Milk thistle

Silybum marianum

nuts & seeds

Seeds of a large Mediterranean thistle with white-marbled leaves, alone in its genus, ground to a powder or infused. They contain silymarin.

Origin

Mediterranean basin

Season (United States)

imported · all year round

Preparation

It is a pharmacy plant before it is a food: the seeds are used as an infusion or a powder, in kitchen doses, and they can change how some medicines work.

Molecules

In small amounts, not counted Magnesium · Insoluble fibers · Protein

Did you know?

A legend has it that the Virgin, fleeing Herod, nursed the infant Jesus in the shelter of a thicket of thistles: a few drops of milk falling on the leaves left those white veins.