Six well-liked herbal supplements may put your liver at risk

Although people have been using plants and herbs for medicinal purposes for thousands of years, these days they are highly popular due in part to posts on social media sites like TikTokTrusted Source, where users highlight the advantages of consuming herbal supplements like green tea, ashwagandha, and turmeric.

Although herbal supplements might be regarded as "natural," they are not inherently safe and don't need FDATrusted Source approval before being sold. Herbal supplements can also have negative effects on users, and some herbs can conflict with prescription drugs they already take.

According to a recent study by researchers at the University of Michigan, 15.6 million American adults, or 5% of the population, may have taken at least one hepatotoxic, or liver-damaging, herbal supplement in the previous 30 days.

Six potentially hepatotoxic botanical products are being studied. Researchers examined information from over 9,500 American adults, with an average age of 47.5, who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)Trusted Source from 2017 to 2020 in order to conduct this study. The use of herbal supplements and prescription drugs was included in the medical data for these individuals.

Researchers concentrated on examining study participants' use of six herbal supplements that were previously thought to be potentially hepatotoxic.

• Ashwagandha
• Black cohosh
• Garcinia cambogia
• Green tea extract
• Red yeast rice
• Turmeric or curcumin

Lead author of this study Alisa Likhitsup, MD, MPH, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Michigan, told Medical News Today that "potentially

hepatotoxic botanical products are the products that contain plant-based ingredients which have been implicated as potential causes of liver damage."

Although the exact mechanism of liver damage caused by these products is unknown, she suggested that it is probably because of the liver's post-consumption metabolism.

As a hepatologist in practice, I have seen patients who took dietary supplements and suffered liver damage; some of these patients were fatal and needed an immediate liver transplant. According to data from the Drug Induced Liver Injury Network, the percentage of liver injuries brought on by herbal products increased from 7% in 2004–2005 to 20% in 2013–2014. Likhitsup continued, "As a result, I was interested in analyzing the prevalence and determining the number of Americans consuming these products.

15.6 million adult users of a herb that may damage the liver

At the end of the 30day trial, Likhitsup and her colleagues discovered that almost 58% of all participants had used a nutritional supplement or herbal remedy at least once.

Five percent of individuals reported consuming at least one of the six botanicals that may be hepatotoxic within the previous thirty days.This percentage, when applied to the entire adult population in the United States, equals almost 15.6 million.

According to researchers, the amount of people who are estimated to be prescribed potentially hepatotoxic medications, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) and the cholesterol-lowering medication simvastatinTrusted Source, is comparable to the use of potentially hepatotoxic botanicals.

 "We anticipate that our findings will raise awareness among patients and healthcare professionals regarding the regular consumption of these potentially liver-toxic ingredients by Americans and the lax regulation of dietary supplement products on the market," Likhitsup stated.

"Natural" does not imply safe

Following review of this study, Rosario Ligresti, MD, FASGE, chief of gastroenterology at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, informed MNT that although hepatotoxic botanical products are made from plants or plant derivatives, consumers should be aware that they may be doing more harm to their bodies than good if they consume them due to a lack of regulatory oversight over their manufacturing and testing.

Ligresti went on, "Because they are completely unregulated [before going on sale], I don't find it surprising that they can present serious health risks, especially for the liver, which is supposed to be affected in some way by their inability to process and detoxify harmful substances." "Toxin accumulation in the liver due to this may result in inflammation, apoptosis, and in extreme situations, liver failure."

According to Ligresti, every doctor ought to discuss the dangers of these kinds of products with their patients and find out if they are taking any of them.

Patients need to be informed of this as well as the fact that there are less regulations governing the supplement business than there are for the pharmaceutical industry. This implies that businesses are exempt from having to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of their goods before selling them. This may result in customers buying unproven products or ones that might contain dangerous ingredients," he continued.