Some interesting information from
this blog post titled "Understanding how liver function is affected by methylation and toxicity"
Based on those statements maybe milk thistle's ability to help the liver means that it then requires more folate to support its improved functioning?
Hi Pat,
I think the key to that first statement is the impact of
alcohol damage on the liver, and the impact that damage has on folate levels.
Folate deficiency is common in alcohol-induced cirrhosis and fatty liver, and the first part that you quoted seems to be saying that no changes were observed in non-alcohol damaged rat livers, hence saying it indicated that this might therefore apply to
alcohol-
damaged livers
only, and not (otherwise) healthy, non-alcohol damaged livers.
I don't yet see how else folate is linked with the liver, and I still can't yet see how MT would require more folate to work.
Silymarin is antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, stimulates immune function (liver comprises 30% of the immune system) and stops toxins from binding to cell walls. That's why it's a great liver function support.
I really don't see, yet, how taking MT would create a need for extra folate. Folate may well be
stored in the liver, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the liver
uses it or
needs it for healthy functioning. For example, it also stores Vitamin D3, in the form of 25OHD3 too, but that goes on to be converted into calcitriol, which I think happens in the kidneys (and incidentally, requires adequate iodine to make that conversion). I'm not aware of D3 being "needed" by the liver, except in relation to D3's immune system support function, which takes some stress off the liver. But the liver doesn't burn through D3, per se.
The liver does a huge amount of enzyme production, producing enzymes for conversion of nutrients, for conjugating excess hormones, and for neutralising toxins. I'm not yet aware of it having to produce anything in relation to folate, which is why I can't yet understand how helping the liver by supporting its function would require extra folate.
Folate is involved in homocysteine metabolism, in one of the 5 methyl cycle pathways, and homocysteine is dealt with there, not primarily by the liver, as far as I know - none of which means you aren't right in your supposition, there's a
huge amount that I don't have knowledge of, and just because I don't know, doesn't mean it isn't so! (Or else I'd be a standard doctor ;-))
However, I have numerous methylation difficulties, as you know, and I've taken MT on and off since c.1998 with none of the issues I get from methylation or B12 protocols. I've only ever found it helpful. I take 1g if I have a bad reaction to foods or other ingested substances that overload my liver's detox capabilities, and it clears the reaction (usually nausea, weakness, headache, cognitive difficulty, sinusitis, rhinitis, migraine if I don't sort things out pdq) within about 40 minutes every time.
But it isn't something I've ever taken daily for a prolonged period of time, and if the liver needed extra folate because of MT, then that's when I'd expect an associated folate deficiency to show up. Because there is a degree of stored folate, it doesn't usually get depleted very fast. If you eat a non-folate diet, it takes several weeks before deficiency is induced.
I'll carry on looking for info about MT burning through folate, and if you can find any refs for the statements you quoted, that would be useful
If it does turn out that MT burns folate, that's going to be a sigificant piece of info for a lot of people
Maybe it needs folate for making some of the enzymes, I really don't know. If it
does need folate for enzyme production, given that MT stimulates enzyme production, then that would certainly use up folate. That's as close as I can get to understanding if the liver needs extra folate in the presence of Milk Thistle.
J
