We’ve all been told that “natural” means safe, but when it comes to supplements, that’s not always the case. Some of the most popular herbal products on the market right now could be quietly putting your liver at serious risk.
Dr. Karan Rajan, a respected NHS surgeon with over 1.9M followers, has sounded the alarm about several trendy supplements — including ashwagandha, green tea extract, and even turmeric — that have been linked to liver damage in published medical reports and case studies. Among these, green tea extract is one of the most commonly implicated herbal agents in liver injury cases in the U.S.
Yes, these herbs are often marketed as energy boosters, immune strengtheners, or anti-inflammatory miracle workers. Supplement manufacturers frequently make big claims about liver health and detoxification, often without strong scientific evidence to support them. But most people don’t realize that every single supplement you take has to be filtered and metabolized by your liver — and when you’re taking multiple products with overlapping ingredients, you’re essentially creating a cocktail of unknown interactions.
Dr. Rajan put it plainly: “You’re creating a pharmacological cocktail with unknown synergy.” That’s a real concern, especially for people already taking prescription medications like statins, antidepressants, blood thinners, or seizure medications. Even something as seemingly harmless as a turmeric capsule can interfere with liver enzymes, making your prescriptions more potent, less effective — or worse, unpredictable. For example, john’s wort is a herbal supplement known to interact with prescription medication and can cause unpredictable effects.
The Food Standards Agency in the UK issued a warning last year about ashwagandha and its connection to potential liver toxicity. Turmeric has also been implicated in rare but serious cases of liver failure. These aren’t just theoretical risks — real people have been harmed. There have been reported cases of herb induced liver injury, herbal hepatotoxicity, and acute liver injury linked to herbal mixtures, herbalife products, and other herbal remedies, as documented in systematic review studies.
It’s crucial to consult resources from the national institute, national institutes, and national library for evidence-based information on dietary supplement safety and the risks of specific botanicals.
Introduction to Liver Health
The liver is one of the body’s most hardworking organs, quietly supporting your overall health every single day. It’s responsible for producing bile to help digest fats, filtering out toxins from your bloodstream, and keeping your blood sugar levels in check. When your liver is healthy, you feel energetic, your digestion runs smoothly, and your body is better equipped to handle the demands of daily life.
But liver health doesn’t happen by accident. A healthy diet and a well-rounded lifestyle are essential for keeping your liver in top shape. Eating a balanced diet rich in whole foods, staying active, and steering clear of harmful substances are all key steps recommended by the American Liver Foundation. These habits not only support your liver, but also help protect you from digestive and kidney diseases, which are often linked to poor liver function.
It’s important to remember that your liver is connected to your overall well-being. When you take care of your liver, you’re investing in your long-term health and reducing your risk of developing liver diseases and other serious health issues. By making smart choices—like limiting processed foods, avoiding excess alcohol, and being mindful of the supplements you take—you can help your liver do its job and keep your body running smoothly.
Understanding Liver Disease
Liver disease is a broad term that covers a range of conditions affecting the liver, from mild inflammation to severe liver failure. These diseases can be triggered by many factors, including genetics, poor diet, exposure to toxins, and even certain supplements. Common types of liver diseases include nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), hepatitis, and cirrhosis, each with its own set of challenges and symptoms.
Symptoms of liver disease can be subtle at first—think fatigue, digestive issues, or mild discomfort—but can progress to more serious problems like jaundice, swelling, and even acute liver failure if left unchecked. One of the lesser-known causes of liver injury is induced liver injury, which can result from prescription medications, herbal supplements, or other substances that the liver struggles to process.
Prevention is key. Maintaining a healthy weight, eating a balanced diet, and avoiding excessive alcohol are all proven ways to reduce your risk. Another way is to research the supplements you are taking.
Real Life Liver Emergency
Take the case of a woman in Pennsylvania. She began using a herbal supplement to help with menopause symptoms and initially felt great — more energy, and a better mood. But within two months, she developed jaundice. Her eyes turned yellow. Her liver was struggling to clear bilirubin, a telltale sign of liver stress. Elevated liver enzymes are a common clinical finding in such patients, indicating liver stress or injury. She ended up in the emergency room and was told she might need a liver transplant. The cause? Black cohosh — a common herb in menopause formulas. Black cohosh has been linked to over 50 cases of liver injury, including cases that required liver transplants. Patients with a pre-existing liver condition or liver conditions are at higher risk when using certain supplements.
That’s the hidden danger with supplements: “natural” doesn’t mean harmless.
Reasons Supplements Can Backfire
Nowadays, too many people believe that as long as you don’t eat junk food and take ‘clean’ supplements, your liver should be functioning well. The truth, however, is more nuanced. Today, we live in a world where your liver is under constant siege every day, not only because of processed foods, but also because of seemingly healthy lifestyle choices, environmental toxins, and even some wellness supplements are loaded with toxins. The liver is stressed and as we know, when overwhelmed, even the best things can become harmful.
In particular, the use of herbal and dietary supplements and dietary supplements can pose risks, as these products are not always well regulated and have been associated with drug induced liver injury in some patients. To support the liver’s vital functions and reduce the risk of related diseases such as diabetes, it is important to maintain a well rounded diet and adopt a liver healthy lifestyle.
Toxins in Supplements
Many of the supplement brands that you trust actually allow high amounts of bacteria, mold, fillers, and artificial ingredients in their supplements or have ingredients in synthetic forms that are toxic to the liver and the body can’t even use. This is a major hidden cause of liver damage from supplements.
Additionally, herbal supplements and herbal mixtures can contain contaminants such as heavy metals and pharmaceuticals, which may contribute to liver toxicity. Supplement manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure that products labeled are accurate, safe, and tested for quality. The risks associated with herbal and dietary supplements and dietary supplements highlight the need for strict regulation and monitoring to prevent contamination and ensure consumer safety. It’s essential you know where your supplements are coming from and how stringent the company is about its manufacturing processes.
Processed Foods: Fueling the Fire
Consumption of processed foods, even in moderation, is detrimental to the liver. The reason for that is simple: processed foods contain high-fructose corn syrup, refined seed oils, and a myriad of additives that need to be filtered and neutralized. Processed foods also often include fried foods and trans fats, which are harmful to both liver and heart health.
Fructose is processed almost wholly in the liver, which in turn supplies a steady stream of sugar to the body. This significantly increases the chances of developing fatty liver Disease, which over 45 percent of Adults suffer from. This means the liver is working overtime JUST to do its basic functions, let alone deal with toxicity and questionable supplements.
To support both liver and heart health, steer clear of foods high in added sugars, trans fats, and fried foods.
Additionally, processed food puts a major strain on vital nutrients such as zinc, magnesium, and B vitamins, essential for liver detoxification.
Oxalates: A “Heath” Disguise Gone Wrong
As healthy as spinach, nuts, and even beets may look, they are also very high in oxalates, which can form crystals in organs when the body is unable to break them down.
When oxalates become too much in the liver or the kidneys, they usually cause inflammation and disrupt the body’s metabolism.
In individuals with slow detox pathways or poor mineral balance, these so-called “healthy” foods might exacerbate brain fog, joint pain, or even autoimmune disorders.
What’s worse, many” healthy” supplements contain oxalates like turmeric, Vitamin C, beetroot, green juices, wheatgrass, chlorella, and spirulina. Supplements take some naturally containing oxalate foods and concentrate them so you are consuming much higher doses, wreaking havoc on the detox pathways of the liver.
Sulfur Foods: The Ultimate Detox Gone Wrong
Used as a detox feature, garlic, and cruciferous vegetables are great—unless simplistically put, your sulfur detox pathways aren’t functioning.
Many chemicals such as glyphosate have hindered a lot of people’s sulfur processing abilities. Sulfites instead of aiding detox, inflame the liver and cause bloating, fatigue, and rashes.
Sulfur ingredients are commonly used in supplements including DIM, MSM, NAC, Glutathione, many prescriptions, garlic, and onion extracts.
Heavy Metals: Persistently Poisonous
Heavy metals such as mercury, lead, and arsenic are found in not only, seafood, drinking water, preservatives, and even air pollution, but also in “healthy” supplements.
These metals impede liver enzyme function, altering detox pathways and creating free radicals that inflict tissue and cell damage.
The longer the hold stays on the body, the more work the liver does in an attempt to keep up, which ends up being a disaster.
Iodine Deficiency: The Hidden Bottleneck
Apart from the thyroid, Iodine is important for the metabolism and detoxification in the liver.
96 Percent of the United States is Iodine Deficient.
If iodine levels drop, toxic halogens such as fluoride and bromide take its place. Blocking detox pathways and significantly slowing down the functions of the liver and the thyroid.
What do we get? Exhaustion, imbalance in the bodily functions, and slow metabolism.
Endocrine Disruptors: Constant Exposure
There is a wide range of hormones such as perfumes, pesticides, and even plastic that contain chemicals that disrupt hormones.
Your liver gets overloaded with the detox.
This ongoing burden leads to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease along with chronic inflammation and insulin resistance.
Spike Proteins: A Newer Concern
Although the evidence is still under scientific research, some early hints indicate that spike protein may disrupt the health of mitochondria, and liver enzyme function and increase inflammation.
In the bodies that are already under tremendous burden, this additional layer of agitated disruption may lead to inhibited liver detoxification function and uncontrolled blood sugar levels, weight gain, and exhaustion.
How “Clean” Supplements Can Make Your Condition Worse
It looks like the problem lies in the state of your liver when it comes to “clean” Supplements. Every single supplement you take, whether it be capsules or liquid has to be processed through the liver. If your liver is already maxed out, it will not be able to return support and will cause even more damage. Certain supplements, such as anabolic steroids, have been linked to serious liver injury in patients. The damage might manifest as fogginess, tiredness, or inflammation. Elevated liver enzymes are a common finding in patients experiencing supplement-induced liver injury.
That is the reason why liver support comes first.
Recommended Quality Liver Supplements
Accelerated Liver Care®
Accelerated Liver Care® is not just a standard liver formula; its innovative design combines Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine with modern nutritional science, resulting in a powerful and effective holistic system for detoxification and body repair.
Unlike most liver supplements that only focus on one or two aspects of liver functions, Accelerated Liver Care® targets multiple areas simultaneously. Each ingredient included has a specific function aiding liver care, but it is how they work together to help restore balance and harmony throughout the body that sets Accelerated Liver Care® apart.
What Accelerated Liver Care® May Support:
Intensified Detox
The ingredients in this premium liver supplement are known to support both Phase I and Phase II detox liver processes, meaning the supplement doesn’t just aid in breaking down toxins; it helps your body to expel the toxins.
The ingredients also support the chinese medicine doctrines of “Toxic Heat” and “Damp Heat”, often associated with stagnation prolonging the feeling of tiredness, as well as irritability.
Balance in Metabolism
This formula also helps to maintains balanced blood sugar and cholesterol levels, lessening the load on the liver.
Key Ingredients That Make the Difference
- Kukti (Picrorhiza kurroa): Aids the liver in fat metabolism and damaged cell clearance by promoting autophagy.
- Phyllanthus (Chanca Piedra): Helps dissolve gallstones and combats H. pylori, a bacteria associated with liver damage.
- TUDCA: Enhances bile flow and protects the brain and liver cells due to its strong qualities as a bile acid.
- Milk Thistle: Protects the liver from damage due to its rich silymarin, which is a strong antioxidant.
- Bupleurum: Traditionally used to ease the mood and cleanse the liver; helpful for adrenal fatigue and inflammation.
- Chinese Skullcap: Contains Baicalin, which protects your liver and cardiovascular system while also helping with inflammation.
- Pau Pereira: A rare herb from South America that has strong anti-viral properties, supporting healthy cellular biochemistry and immune function.
- Calcium D-Glucarate: Essential for hormonal balance and detox, helps flush out excess bad estrogen, and prevents reabsorption.
Acceleradine® Iodine
This single-atom iodine element does not simply support the thyroid; it strengthens liver detox at the cellular level. This increases detox efficiency by removing halogens such as fluoride and bromide that obstruct natural detoxification pathways.
Moreover, iodine increases the production of ATP, enabling more energy supply to the liver cells for detoxification. Iodine also acts as a powerful antioxidant and antimicrobial, aiding in protecting liver tissues against infection and oxidative stress.
Accelerated Cellular Detox® Powder
This detox binder blend is like a pressure relief valve for the liver. The ingredients in Accelerated Cellular Detox® Powder are formulated to help soak up the toxins you consume through diet and environment and the toxins you are releasing from the Accelerated Liver Care® and Acceleradine® Iodine using zeolite, charcoal, slippery elm, chitosan, and triphala, preventing them from reaching the liver.
It’s contents may help to prevent these toxins from recirculating throughout the entire system and eases the burden on the detoxification organs.
Furthermore, the ingredients are known to calm the gut lining, reducing inflammation, which helps with leaky gut, colitis, Crohn’s disease, and any gut issues.
With daily use, this allows the liver to recover whilst still providing gentle liver detox support.
Always. Liver First.
Without the liver functioning right, no other system in the body will thrive. Energy, digestion, hormones, mood: the liver is the root support for all functions. It is true that the liver does need supplemental support, but it is imperative to know which supplements will help versus ones that will actually make it worse. Research suggests that many liver supplements do not have strong clinical evidence to support their efficacy. Once you provide your liver with the support it requires, everything else will ease into place.
Sara Banta
Sara Banta is a Stanford University Graduate with a Degree in Economics and Psychology, and a certified Natural Supplement Expert & Graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Sara is the Founder of Accelerated Health Products and host of the health & wellness podcast, Accelerated Health Radio.
