The new study recently discovered that millions of people consume herbal and dietary supplements that contain potentially hepatotoxic botanical products, harming the liver by increasing its toxicity.

Herbal products have been flourishing in recent years, although they’ve been used for decades in Ayurveda for their many health benefits. From green tea to turmeric, and many other ingredients such as ashwagandha, etc., these herbal and dietary supplements are praised for improving heart health, boosting immunity, and reducing blood sugar levels, etc. However, a new study has found that many of those herbal and dietary supplements that claim various health benefits may contain potentially harmful natural ingredients.

A new study, which is now published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), titled “Estimated Exposure to 6 Potentially Hepatotoxic Botanicals in US Adults”, discovers that millions of people consume herbal and dietary supplementsthat contain potentially hepatotoxic botanical products, harming the liver by increasing its toxicity.

6 Herbal And Dietary Supplements That Increase The Risk Of Liver Toxicity

“Use of herbal and dietary supplements (HDSs) accounts for an increasing proportion of drug hepatotoxicity cases. Turmeric or curcumin, green tea extract, Garcinia cambogia, black cohosh, red yeast rice, and ashwagandha are the most frequently reported hepatotoxic botanicals, but their prevalence and reasons for use in the general population are unknown, ” the study states.

Herbal And Dietary Supplements Linked To Liver Toxicity

Alisa Likhitsup, M.D., M.P.H., a clinical assistant professor of medicine at U-M and the lead author on the paper, said, “Our interest started when we saw cases of liver toxicity from herbal and dietary supplement use in people enrolled on the ongoing NIH-funded DILIN study.

“But it was difficult to say how many people were using these supplements and why. The major finding here is the large number of Americans taking these products, with an estimated 15 million adult Americans taking them on a regular basis.”

As per the study now available, most of the products which were being used are multivitamins, minerals, vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, and calcium, with well-defined ingredients on the label. Talking about the number of people using supplements, the study lead exclaims, “We weren’t aware that so many people were taking these supplements.”

Risks of Supplements

Not all supplements that are meant to nourish your body and mind work effectively as they are designed. According to Robert Fontana, M.D., Michigan Medicine, a hepatologist, professor of medicine, and the study’s senior author, states, “In a previous study, we found that there was a great deal of mislabeling of some of these products.

“We performed analytical chemistry and found about a 50% mismatch between stated ingredients on the label and what they actually contained, which is quite alarming. If you buy a supplement and it says it has a certain ingredient, it’s basically a coin flip if that’s true or not.” The new study points the finger at a lack of regulation for the serious lapses in mislabelling supplements.

Method Of The Study

Researchers from the University of Michigan, who led the study, further revealed that data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were taken into consideration to arrive at the result.

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