Muscular Development Mag. Article By:Bryan Haycock

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...Silymarin, a flavonoid extract from milk thistle, has been used clinically for alcoholic liver disease treatment....Currently it is used by bodybuilders as a protective measure for the liver when using high doses of orals.

It is showing effectiveness in treating prostate cancer because it prevents the androgen receptor from making it to the nucleus fo the cell. This may be a good idea if you are fighting cancer of the prostate, but it is bad if you are trying to get a muscle cell to grow larger.

These researcher were able to show that milk thistle did not reduce the number of androgen receptors, nor did it prevent androgens (i.e.,testosterone)from binding to the receptors. All it seemed to do was prevent the androgen receptor from travelling to the nucleus, and in our case, this prevents the desired effect. The androgen receptor, once boud to the androgen, must make its way to the nucleus in order to increase protein synthesis.

Bottom line: Use milk thistle if you are sure you are having toxicty problems. Then, only use it for a few weeks at a time. There are other herbs with tremendous hepatoprotective effects, so you might give them a try instead.

If you want to help your liver, use Alpha Lipoic Acid.