NYT has a nice small item about Milk Thistle this week. It is reported to protect the liver, though we have no good data to support this.

This week, a patient asked about it. The idea got additional air time last year when a small trial showed a possible benefit in chemotherapy patients. A 2007 review of the data showed no clear benefit.

Of course absence of benefit never really stopped sales of a supplement. Milk thistle is an idea that hasn't gone away, and perhaps some day there'll be some actual data to support it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/health/12real.html?ref=health