A fictional patient on “The Pitt” almost went into liver failure from taking turmeric. But the risk is factual — and it’s not the only herbal supplement linked to serious liver damage. Here are symptoms to watch for.
It’s rare, but many popular herbal supplements like turmeric, green tea extract , and ashwagandha can cause acute liver injury — which can be life-threatening. Many products marketed as being"natural" are highly processed and include concentrated versions of their active ingredients.
Consult with a doctor about a safe dose rather than just trusting what the bottle says. The first symptoms of acute liver injury are loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and upper abdominal pain. Jaundice, dark urine or pale stools are signs your liver is in serious danger. On a recent episode of"The Pitt," a jaundiced patient learned her liver problems were likely caused by what she’d assumed was a healthy habit — taking a turmeric supplement five times a day. "With doses that large of turmeric, there have been cases of liver failure," medical resident Trinity Santos told her.Fortunately, cases of liver toxicity from these supplements are rare. People who take them at high doses or who possess certain genetic factors are at greater risk of becoming seriously sick.Unlike over-the-counter and prescription medications, supplements can be sold without any formal government testing for safety and efficacy. A supplement bottle may say its contents are"all-natural," but the human body can’t tell the difference; the liver metabolizes a supplement just as it would a pharmaceutical."Most are purified concentrates of the herbal extract of the suspected active ingredient," said Dr. Jay Hoofnagle, National Institutes of Health director of liver disease research."They are sold in concentrations far higher than can be achieved by ingestion of the unaltered herb.". Such over-the-counter wellness products often contain high concentrations of the active ingredient curcumin, known for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties. Other ingredients, such as black pepper, help accelerate its absorption, making it even more potent.than what people have been using in food and medicinally for centuries. In recent years, it has become one of thefound that of 272 different herbal and dietary supplements suspected to have caused acute liver injury, more than half either contained ingredients that weren’t listed or lacked ingredients that were.How can you know if a supplement has been linked to liver problems?Don’t stop at this online search, though. It’s important to consult your doctor about any supplement before you take it.recommends no more than 1.4 mg of curcumin per pound daily — around 200 milligrams for a 150-pound person. But the patient was taking 2,500 milligrams a day.to U.S. customers. Just because a supplement advertises a pill as"daily dose," that doesn’t mean it’s been scientifically determined to be a safe or advisable dose. Talk to your doctor about what a safe dose entails, and to ensure the supplement won’t interact with other medications.The first symptoms of acute liver injury are loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and upper abdominal pain. If this is happening, see a doctor right away. More severe symptoms are jaundice — yellowing of the skin and eyes — dark urine, pale stools, and whole body itching. At this stage, your liver is in dire trouble. "People with acute liver injury due to drugs or supplements who become jaundiced have about a 10% risk of dying or needing liver transplant," said Dr. Herbert Bonkovsky, Wake Forest University hepatologist and professor.Email interview with Dr. Joseph Lim, director of clinical hepatology at Yale University, April 8, 2026 Email interview with Dr. Jay Hoofnagle, director of liver disease research at the National Institutes of Health, April 8, 2026 Identification of Genetic Risk Factors Associated With Herbal and Dietary Supplement–Induced Acute Liver Failure Using Whole Exome Sequencing AnalysisThe Jeffrey Epstein files “were made up by Comey. They were made up by Obama. They were made up by Biden.” “Moulton voted with Republicans to thank ICE for protecting our homeland. He thanked ICE as they were terrorizing our communities and killed citizens in broad daylight.”
Green Tea Extract Ashwagandha Kratom Garcinia Cambogia And Black Cohosh Herbal Supplements Dietary Supplements Liver Injury Hepatoxicity
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