Health benefits at a glance:

Liver health formulas made with milk thistle have been in use for centuries. Advanced milk thistle extract contains phytonutrients that can fight oxidative stress and support liver health. 

The formula of Advanced Milk Thistle is combining silybin with phosphatidylcholine and other phospholipids, and it can enhance the absorption of milk thistle's active compounds, providing powerful liver health support.

Why it works:

Protecting your liver is beneficial for the overall health and vitality of the body. Milk thistle extract is one of nature's most potent weapons to support liver health. 

Its bioactive compounds are known to stabilize cell membranes, assist in detoxification activities and neutralize a wide range of free radicals.

Milk thistle contains powerful compounds that are beneficial not only for the liver, but for the overall health and vitality of the entire body. 

But the active compound in milk thistle, silybin, does not dissolve well in water, making it difficult for the body to absorb. Life Extension's milk thistle formula can overcome this roadblock by mixing silybin with a nutrient called phosphatidylcholine to boost uptake. 

Advanced Milk Thistle may provide advanced milk thistle benefits of silymarin, silibinins, and isosilybin A and B, as well as phospholipids to aid and promote absorption for enhanced health support. These compounds can deliver full-spectrum support for liver health.

The science behind the product:

Modern living puts a heavy load on the liver, making it critical to proactively maintain liver health. That’s where hepato-protective herbs such as milk thistle come in. 

The powerful formula of Advanced Milk Thistle: 

• Milk thistle contains antioxidants that support not only liver health, but overall health. (1-3)
• Silymarin is extracted from milk thistle. This extract is a powerful free radical scavenger that promotes healthy liver function in its own right. (4-10) Advanced extraction technology has now allowed us to isolate other constituents within the silymarin extract itself and test their ability to support liver health and beyond.
• Silibinin is another compound present in our high-quality milk thistle extract. Made up of silybins A and B, it is the most biologically active flavonolignan component found in milk thistle extract. Its beneficial effects on the liver have been shown in pre-clinical and clinical studies. (8,11)
• Isosilybin: Other milk thistle extracts called isosilybin A and B have proven to be the most efficient at helping to maintaining healthy cell division. (12,13)
• Phosphatidylcholine and other phospholipids can enhance milk thistle’s delivery.

Until recently the technology did not exist to harness the plant's full benefits. The problem had to deal with the main bioactive component of milk thistle, called silybin, which does not dissolve well in water. (14) This makes it difficult for the body to absorb all of it. (14,15) 

Scientists have overcome silybin’s poor bioavailability by integrating it into a phytosome. A phytosome is a tiny sphere made out of plant-derived phosphatidylcholine.

Phosphatidylcholine is an ideal "carrier molecule" for silibin and facilitates its transport across the intestinal lining into the bloodstream. The silybin-phosphatidylcholine complex is absorbed much better than silibin aloine and its bioavailability to the liver is 10-fold greater. (8,15,16) 

Scientists believe that phosphatidylcholine molecularly bonds to silybin, helping to steer it through the cell membranes in the intestinal tract. (15) This can improve the delivery of the benefits of milk thistle extracts for liver health.

Preclinical and clinical evidence showed that this silybin-phosphatidylcholine complex resulted in almost 5-fold greater concentrations of silybin in the bloodstream than silymarin alone, and its ultimate bioavailability to the liver, its target organ, is up to 10-fold greater than pure silymarin. (17-19)

The novel milk thistle extract with phosphatidylcholine in Advanced Milk Thistle contains standardised concentrations of silybin and isosilybin A and B which are typically not found in other milk thistle extracts.