[Effects of Lemon Balm Dandelion Extract Complex (LD100)] 3 Benefits of LD100, a Raw Material that Protects Liver Cells

Hello, I am Jinny, a pharmacist.

When you think of liver health, what ingredient comes to mind first? I think many people, including me, automatically think of milk thistle. Milk thistle has been used in Europe since the 1st century as a treatment for jaundice, stone removal, and snake bites, and has been consistently used as an adjuvant treatment for liver disease since 1968, when its effective ingredients were identified [1].

So, the representative ingredient for liver health for the past 50 years has been ‘milk thistle extract.’ However, in 2020, interesting research results were published in the Journal of Food Biochemistry, an SCI-level international academic journal. ‘This ingredient’, a cutting-edge raw material, was shown to be more effective than milk thistle extract (silymarin) in suppressing liver lipopathy caused by alcohol [2].

For those who drink frequently, the ‘ingredient’ that you should focus on is the functional ingredient Lemon Balm and Dandelion Extract Complex (LD100) that we will introduce to you today. As the name suggests, this raw material is a mixture of lemon balm extract and dandelion extract in a ratio that showed the highest activity in test studies. It is also the latest individually approved liver health functional raw material recognized by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
[1] Gillessen, A., & Schmidt, H. H. J. (2020). Silymarin as supportive treatment in liver diseases: A narrative review. Advances in therapy, 37(4), 1279-1301.
[2] Choi, B. R., Cho, I. J., Jung, S. J., Kim, J. K., Park, S. M., Lee, D. G., ... & Park, K. M. (2020). Lemon balm and dandelion leaf extract synergistically alleviate ethanol‐induced hepatotoxicity by enhancing antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory activity. Journal of Food Biochemistry, 44(8), e13232.

Although drinking itself cannot be said to be bad, excessive alcohol consumption can be a cause of poor health. In fact, it is reported that alcohol consumption was the main cause of death in 3.8% of deaths worldwide. Especially, alcoholic liver disease is one of the important causes of death due to liver disease and is highly correlated with increased alcohol intake and consumption time [3].

It may sound like someone else's problem, but in fact, there are research reports that fatty liver is observed in more than 90% of people who drink excessively and 30% of people suffer from alcoholic liver disease. It is known to be caused by the production of harmful oxygen, mitochondrial damage, and steatosis, which are common characteristics of acute and chronic alcohol exposure [4].
[3,4] Li, S., Tan, H. Y., Wang, N., Zhang, Z. J., Lao, L., Wong, C. W., & Feng, Y. (2015). The role of oxidative stress and antioxidants in liver diseases. International journal of molecular sciences, 16(11), 26087-26124.

For this reason, one of the important items to consider in terms of the efficacy of liver health functional ingredients is their effectiveness in suppressing liver damage caused by alcohol. In 2020, the SCI-level international journal Journal of Food Biochemistry announced that the protective effect of lemon balm and dandelion extract complex (LD100) against alcoholic liver damage was confirmed and that it was superior to milk thistle extract in terms of effectiveness.