Butterflies enjoying Milk Thistle next to barn

Jonathan is doing well. Would you continue to pray? He needs our prayers. Thank you!! After walking the halls of  the hospital  and seeing all the sick people it makes you want to be healthy, doesn’t it! Hence, this post on Milk Thistle.

Milk Thistle is growing all over our property. For years I thought they were a pain and to some extent they are if you touch the thorns. They’re weeds that literally grow like wild here in VA.  Our cows and sheep wouldn’t eat them, nor our goats! Finally I did some research and found that God was saving them for us. The above ground parts and seeds are medicinal.

The seeds most often are used for liver and gallbladder disorders.

Some people use milk thistle for diabetes, diseases of the spleen, prostate, cancer, depression and, uterus. It is also used for allergy symptoms. They also have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

In foods, milk thistle leaves (cooked)and flowers are eaten as a vegetable for salads and a substitute for spinach. The seeds can be used to make coffee substitute and tea.

I’m using my Milk Thistle seeds raw on salads, in our smoothies and in our oatmeal. Having a healthy liver is vital for our health. Here are just a few things the liver does:
*Controls the production and removal of cholesterol
*Makes clotting factors
*Produces immune factors such as gamma gobulin
*Creates bile to help digest food and absorb nutrients
*Helps to clear the body of waste, toxins, and drugs
*Helps to maintain blood pressure
*Helps to support the liver’s ability to regenerate damaged tissue
*Reduces inflammation of the liver and gallbladder
*Improves digestion by stimulating bile production
*Helps to detoxify the liver from poisons
*Provides the body with antioxidants
*Helps to treat cirrhosis of the liver, jaundice, and chronic hepatitis.

Milk Thistle is a super nutrient for liver health. For more info on Milk Thistle read these links:

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/benefits-of-milk-thistle-seed/

http://naturallivingsocal.blogspot.com/2012/04/milk-thistle-seed-liver-regenerator.html

http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/milk-thistle-benefits-and-side-effects

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” I Cor. 6:19-20

Chop the tops off the milk thistle plant-wear gloves

Let the tops dry for a week in a dry place

Pull the purple top out and you’ll find this fluffy stuff with seeds on the ends

I held the fluffy part and with one gentle tug the seeds came off easy. If you do a bunch you can shake the heads in a big bag and the seeds will drop to the bottom of the bag.

We eat the seeds on our salad, in our smoothies and in our oatmeal