Granted, any non-poisonous plant is healthy in one way or another, but the narrow field of milk thisle benefits doesn’t reduce its efficacy at all. In fact, milk thistle’s benefit of cleansing the liver is so strong, that milk thistle is often used to treat alcoholics (most effectively helps reformed alcoholics) and those poisoned by death cap mushrooms.

Another of milk thistle’s benefits is that it’s very high in antioxidants. It’s considered a wonderful, mild, daily detox. Because milk thistle stimulates the liver and gallbladder, it may have a mild laxative effect, so you may want to first try it when you’re around home to see whether you’re effected or not.

In addition to cleansing the liver of toxins, one of milk thistle benefits is that it can actually protect the liver from toxins. It can even help to protect the liver from certain drugs that are used to treat schizophrenia. Milk thistle has been used to effectively treat liver cirrhosis and has been shown to help liver cells regenerate.

There are very few side effects, and aside from the laxative effect, are rare. Some of the potential milk thistle side effects are headaches, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and skin rashes.

Milk thistle is available in teas, as supplements, and as milk thistle seed extract. If you can find or plant milk thistle near you, you can even cook it and eat it as a vegetable.

As for how milk thistle tastes, there isn’t much of one. I’ve found that milk thistle tea is rather bland, with a definite vegetable flavor. It tastes as though it should be mucilaginous (read: thick and slimy) but it isn’t in the least. Though the flavor of milk thistle isn’t strong, it is pervasive, and if you find that you don’t like the flavor, you can mix it with a stronger flavored tea (perhaps a mint or fruit flavored tea), or switch to milk thistle capsules.

It may not be easy to find milk thistle tea, capsules, or extract near you. I found Alvita brand milk thistle tea in our local grocery store’s organic section. If you’re unable to find it in your local store, you can buy milk thistle tea and supplements here, and milk thistle seed extract here.

If you found this article on milk thistle benefits useful, please explore the rest of this site for more holistic nutrition information.

The hawthorn plant is a thorny shrub that is related to the rose plant. Determining the hawthorn nutrition found in herbal teas can be difficult, as the leaves, blossoms, and berries can be used medicinally, but which part of the hawthorn plant used is rarely mentioned on ingredients lists. For example, hawthorn is listed on many ingredients lists for Celestial Seasonings’ herbal teas, but I’ve only seen one instance where it specifically said “hawthorn berries”.

Whether using the leaves, blossoms, or berries, when it comes to bioflavanoids, hawthorn nutrition is the same. The bioflavanoids benefit circulation, the contraction of the heart muscle, lower blood pressure, and may even help angina patients, or those with abnormal heart rhythms.

While hawthorn nutrition has been used in the past to help digestive problems, in modern times, it’s most often used to benefit heart patients. In addition to the above, hawthorn nutrition can help prevent hardening of the arteries, and congestive heart failure patients had an easier time exercising without shortness of breath after using hawthorn.

Hawthorn is available in many forms. Hawthorn nutrition can be obtained in the form of supplements, teas, tinctures and more.

If you enjoyed this article on hawthorn nutrition, you may like to learn more about holistic nutrition.

Some simply use roasted chicory as a coffee replacement. Some eat the roots and leaves. But chicory’s nutrition is an excellent reason for using it, apart from the flavor.

The roots can be simply simmered into a tea, or they can be roasted and ground to be used as a caffeine free coffee replacement.  The leaves are an excellent source of many vitamins and minerals.

In fact, the nutrition in chicory isn’t the only reason to use it. Irritated skin can be bathed in chicory to relieve the pain, and it can even help athlete’s foot.

And get this, with all of chicory’s nutrition, it even contains insulin! And it can help circulation. Combined with the insulin, beneficence to circulation, the amount of potassium that chicory contains, and its lack of caffeine, chicory nutrition seems to be an excellent fit for nearly every person. It even aids in digestion.

When used as part of a well rounded diet, chicory nutrition is an excellent addition to a holistic nutrition regimen.