Milk thistle prevents liver destruction and enhances liver function through its ability to prevent toxin-induced damage, and by stimulating the growth of new liver cells to replace old damaged cells. Silymarin does not have a stimulatory effect on malignant liver tissue. Silymarin has been shown to stimulate the production of glutathione, by over 35 percent. Increased glutathione levels raise the liver’s detoxification potential to handle a wide range of hormones, drugs, and chemicals. Milk thistle has been shown to be protective in various types of liver insult including; cirrhosis, chronic viral hepatitis, fatty infiltration of the liver, subclinical cholestasis of pregnancy.