Before there was modern medicine, there were herbs that had known effects. Much of this herbal knowledge was lost in our enthusiasm for pharmaceuticals. Traditions pass the wisdom down through the generations.

Thank you so much!

Your liver will love you!

Thank you! As spring blossoms I’ll be making more harvest-to-jar videos. Unfortunately all the trees in the Usnea video burned to the ground in the Beechie Creek fire. It will all grow back eventually, but we’re looking for a new parcel and a new cabin for now.

Nice! I hope that it’s good and it helps you! Much easier/safer than collecting it yourself.

Oh certainly! The toasting just makes them taste nutty delicious instead of slightly bitter. You will need to grind them still.

That really depends on what you’re using it for. Generally taking a teaspoon sprinkled on a meal or three a day would be a fine place to start for liver support. More for more serious organ recovery.

Hmmmm…. I see a Chinese inventor has described the process ( patents.google.com/patent/CN103734877A/en) for hulling milk thistle seeds. Looks like you’ll just need a hulling machine, a gravity sieve, and a power separating machine. I’m thinking that the Krups coffee grinder ($30 Amazon) is probably a whole lot more affordable, plus you get to keep the excellent fiber content your gut needs to be healthy anyway. Oh…and I see in this research article that the liver protecting compound silymarin is evidently mostly located within the husk but just found in trace levels in the kernel of Milk Thistle seeds. The kernel has fatty oil and proteins, which are very nutritious, and only a much smaller amount of the medicine. (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4239735/) So don’t toss those excellent husks just yet!

Sure. Just be sure to pull them as soon as they start to barely smoke. Too long and they may burn and lose medicinal value.

I think it’s mostly for flavor. When I learned this it was emphasized that toasting did not appear to damage the silymarin significantly.

@@dr.mindya.curryndpassionfo7590 Thank you for taking the time to reply!

I usually order from Mountain Rose Herbs-always good quality and good prices. Turmeric really is the everyday inflammation herb.

This is their website Mountain Herbs: mountainroseherbs.com. They are great.

@@dr.mindya.curryndpassionfo7590 I've generally had a good experience with mountain rose herbs...but I once got Rose Powder that was sold as organic...but it gave me horrible stomach aches. I believe it was full of pesticides and not tested properly.

That’s an excellent idea. It’s particularly good in a hot muesli mush!

Yes!

You can use it raw untoasted. It just won’t have that delicious roasted flavor, and will be rather bitter tasting.

Thanks Doc. l appreciate it 😁

I haven't used it this way myself, but people do use milk thistle seed oil for skin benefits and scars. Helping the liver to function optimally helps all of the body's organs, including skin, so eating some toasted seeds is probably good as well.

Yeah, you can grind them an use them in capsules for a fatty liver. You should work with an ND or an herbalist in your area to determine appropriate dosing for your needs. It can change the speed in which pharmaceutical drugs are metabolized, for one thing.

Yes. Eating this medicinal food may indeed help his liver heal and potentially get rid of excess fats. Addressing the cause is the most important thing. If he’s eating a poor diet, drinking too much, exposed to lots of chemicals regularly, that needs to be limited now. The milk thistle is only one part of the team he needs to get better.

It’s a real battle to harvest, so spikey, but really a beautiful thistle!

Now that is good advice!