Milk Thistle Tea

Today we'll look at "Milk Thistle" as part of the Dojo Rat self-medication program.
Disclaimer;, I'm not an herbalist or doctor, I'm a Dojo Rat.

After a particularly heavy drinking session with friends last weekend, I noticed some swelling in my joints and general retention of water.
Readers may know I quit coffee many years ago and have been using various herbal and Chinese teas ever since.

This time, I tried an old favorite; Milk Thistle tea.
I dropped two tea bags in my thermos and filled it with boiled well water. If you haven't tried it, Milk Thistle has a sweet popcorn-type smell and a slightly "slippery" consistency. It's known as one of the most effective liver detox herbs that is available.
Sure enough, overnight the swelling in my joints went completely away and I feel great.

Obviously, my liver needed a little help getting over last weekend's Beer.
Here's what Wikipedia says about Milk Thistle:

"For many centuries extracts of milk thistle have been recognized as "liver tonics".[6] Research into the biological activity of silymarin and its possible medical uses has been conducted in many countries since the 1970s, but the quality of the research has been uneven.[3] Milk thistle has been reported to have protective effects on the liver and to greatly improve its function."

Milk Thistle appears to be different than the common thistle we have on the west coast, even though they look almost the same. I'm going to talk to people more knowledgeable than me to find out if our local thistle can be used in the same way.

If anyone else has had experience with Milk Thistle, let me know.