Exercising, eating healthy foods and taking vitamins and supplements are the tenets for a healthy life many people live by. However, it turns out some supplements that are billed to help you live longer could actually be putting your health at risk.
It all comes down to your liver — the organ responsible for filtering harmful substances from the blood. It can be overwhelmed by certain drugs or supplements, leading to something called “drug-induced liver injury,” which is also known as toxic hepatitis.
What is toxic hepatitis?
According to the Mayo Clinic, toxic hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver in reaction to certain substances. It can be caused by alcohol, chemicals, drugs or nutritional supplements.
For example, acetaminophen, more commonly known under the brand name Tylenol, is one of the most common causes of toxic hepatitis.
The symptoms often go away when exposure stops, but it can permanently damage the liver, leading to cirrhosis or even liver failure, which can be fatal.
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The number of patients added to the wait list for a transplant because of supplement-related liver failure increased from 2.9% in 1995 to 24.1% in 2020.
Cases rise with supplement use
According to a 2024 survey by the Council for Responsible Nutrition, as many as 3 in 4 U.S. adults take some form of supplement, whether it be herbal or dietary.
On top of that, nearly 4 in 5 said they’d rather take supplements than prescription or over-the-counter medications.
However, supplements are not regulated in the same way as medications. Experts warned that you can’t always be sure what you’re getting, or if the dosage is correct. That’s why talking to a doctor is always recommended before beginning any supplement regimen.
Comparatively, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent study on the subject showed that between 2017 and 2018, 58% of adults 20 and older used a supplement in the previous 30 days.
A 2022 study published in the medical journal “Liver Transplantation” found that the number of patients added to the wait list for a transplant due to supplement-related liver failure increased from 2.9% in 1995 to 24.1% in 2020.
What ingredients cause the issues?
Medical experts said it’s hard to figure out what the exact culprit is because many supplements contain multiple ingredients.
A 2017 study by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases found 20% of liver toxicity cases in the U.S. could be linked to dietary or herbal supplements.
A study published last year by researchers from the University of Michigan found six common ingredients can be tied to toxic hepatitis: turmeric, green tea extract, ashwagandha, garcinia cambogia, red yeast rice and black cohosh.
The study’s authors said about 15 million Americans take at least one of those supplements.
