Six supplements that claim to boost immune health and energy could cause irreversible liver damage, a study suggests.
Michigan researchers analyzed data from nearly 10,000 American adults surveyed over a three-year period.
Participants were asked how frequently they used six popular but unproven supplements, including turmeric, green tea extract, and ashwagandha.
The team found that the supplements, used by one in 20 Americans, were most popular among older white women trying to treat conditions such as arthritis, lack of energy and hot flashes.
Researchers found that one in 20 Americans takes these supplements. Users were primarily older white women.
They warned that these common supplements could contain ingredients that cause permanent liver damage and organ failure, though they did not specify how many contain them or what specific ingredients they include. The mechanism is also unclear.
Dr. Alisa Likhitsup, lead author of the study and a gastroenterologist at University of Michigan Health, said: “Herbal and dietary supplements (HDS) include a multitude of products consumed by millions of people every day to improve their overall health and treat minor ailments.”
‘Chemical analyses of HDS products associated with confirmed liver toxic effects show frequent discrepancies between product labels and detected ingredients.’
The study, published Monday in JAMA Network OpenThey collected data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a survey of the U.S. general population.
The 9,685 participants were surveyed about how frequently they had consumed one of six supplements in the past 30 days: turmeric, green tea extract, garcinia cambogia, black cohosh, red yeast rice, and ashwagandha.
About 58 percent said they had used at least one of the supplements in the past month, and those who used them tended to be eight years older (52 years) on average than those who did not use them.
White women were the group most likely to take at least one of these supplements. They were also more likely to suffer from health problems such as arthritis, thyroid disorders and cancer.
The most common reasons participants took the supplements were to maintain general health, prevent health problems and boost immunity. One in four of those who took turmeric did so for joint health or arthritis and used green tea for energy.
Additionally, 70 percent of garcinia cambogia users did so to lose weight, and 84 percent of those taking black cohosh did so to treat hot flashes. And nine out of ten of those taking red yeast rice wanted to improve their heart health.
Turmeric was the most popular supplement in the survey. It has been touted for its joint benefits, although it may be linked to liver damage.
The graph above shows why users chose to take the six supplements studied.
The researchers did not specify which ingredients in these supplements could cause liver problems, but warned that the effects “may be not only serious” but may even lead to “death or liver transplant.”
They also noted that drug-induced liver injury, also called drug-induced hepatotoxicity, specifically from supplements, has increased and accounts for 20 percent of these injuries.
Additionally, the team cited research that found liver transplants due to supplement-related injuries between 2010 and 2020 increased 70 percent compared to the period from 1994 to 2009.
Some studies have suggested that these supplements are linked to liver problems, although most say these complications are rare.
For example, a 2022 study in the American Journal of Medicine They found that turmeric may be linked to drug-induced liver damage, although the association is unclear.
The new study had several limitations, most notably it did not explain the exact risk of liver damage from taking these six supplements. Also, the ingredients in the supplements vary widely, as they are not regulated by the FDA.