Does anyone know what the difference is between Milk Thistle that contains alcohol and Milk Thistle that does not contain alcohol? Which is better for the body?
Milk Thistle's active ingredient, Sylimarin is Alcohol soluble. This means, water / glycerine extracts are far inferior in terms of potency. Our approach is to us organic alcohol, and then to encourage consumers to add it to boiling hot water, wait five minutes, and then drink the extract as a tea. This way all of the active ingredient is present, but the alcohol evaporates out. A little alcohol, less than a dropper full, is not harmful to the body. Most people's intestines produce far more than that per day if they eat a lot of sugar and carbohydrates. In chinese medicine, having trace amounts of alcohol in a formula helps bring the herbs both to the liver and to the skin. For most people drinking milk thistle, the desired direction is to the liver, and so it works well on many levels.
