Detox - The Facts

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Central to all detoxification, and solidly underlying most herbal treatment, is the strategy of cleansing the liver as the central organ of elimination of the body, and at her sane time restoring its ability to regulate dozens of distinct metabolic functions. Crucial to such therapy is one of the most dynamic natural remedies that has ever been discovered: the fresh leaves of the artichoke (Cynara scolymus). In fact, it is almost a designer drug for the twentieth century. According to the Belgian Pharmaceutical Association's 1986 publication, Compenium de Phytotherapie, one of its constituents, cynarine, possesses intense choleretic properties, which have been demonstrated clinically to significantly lower the cholesterol levels in the blood. While pharmaceutical drugs used for this purpose tend to induce reddening of the face and gastric irritation, artichoke is without secondary effects. The plant, therefore, finds a place in the treatment of atheroma. At the same time, it has been found to possess anti-hepatotoxic properties comparable to those of the milk thistle (Carduus marianus). Significantly, artichoke seems to be one of those plants that works best if it is used fresh.