Artichoke improves liver function.

UNESCO Cour. 1979 Jul;7:8-16.

Medicine's green revolution.

Pelt JM.

PIP: There is a resurgence of interest in exploring the therapeutic value of medicinal plants. Throughout time, man has discovered, by trial and error, the efficacy of various plants in alleviating human afflictions. Many of the plants discovered by primitive medicine men have been investigated by western trained medical personnel and found to be effective. These modern medical investigators were initially interested in extracting the active ingredients from these plants, but eventually they learned to artifically reproduce these active substances in the laboratory. Modern medicine gradually became more and more divorced from the natural plant world. Recently investigators have returned to the study of the plants themselves and are discovering that the use of the plants in treating illness may be more beneficial than the use of extracted or synthetic ingredients used in isolation. For example, it was observed that artichokes improve liver function. At first this beneficial effectiveness was attributed to a single substance in the artichoke. Other ingredients found in artichokes when used in isolation did not affect liver function; however, when a number of these ingredients were used in combination, the beneficial effect was enhanced.