Millions at Risk: Popular Herbal Supplements Linked to Potential Liver Damage

A study reveals widespread use of herbal supplements previously identified as potentially harmful to the liver.
According to a study by researchers at the University of Michigan, millions of Americans take supplements with potentially hepatoxic botanical ingredients.

Over a 30-day period, 4.7% of the adults surveyed in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted from 2017 to 2020 took herbal and dietary supplements containing at least one of the botanicals of interest: turmeric; green tea; ashwagandha; black cohosh; garcinia cambogia; and red yeast rice containing products.

The resulting paper was recently published in JAMA Network Open.

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