All throughout the history of mankind man has used many plants for medicinal purposes.
Did you know that aspirin, one of the most used pain relievers have indigenous roots? Another plant with historic medicinal value is the artichoke.
Artichoke is one of the oldest plants cultivated for medicinal reasons.
Many disorders such as snakebites, arthritis, kidney problems, blood disorders, and edema were thought to be remedied with the consumption of artichoke.
During the times of traditional European medicine, the diuretic properties of artichoke were used to help increase the flow of bile to the gallbladder and liver.
It was used for digestion as well as other things.
Bile is vital to the digestion of fat.
During the ages of ancient Rome and Greek, the artichoke was believed to be an aphrodisiac and because of this, on occasionally reserved only for men.
It was also only consumption by the upper class for digestive reasons.
In twentieth century, European researchers found out that artichoke in fact does support bile production in the gall bladder and kidney and it is because of the compound cynarin found inside artichoke.
Cynarin has gained a lot of modern day attention and is being researched for many potential disorders, from a natural remedy for high cholesterol to being a weight loss aid.
Diuretic Properties: In medicines, diuretics are used for heart failure, certain kidney problems, hypertension, and liver cirrhosis.
Artichoke extract is a diuretic and can be beneficial to dieters for another different reason.
When on a fat loss journey sometimes progress is invisible by the body's ability to retain water.
Artichoke extract's diuretic properties can help fight against water retention and bloating and show how much you have really progressed.
Reduction of Cholesterol levels: In modern times obesity is on the rise along with cholesterol levels.
Cholesterol is made in the liver and naturally consumed through several food sources.
Cholesterol is a type of fat and in the liver it attaches with protein to create a lipoprotein.
When it is in lipoprotein form, it can then circulate through the bloodstream.
Elevated levels of cholesterol circulating inside of the blood can cause damage to arteries.
Cholesterol starts to form inside the arteries and starts to form a clog in the blood's pathway.
People with elevated levels cholesterol have higher risks associated with cholesterol deposits forming in the blood vessels, skin, and tendons, damaged arteries, and increased risks of stroke and heart disease.
There are two different types of cholesterol that people talk about, low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein.
Most sources of cholesterol found in food contain LDL and it is bad cholesterol because it is what blocks the blood vessels to circulate well and harden arteries.
The good cholesterol is HDL because it carries cholesterol from out of the blood vessels back to the liver to be broken down and redistributed.
People with high cholesterol can benefit from artichoke extract because of its ability to lower cholesterol.
It can benefit those with too high a level of cholesterol more than healthy individuals because they have more cholesterol to lose.
As an Antioxidant: Antioxidants have been growing in demand because of its abilities to fight against free radicals.
Free radicals are unstable because of its unpaired atom.
These atoms search to pair with another atom so what happens is that free radical hijacks electrons from other molecules which can cause a chain reaction of damage to the body.
When molecules oxidize, free radicals are created and the radicals can cause cellular damage that can form different kinds of cancer.
Antioxidants assist fighting against free radicals because they are molecules that can give electrons away stably.
In simple words, antioxidants are counters to free radicals.
Artichoke is known for having one of the highest levels of antioxidant for vegetables.
It has these antioxidant capabilities because of caffeic acid, which is a type of antioxidants called a polyphenolic.
For Indigestion and other Stomach Problems: Extract is has been shown in many studies to aid in the creation of bile.
It does this by stimulating the gallbladder to contract.
Because of bills role in digestion, it seems with more bile, symptoms of digestive illnesses seem to ease up.
Most studies show good results when artichoke extract is used for this purpose.
Cure for Hangovers: In a study to find out if artichoke extract can help cure hangovers between the placebo group and the group treated with artichoke extract, it was shown that there was no difference in treating symptoms of hangovers.