Supplements and Your Liver - Can be Fatal!

Unlike most drugs and foods, there is very little regulation in the supplement industry. Furthermore, the claims they make range from outrageous to magical; without any real evidence. Just like you should not believe everything you read in the Internet (did I just destroy my credibility?) without researching it properly (that's better), don't believe everything the supplement industry tells you.

Several years ago in my practice I had a patient who developed severe liver failure and required a transplant. The only thing we could tie this to was a diet tea from Brazil.

In a recent study researchers found that liver injury related to herbal and dietary supplements has more than doubled in the past 10 years, (according to an analysis of data from a U.S. liver injury network published in Hepatology).

They found that liver damage from non-bodybuilding-related supplements required liver transplantation more often than injury from conventional drugs (13% vs. 3%); there were no cases of liver transplantation associated with bodybuilding supplements.

If you read my posts and blogs you know that I do not believe there is any evidence that supplements help anything. I still stand by that!