This is a high quality product at an economical price (when you buy the large size). It contains only fresh, freeze dried organic milk thistle seed. No fillers, no solvents, no chemical processing of any kind. If only more supplement companies would get on board with these concepts!This is a whole food product (just pure milk thistle seed). Many companies will sell you extracts of highly concentrated active ingredients, having separated out certain phytochemicals that are known to beneficial. While this can be appropriate in some cases where very high concentrated doses of a compound are needed, I think it is wiser to use the whole plant food rather than an extract. We only know a thin slice of information about phytochemicals. When we extract only one or two known chemicals, what are we leaving behind?Nature is very wise in making her whole foods... for instance casein (a milk protein) acts as a cancer promoter, but whey (another milk protein) acts as a cancer suppressor. Eating whole milk products gets you both. Eating large amounts of purified casein by itself is foolhardy. Some people need extra casein to treat muscle wasting, but they should only take it combined with whey, so they avoid any cancer risk. Similarly, the guava fruit contains both pro-diarreah and anti-diarrhea compounds, so if you eat the whole fruit it should not alter your bowel function, but if you eat only certain parts you will get side effects. Because there are many examples like this in the plant world, I think it is best to take whole plant supplements in general. Not to mention that the solvents used to extract the phytochemicals can be poisonous to you.Eclectic Institute is on to a good thing.You have to remember when using whole plant products that the dose of the "active ingredient" will be smaller than in a pill that has been solvent extracted. For instance, this brand has 600 mg of milk thistle seed per capsule, and in that 600 mg of seed there is 24 mg of Silymarin, the phytochemical known to support liver function. If you are trying to reach a target dose, you may have to take more than one capsule. But, your are getting not only the Silymarin, your are getting dozens of other phytochemicals that may not yet even have been discovered and could potentially help you. Humans have been eating whole milk thistle seed for thousands of years, noting it's beneficial effects. You don't have to take chemically purified extracts, you can just eat or take the whole food.If you want to get milk thistle benefits for even less money, find a source of whole organic milk thistle seeds and find creative ways to add them to your diet. If you want the convenience of a pre-measured dose in a capsule, then this is one of the best brands.