Milk Thistle (Silymarin) and blood sugar
What 2 graded rows on milk thistle (silymarin) agree on for blood sugar, and where they differ. Counted side by side, never averaged.
Consensus finder Rows from the Milk Thistle (Silymarin) page, reviewed Oct 21, 2026 How it decides
What the rows agree on
Each block and row is one graded row from the Milk Thistle (Silymarin) page, with its PubMed record.
Your question
Milk Thistle (Silymarin) and blood sugar
2 rows · 943 peopleSplit. 1 row found an improvement and 1 had mixed results.
- CGrade C× 2
- Rows
- 2
- Trials
- 11
- People
- 943
- Pooled reviews may count some twice
What the rows share
From the rowsThe best-graded row, grade C, is a meta-analysis of 673 people (2025) and reported mixed results.
The rows run from 270 to 673 people, published from 2016 to 2025: 2 pooled reviews and 0 single studies.
The rows
1 improved · 1 mixed- CGrade CFasting glucose and HbA1c in type 2 diabetes · Improved
Meta-analysis, 5 studies · n 270 · 2016 · Adults with type 2 diabetes
Varied across trials · Varied across trials
Fasting glucose −26.9 mg/dL and HbA1c −1.07 points; evidence low quality with high heterogeneity.
Row on the Milk Thistle (Silymarin) page · PubMed 27340676 (opens PubMed)
- CGrade CInsulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and fasting insulin · Mixed
Meta-analysis, 6 studies · n 673 · 2025 · Adults with type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease or diabetes with alcohol-related cirrhosis (Iran, Egypt, Italy)
Varied across trials · At least 4 weeks
HOMA-IR −2.29 (just significant, p = 0.047); fasting insulin did not change. HOMA-IR improved in type 2 diabetes subgroups but not in fatty liver.
Row on the Milk Thistle (Silymarin) page · PubMed 39855603 (opens PubMed)