Milk Thistle Complex Capsules

Recommended use: Take 1-2 capsules daily, unchewed, with plenty of liquid during a meal.

Important notes: Food supplements are not a substitute for a balanced and varied diet and lifestyle. The stated recommended daily intake must not be exceeded. Keep out of reach of small children.

Allergens: According to the raw material specification, it contains no allergens subject to mandatory labeling in accordance with Annex II of Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011.

Storage: Store in a cool, dry place, do not freeze, and protect from direct sunlight.

Schisandra, a climbing plant from the Amur region

Schisandra chinensis is a woody twining plant that grows on trees up to several meters high in northern China, Korea, and the Russian Far East. The plant is dioecious, so male and female flowers grow on different specimens, which makes cultivation more demanding.

The red berries hang in grape-like clusters. The name “fruit of five flavors” is not poetic: the sour pulp comes from organic acids, the bitter and pungent note from the seeds, which also contain lignans such as schisandrin. Whether an extract is made from the whole berry or from the seed therefore makes a difference.

Dandelion root and the autumn harvest time

The root is dug in autumn, and there is a reason for that. Over the summer, the plant stores inulin, a reserve substance made from fructose building blocks, and in autumn this supply is at its highest. In spring, it breaks it down again to push out leaves and flowers.

Roasted dandelion root was a common coffee substitute in times of need, similar to chicory root. The white milky sap that escapes when it is cut, by the way, is the same secretion that leaves brown stains on children's fingers.

Four key substances from four classes of compounds

The four extracts are not only botanically different, but also chemically. Silymarin consists of flavonolignans, schisandrin is a pure lignan, cynarin is a derivative of caffeic acid, and dandelion is classified under the flavonoids.

Each of these classes requires its own analysis method with its own reference substance. Four standardized extracts in one formula therefore mean four separate tests per batch. That is the effort hidden behind the unassuming word standardized.

Why 2 percent is no worse than 80

Placed side by side, the figures look dramatic: 80 percent silymarin versus 2 percent flavonoids. But that does not mean one extract would be forty times higher quality.

The percentage values refer to completely different classes of compounds with completely different natural abundance. Silymarin occurs naturally in a concentrated form in milk thistle seed and can be purified extensively. Flavonoids in a dandelion root are, from the outset, in the low single-digit percentage range; 2 percent is a common and reliable value there. Standardizations are always comparable only within the same plant and the same key substance.