Milk Thistle

Milk thistle is a flower used as an herbal remedy for many years. The active ingredient is contained in the seeds of the plant, called silymarum, and it’s commonly used to protect the liver. Gout can have many associations with the liver and kidneys when wanting the body to excrete toxins, making milk thistle a plant to keep an eye out for to maintain healthy functioning organs.

In a 2016 study, milk thistle extracts were administered to rats to investigate the effect of correcting histopathological changes in the kidney after toxication by a common industrial solvent in the dry cleaning industry. By measuring biochemical parameters (enzyme activities), the study found that applying the milk thistle extract was able to protect the kidneys by antioxidant activity and reduction of oxidative stress (2).

Kidney health is important to maintain when battling gout. The kidneys filter toxins through the body, including uric acid, which is especially crucial when there is an excess amount with gout. The liver is also important to maintain as elevated uric acid levels can cause oxidative stress and insulin resistance which generate a risk for developing liver disease (3).

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