Modern Day Hero – Dr Rangan Chatterjee

Many of you will know Dr Rangan Chatterjee from his television appearances or from his inspiring TED talk.  His great surprise was at how his son nearly died, more so it was a dietary lack of Vitamin D, nothing more complex – not the meningitis that the hospital had identified, “I’d had no training at all in matters of diet at my University”.  He is now encouraging his profession to look at the causes of dis-ease, at how diabetes has become a £20 billion UK NHS treatment programme, while not targeting the causes. He gives us the skinny on avoiding the inflammation triggering, sugar laden, Western diet.  His love of healthy fats and Mediterranean style eating is an added bonus ball to help us all win the jackpot of life.

So from one dietary theme to another, let’s look at Milk Thistle.  But what did the Germans ever do for us? plenty it seems, as you’ll see.  The active ingredient in milk thistle is silymarin. Silymarin has an effect on the cell membranes within the liver, protecting them from viral toxin and other dangerous toxic substances from setting up homes within the cells themselves.  Silymarin also stimulates regeneration of the liver, and this can help those suffering from a variety of liver problems. In fact, as far back as 1986, the Commission E in Germany approved an oral extract of milk thistle as a treatment for diseases of the liver.  Just don’t tell John Cleese.