The surprising dangers of herbal products to the liver

1. Consult your doctor before taking any herbal products you are interested in.

“You should discuss herbal remedies with your doctor before starting them, especially if you are unfamiliar with their ingredients,” says Dr. Kushner. What if you’re already using something? It’s important to tell your doctor a complete list of what you’re taking, including herbal teas and supplements. Knowing what you are taking can help your doctor recognize side effects. If your doctor or specialist can’t give you the answers you’re looking for, seek a second opinion from an integrative medicine board-certified physician or trained professional.

2. Beware of liver criminals

When it comes to supplements, the simpler the better. “If I see a bottle with a long italicized list of names of herbs that are ingredients in a particular supplement listed in the ingredient list, I would avoid it,” Kushner says.

According to one review, green tea extracts, anabolic steroids, and multi-ingredient dietary supplements are among the top products that can cause liver damage. “It’s important to know that different types of herbs can cause liver damage in unexpected ways. For example, Herbalife and other herbal weight loss supplements can cause liver damage in many people. “It’s causing this,” Kushner said. Other studies have highlighted reports of acute liver damage in people taking Herbalife products, but the specific ingredients that caused the damage are still unknown.

Certain herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine have also been found to pose some risks. Research has identified 28 herbal herbs and herbal mixtures that have been reported to cause liver damage.

Meanwhile, LiverTox reports that comfrey contains several pyrrolizidine alkaloids that can cause liver damage if taken orally. Additionally, chaparral, kava kava, and skullcap can also damage your liver, according to LiverTox.

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3. Check the ingredient list before trying a herbal medicine

Read the back of the bottle to find out what’s actually in the supplement before purchasing. Some herbal products, such as milk thistle, are known to be safe and may even help treat certain liver diseases, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Still, it is recommended that you consult your doctor before taking any supplement products. Also, keep an eye out for additional ingredients. For example, green tea extract is added to many herbal products. It’s also best to avoid making big claims on the label. In some cases, supplements may not list any ingredients at all but claim to have liver flushing effects. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, liver cleansing supplements are not recommended. Not only is there no evidence that it works, but it can actually damage the liver.

4. Check out the LiverTox website for background information about the treatment.

Operated by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, LiverTox contains valuable information about hundreds of drugs, including herbal products, that are known to damage the liver. If you’re looking to buy a new supplement (or already have one in your medicine cabinet), check the ingredients on this regularly updated site to see if they can damage your liver . Of course, you should also consult your doctor before starting to take any supplements.

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5. Rely on independent laboratories to certify high-quality supplements

According to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, herbal supplements are largely unregulated in the United States. Therefore, it is unclear how pure these substances are and what effect they have on the liver, says Dr. Hallegua-de Marzio. That means labels can be misleading to consumers like you.

For example, black cohosh is often taken to treat menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats, according to the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements. However, LiverTox says products labeled as black cohosh have been linked to more than 50 cases of liver damage, some cases severe enough to require liver transplantation or death. However, in some of these cases, scientists have found the Chinese Actaea herb rather than black cohosh in the supplements, suggesting this mislabeling may have been the culprit, LiverTox says. points out.

Additionally, herbal supplements may contain mysterious pharmaceutical ingredients. For example, one study found that 776 dietary supplements, often marketed as weight loss, sexual enhancement, or muscle building products, contained unapproved pharmaceutical ingredients.

According to Harvard Health Publishing, if your medical team gives you the green light to take a particular supplement, your team should choose brands that have been tested by independent laboratories such as Consumer Labs, NSF International, and the United States Pharmacopeia. Please cooperate with the following. These companies independently certify the dosage accuracy and safety of their supplements.

6. Work with your doctor to identify potential drug contraindications

Another reason to tell your doctor what supplements you are taking is that they may not interact with your prescription medications. According to one review, nearly 25% of U.S. adults say they also take dietary supplements while taking prescription medications. The authors recommend that people taking medication avoid taking St. John’s wort. This is especially true for people taking new hepatitis C drugs. That’s because studies have shown that this herbal medicine can worsen liver function in people taking hepatitis C medications, and in some cases can lead to hospitalization.

Also, if you already have liver problems, taking potentially risky supplements can make things even worse. “Generally speaking, if you have progressive liver disease, whether it’s hepatitis C or another cause, the compounding of herbal liver damage can lead to significant deterioration,” Professor Kushner said. To tell. So, she says, just to be safe: “You should talk to your doctor about herbal remedies before you start, especially if you’re not familiar with their ingredients,” she says. If you are managing a liver condition or are concerned about liver-specific risks, consult a liver specialist.

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7. Limit the number of herbal products you consume

Beyond toxicity, consult your medical team to avoid possible interactions between herbal products and supplements. However, in general, there may be less or nothing more.

Needless to say, as Harvard Health Publishing points out, supplements are not a replacement for a healthy diet or lifestyle, nor are they a replacement for a treatment plan recommended by your medical team. Alternatively, these remedies can be considered as potentially complementary to more traditional approaches.

So instead of taking supplements that you don’t know about, talk to your doctor or a provider trained in integrative medicine, learn all you can about it, eat healthier, exercise more, Make other lifestyle changes to improve your health, such as your sleep. .

Additional reporter marie saczynski.