What do the states mean?+
- Solid: well studied, and it works.
- Half-there: the science is still forming.
- A ghost: almost no real studies.
- Hollow: well studied, and it does not work.
- A cord: the pair itself has been tested together.
- Air: nobody has ever tested this pair.
The full scoring method: How we score
Milk thistle benefits: where the science stands
For liver: not settled yet.
Liver is what most people take milk thistle for, and the best studies disagree: three found it helps, one found no effect. As of August 2026, the verdicts on this page rest on evidence from 84 trials, drawn from the strongest research among the 277 papers on PubMed that mention milk thistle. Every claim is checked below.
277 papers on PubMed · evidence from 84 trials
Claim by claim
- LiverThe science is still forming. The best studies disagree.
- Blood sugarWell studied, and it does not work. The biggest review covered 6 trials.
- CholesterolThe science is still forming. The best studies disagree.
- Gut and digestionThe science is still forming. No real difference found so far.
See 3 more scored claims+
- InflammationThe science is still forming. Results lean positive, but there is not much yet.
- JointsThe science is still forming. Results lean positive, but there is not much yet.
- Memory and focusAlmost no real studies. What exists leans positive.
Pairs people ask about
The twelve sources we read
- 2002Meta-analysis · pools 14 trials · no clear effect on liversource
- 2015Randomized trial · 80 people · no clear effect on gut and digestionsource
- 2018Randomized trial · 40 people · moderate benefit for blood sugar; small benefit for cholesterolsource
- 2024Meta-analysis · pools 41 trials · benefit for liversource
- 2024Randomized trial · 83 people · small benefit for liversource
- 2024Randomized trial · 100 people · benefit for liversource
- 2024Meta-analysis · moderate benefit for cholesterolsource
- 2024Randomized trial · 48 people · no clear effect on blood sugar; no clear effect on cholesterolsource
- 2024Meta-analysis · pools 15 trials · small benefit for inflammationsource
- 2024Randomized trial · 122 people · benefit for jointssource
- 2024Randomized trial · 33 people · benefit for memory and focussource
- 2025Meta-analysis · pools 6 trials, 673 people · no clear effect on blood sugarsource
Chosen as the strongest evidence out of 277 papers on PubMed. Every row links to its paper.
Fair questions
Does milk thistle work?+
For liver, it is not settled. The best studies disagree.
Is milk thistle safe?+
No caution is recorded on this page. That is not a safety guarantee; the studies we read were not safety trials.
Why only 12 sources, when PubMed lists 277?+
The 277 is every paper that mentions milk thistle in any way: animal studies, blood measurements, papers where it is a side note. The strongest sources are combined reviews, and each one already gathers every trial its authors could find. Our 12 cover 84 trials between them, and every one is linked above. Both counts are measured, not estimated.