Milk thistle is found all over the world and is an herb that detoxifies the liver, beneficial for diets. 

It is also used in the treatment of hepatitis, jaundice, and cirrhosis of the liver. It is administered for all gallbladder problems as it increases the secretion and flow of bile from the liver and gallbladder. It is an antidote to poisoning from mushrooms of the genus Amanita as well as from other environmental toxins. It is also used as a brain and memory tonic, as a soothing agent for catarrh and pleurisy, and for psoriasis. Recently, its anticancer, neuroprotective, and cardioprotective actions have been discovered due to the reduction of cholesterol it causes.