Some Supplements Can Be Toxic to the Liver

29 Sep 2016 --- New research has found that some health supplements can be toxic to the liver, with liver damage from herbal and dietary supplements (HDSs) currently accounting for 20% of liver toxicity cases in the US.

The new review is based on a research symposium sponsored by the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease and the National Institutes of Health, and highlights the potentially damaging effects of herbal and dietary supplements (HDSs) on the liver.

HDS-induced liver injury now accounts for 20% of cases of liver toxicity in the United States Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network, a research network that has been funded to study drug and supplement toxicity since 2003.

The study shows that the supplement agents most implicated with liver damage include products used for performance enhancement, bodybuilding, and weight loss.

However, the researchers say that the injurious components of multi-ingredient nutritional supplements that are responsible for liver toxicity can often only be suspected.

"Considerable efforts are needed to identify potentially injurious ingredients of HDSs and to prohibit or more closely regulate them," said Dr. Victor Navarro, lead author of the Hepatology review.