Yesterday (2025-2-18), I received an email from the magazine "National Geography", which contained the title and link of an article. After clicking the link, I saw the Liver problems linked to supplement use are on the rise—here’s why (the liver problems related to taking supplements are increasing —— this is the reason). The subtitle is: the replenishment industry is booming; — but the serious health problems brought by taking these pills and powders are also booming. Here are some things experts suggest you need to pay attention to.
Our collective relationship with supplements has evolved into a comprehensive obsession in the past 30 years: More than half of adults in the United States today take supplements to “treat” almost all health or psychological problems. TikTok creators took a lot of tiny tangerine to "accelerate" the new Chen Daixi, celebrities swallowed seaweed to keep their kidneys healthy, and biohackers took dimethyl guanidine to prolong their lives.
replenishers seem to be shortcuts to improve mood or bodybuilding, but new evidence suggests that these compounds do more harm than good. Over the past twenty-five years, scientists have found that the incidence of liver injury and liver failure caused by taking supplements has increased sharply. Some patients who go to the clinic to get problems that include emotional fluctuations, gastrointestinal tract problems, fatigue, kidney stones, hair loss and hypertension.
There are three key factors behind this disturbing trend: the increase in supplements containing toxic compounds, harmful drug interactions, and a phenomenon known as "large doses", that is, the dosage is taken far beyond the recommended limit. "Everyone is looking for a elixir of youthful spirit medicine that can be easily taken in the form of pills to reduce the aging process or prevent chronic diseases," said JoAnn Manson, a doctor, epidemiologist and endocrine student at the Bregen Women's Hospital in Massachusetts and professor at Harvard Medical School. ".
Eighty-four percent of consumers believe that these products are safe and effective. However, most of the thousands of supplements on the market have not yet been tested for efficacy or safety. "It's like the wild west, so buyers should be careful," said Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and director of the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition and Policy. "For most people, it's safe to take the common dietary supplements with recommended doses and not bring serious health risks. They only make "expensive urine" (note: please see my world's most expensive urine published in 2019)
, but certain supplements and certain dosages require extra care.
As the replenishment industry develops rapidly, its downstream side effects have also increased: According to 2022 estimates, replenishment may guide up to 43% of drug-induced hepatic injury in the United States and 19% of drug-induced acute liver failure, which can force people to enter the liver transplant list. This is a huge growth of —— has grown 8 times in 25 years.
Recent media reports say that some patients were sent to emergency clinics due to orbital yellowing, abdominal pain, and fatigue, and these symptoms of liver failure are related to taking supplements, and even taking supplements called "clinical verification".
Certain supplements are associated with these effects, including green tea extracts, commonly seen in fattening supplements or new-fat “promoting agents”; fitness supplements sometimes contain anabolic sterols; and multi-index nutrition supplements for a range of purposes from hair growth to mental health.
These ingredients are common: In 2024, researchers found that 15 million Americans were taking compounds known to be toxic to the liver: ginger, ashwagandha, black cohosh, vine yellow fruit, green tea extract and red koji. (Note: Please see my ginger-yellow health products published in 2023 cause liver damage; French and Australian government warnings, and red yogurt health products published in 2024; kidney failure and death, warned 8 years ago)
These harmful substances affect health in many ways: green tea extracts can inflame the liver, while fitness supplements can reduce or prevent juice from flowing. From a health perspective, the study of multi-component supplements is more difficult because scientists can hardly separate their active ingredients.
Replenishment industry also has common mislabeling and false phenomena, so it is difficult to determine side effects. Users often mix and match supplements of multiple bioactive ingredients, sometimes taking ultra-high doses or taking them with other drugs, while manufacturers switch to cheaper ingredients to reduce costs.
Under very few circumstances, analysis found that supplements were contaminated by heavy metals, synthetic drugs, bacteria, yeasts and fungi such as penis and arsenic, which are related to dysfunction, infection, bone relaxation and tail inflammation, especially for the elderly or those with low immune function.
Dariush Mozaffarian explains that high doses of vitamins can interfere with the normal process of the body, leading to side effects such as stomach and kidney symptoms, headaches, palpitations or insomnia. Due to the small size of women and differences in New Celestial and immune function, they may be particularly susceptible to the toxic effects of large doses of drugs..
Importantly, the reaction is also based on individual genes or immune systems. For example, green tea extract may be completely fine for one person, but can cause serious damage to another person.
"There are clear evidence that herbs and dietary supplements can cause liver damage like prescription drugs," Gabriel said. &ldquo: In terms of marketing and use, the well-being and security needs of our population are clearly not yet met. "It is unfortunate that in the United States, supplement companies can earn millions of dollars in profits without testing their ingredients. We should ask them to use part of the profit to prove that their products are effective."
"Replenishes cannot replace balanced diets and healthy lifestyles such as exercise and sleep," said JoAnn Manson.
This is the real key to ultimately improving health. Dariush Mozaffarian said: "The secrets of long-lasting and healthy are well-known: eating healthy, eating the least processed food, eating more plants, having enough exercise, having enough sleep, low pressure, avoiding drugs, and enjoying life. We need to earn vitamins from food." He added that these core principles may not look as attractive as the "miracle in the bottle" supplement, but they are effective.
Original text: Replenishment is vigorous, liver poisoning is vigorousResponsible editor: Gu Zihuan