many patients done. PPC could not improve survival of people with alcoholic liver cirrhosis which included many patients. The studies regarding Silymarin were often very poorly desigend and small. High dose NAC rescues patients after a Paracetamol overdose by restoring Glutathione levels, this is proven.

Talking about PPC. Any truth to this? http://forum.bodybui...23#post82341723
"Multivitamins and phospholipids complex protects the hepatic cells from androgenic-anabolic-steroids-induced toxicity." C-17 alkylated oral steroids are very potent when it comes to damaging your liver, I have been trying to figure out if this might be true for a long time...

Edited by kismet, 02 December 2008 - 02:19 PM.

[sunny tewathia]

I can tell you there is nothing better than Liv 52 to improve the health of your liver.

To know more about dosage and other benefits, you can visit here : http://www.healthy-d...effects-dosage/