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Supplement

Milk Thistle

Milk thistle is a plant whose seed extract, silymarin, is thought to protect liver cells and support their regeneration. People mostly look at it for liver health, where the evidence is strong, but two trials on breast milk production found no clear difference in how much milk mothers made. Those studies were small, about 100 mothers combined, so the evidence there is very limited.

Sources: PMID 26714778; PMID 19260380

Best evidence
Grade D
Conditions studied
2
Outcomes
2
Graded outcomes
0001

Evidence by condition

  • Strong
  • Moderate
  • Limited
  • Very limited

2 conditions

Lactation (Breast Milk Production)

Lactation (Breast Milk Production): outcomes studied for Milk Thistle
GradeOutcomeEffectSizeStudiesPeopleStudies list
Milk Production

No effect

NoneNo effect2 studies100 people

Studies that measured milk production

Acne

Acne: outcomes studied for Milk Thistle
GradeOutcomeEffectSizeStudiesPeopleStudies list
Acne SymptomsImproves (the measure goes down)56 people

Key findings

  • Milk ProductionLactation (Breast Milk Production)

Studies cited

2 studies from PubMed

  1. Evaluation of the galactogogue effect of silymarin on mothers of preterm newborns (<32 weeks).Pediatr Med Chir · PMID 26714778
  2. Clinical efficacy, safety and tolerability of BIO-C (micronized Silymarin) as a galactagogueActa Biomed · PMID 19260380

Protocols that include Milk Thistle