{"id":273,"date":"2020-07-01T10:09:10","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T09:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/84.18.216.250\/~herbalreality\/?post_type=herb&p=273"},"modified":"2025-04-09T16:37:05","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T15:37:05","slug":"artichoke","status":"publish","type":"herb","link":"https:\/\/www.herbalreality.com\/herb\/artichoke\/","title":{"rendered":"Artichoke"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":1980,"parent":0,"menu_order":500,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","beyondwords_generate_audio":"1","beyondwords_project_id":"47224","beyondwords_content_id":"81d4bb29-afde-49fa-b8b1-3e9262531f21","beyondwords_preview_token":"541a5f8b-6c6d-4ff7-b4d0-ee035d56c46e","beyondwords_player_content":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_code":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_delete_content":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_status":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"tags":[38,40,41,42,39,44,43],"conditions":[685,694,693],"sustainability":[1576],"sense":[18,786],"western_action":[1004,1001,1006,1013,1014],"chinese_action":[],"ayurvedic_action":[],"energetics_action":[1498,1382,1495,1494],"region":[1893],"class_list":["post-273","herb","type-herb","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-artichoke","tag-artichoke-leaf","tag-bitter","tag-digestion","tag-globe-artichoke","tag-hangover","tag-indigestion","conditions-digestive-system","conditions-cardiovascular-system","conditions-endocrine-system","sustainability-green-sustainability-status","sense-bitter","sense-cooling","western_action-cholagogue-and-choleretic","western_action-bitter","western_action-depurative","western_action-hepatic","western_action-hepatoprotective","energetics_action-bitter","energetics_action-cool","energetics_action-salty","energetics_action-sweet","region-western-herbs"],"acf":{"last_reviewed":"20200701","herb_author":null,"banner_text":"Globe artichoke is used both as a vegetable and as a key liver remedy","latin_name":"Cynara scolymus<\/em>","pseudonym_name":"","family_name":"Asteraceae","herb_summary":"The leaves of artichoke have a well-established reputation for stimulating bile flow, restoring the liver and lowering cholesterol. There is an unrelated \u2018artichoke\u2019, Jerusalem artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus, a species of sunflower, whose tuber is eaten as a vegetable and has notable prebiotic properties.","key_benefits":"Nausea and indigestion\r\nImproving digestion\r\nConstipation\r\nBile and gallbladder problems\r\nAs a detox remedy\r\nHigh cholesterol and metabolic syndrome","how_does_it_feel":"You could find globe artichoke growing in gardens in the summer, or acquire a artichoke supplement. Chew a bit of the leaf, nibble at a tablet or sip a liquid dose. The fresh leaf is clearly a vegetable, with warm earthy tones, almost tasting like a root. However there is a lingering, almost comforting bitter aftertaste which feels like where the action is: quietly effective. The bitter taste becomes concentrated on drying.\r\n\r\nSo artichoke is one of the bitter remedies, not as strong as some of the classic bitters but with a broad effect on liver and digestion.","hdif_image_1":1981,"hdif_image_2":1980,"hdif_image_3":8185,"hdif_video":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3wKLwfenV-M","sense":[18,786],"what_can_i_use_it_for":"\"\"Artichoke leaf is a great remedy for liver, bile and associated digestive problems. Consider it if you are not comfortable eating fatty food or taking alcohol. It will often safely relieve biliary problems like recurrent gallbladder pains. People often use it for hangovers or the after-effects of over-indulgence.\r\n\r\nArtichoke should be considered if you have constipation which does not improve with the usual laxative or bulking remedies. Bile is our natural laxative and artichoke seems to increase its elimination (this may be marked by a more yellow colouring of the stool).\r\n\r\nLong term use of an artichoke supplement is helpful if you have high blood levels of cholesterol, and particularly if this is accompanied by being overweight or you are at risk of diabetes. It is useful in reducing the problem of insulin resistance and its long-term complications known as \u2018metabolic syndrome\u2019, one of the most common problems of the modern age.","into_the_heart_of":"[caption id=\"attachment_8184\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"600\"]\"Artichoke Artichoke (Cynara scolymus<\/em>)[\/caption]\r\n\r\nArtichoke is first a liver and bile remedy, the natural antidote to what in English is referred to as \u2018liverish\u2019 conditions, or in the French \u2018crise de foie\u2019.<\/span>\r\n\r\nArtichoke\u2019s primary actions are through its cooling bitter properties. The actions of bitter herbs are primarily via promoting detoxification through the liver, and thus improving the quality of blood.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe liver is an important organ that deals with metabolism and detoxification. The liver processes and cleanses the blood that comes through from the <\/span>digestive system<\/span>. Our liver deals with storage of fat soluble vitamins and the elimination of dietary toxins, byproducts of metabolism, as well as hormones, used blood cells, medications and alcohol. It is a very important organ that can unsurprisingly become \u2018sluggish\u2019, and is often in need of some support.<\/span>\r\n\r\nHerbalists are particularly interested in the liver where inflammatory conditions are involved because an overloaded or sluggish liver may result in excess toxins and hormones circulating around the body for longer.<\/span>\r\n\r\nBecause it is such an important organ the liver is often indicated for attention particularly in hormonal and inflammatory conditions. Bitter herbs reduce the toxicity and excess hormones in the blood, which benefits all the cells around the body, reducing inflammation, essentially improving blood quality. This action is said to be \u2018cooling\u2019 because cleaner blood reduces heat (inflammation).<\/span>\r\n\r\nAs with other traditional moderate bitter liver remedies like dandelion<\/a>, there is a simultaneous diuretic effect. So, the overall effect is as a most impressive detox remedy.<\/span>","tradtional_uses":"[caption id=\"attachment_8183\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"600\"]\"Artichoke Artichoke tea (Cynara scolymus<\/em>)[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe medicinal properties of artichoke have been known since antiquity, and it was particularly prized in the 16th to 19th centuries. It enjoyed a revival in the 20th century particularly in France. Here it fitted well with a cultural view that liver burdens are a core to ill-health, with many conditions being considered a liver crisis (\u2018crise de foie\u2019).\r\n\r\nArtichoke was widely considered one of the most effective detox remedies, in conditions that in English might be characterised as \u2018liverish\u2019, to include gallbladder and biliary problems, nausea, and difficulty in managing fats and alcohol. Skin problems were often linked with this range of causes and were also treated with artichoke leaf. It was an established medicine for jaundice and hepatitis.\r\n\r\n19th century Eclectic physicians in the USA used artichoke as a blood cleanser (depurative) for the treatment of rheumatism, gout, as well as jaundice. They also valued its diuretic properties and applied it to oedematous conditions, low urine production (oliguria) and urinary stones.","what_practioners_say":"[caption id=\"attachment_1981\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"600\"]\"Artichoke Artichoke (Cynara scolymus<\/em>)[\/caption]\r\n\r\nArtichoke leaf is similar in its properties to dandelion root, with some variations of its own, and the two make a very effective double act.\r\n

Liver and bile<\/h3>\r\nArtichoke is a first choice for flushing bile from the liver through the bowel. Patients often report that their stool become transiently more yellow after taking the remedy. It appears to work without any strain on liver function and can be used to relieve symptoms of liver stress, such as intolerance to fats and alcohol, or for biliary problems like gallstones or gallbladder inflammation. The impression is that artichoke is diluting the bile, reducing its concentration and aiding its elimination through the bowel. As bile is meant to be eliminated (and with slower bowel transit times in modern society may be less so than in the past) this can be an important detoxification aid. The early observation of more nitrogen waste elimination through the urine reinforces this observation.\r\n

Digestion<\/h3>\r\nArtichoke is an effective gentle bitter digestive remedy that can relieve many symptoms of upset digestion, notably nausea and vomiting (especially associated with rich, fatty food and alcohol \u2013 see above), constipation (possibly by increasing the natural laxative effect of bile), flatulence, bloating and other symptoms of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). As a bitter it is also cooling and is appropriate for traditional \u2018damp-heat\u2019 patterns accompanied by yellow coating on the tongue, signs of liver distress, perhaps of inflammatory bowel problems, intolerance to heat and humidity. It has achieved much popularity as an \u2018after party\u2019 supplement especially to combat hangover and other symptoms of over-indulgence.\r\n

Metabolic and inflammatory<\/h3>\r\nArtichoke is a prime remedy for \u2018metabolic syndrome\u2019 or pre-diabetes: the combination of insulin resistance, high blood fat and cholesterol levels, and higher BMI (body-mass index). To be effective it should be taken as a supplement over a long period.","research":"[caption id=\"attachment_8185\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"600\"]\"Artichoke Artichoke (Cynara scolymus<\/em>)[\/caption]\r\n

Digestive<\/h3>\r\nArtichoke leaf attracted research interest in Europe in the 1930s and these studies demonstrated the choleretic (increased bile flow from the liver) and diuretic activity of the leaves. Further research at the time added effect on cholesterol levels and showed that all these activities were accompanied by an increase in urea and other nitrogen-containing substances in the urine.<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn a large study artichoke leaf extract was shown to significantly reduce symptoms of functional dyspepsia (indigestion) compared to placebo (8) a conclusion reached in an earlier larger open study by other researchers (9).<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn a pilot trial, a water extract of artichoke leaf demonstrated reduced viral load of hepatitis C to below the detection level in 12 out of 15 patients. Furthermore, the liver enzymes ALT and AST, as well as the level of bilirubin were normalized. There was also inhibition of a number of CYP450 enzymes and so it may effect how other drugs are metabolised (10).<\/span>\r\n

Metabolism and diabetes<\/h3>\r\nMore recent studies have focused on the effect of artichoke on both blood lipids and blood sugar control. Artichoke leaf extract has been demonstrated to reduce insulin resistance, an effect modulated by a defined single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) that predisposes to metabolic syndrome (1). The same supplementation resulted in a statistically significant decrease in serum triglyceride levels in women with metabolic syndrome (2).<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn a separate placebo-controlled study on 55 overweight subjects a proprietary artichoke extract significantly decreased fasting blood glucose levels and other markers of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome (3).\u00a0<\/span>\r\n

High cholesterol<\/h3>\r\nIn a separate study on 46 overweight subjects the artichoke extract significantly enhanced HDL levels and lowered total cholesterol and LDL levels (4). This observation was supported in a British study that showed that, compared with placebo, an extract of artichoke significantly reduced total cholesterol levels in hypercholesterolaemic subjects (5).<\/span>\r\n\r\nA small controlled trial showed that artichoke could reduce markers of endothelial dysfunction (such as flow-mediated vasodilation and humoral markers VCAM-1 and ICAM-1) seen in people with raised lipid and cholesterol levels (6).\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nA review of the evidence for the effect of artichoke on cholesterol and lipid levels suggested that its components luteolin and chlorogenic acid could play a key role (7).<\/span>","did_you_know":"Artichoke leaf is widely favoured as one of the most effective treatments for hangovers.","additional_information_right":{"illustration":8370},"additional_information_left":{"botany":"Globe artichoke is in the same tribe within the Asteraceae (formerly Compositae) as the milk thistle Silybum marianum, and is a cultivated hybrid of a thistle, probably Cynara cardunculus L. It is a herbaceous plant which produces stems of 1m or more in length.\r\n\r\nThe basal, lobate-bipinnatisect leaves are very large, the stem leaves may be pinnatisect or entire. The inflorescence is formed of purplish-blue flowers grouped in heads which have an involucre of several long bracts which may be spiny. The fruit is an oval achene with a plumed pappus (tuft of bristles).","common_names":"