Towards a healthy liver

October 2007     View PDF     En español

Vitamins and herbs

Tell your doctor about all of the supplements you take. You could write up a list of them or take in a bag of the product boxes or labels. Include all the vitamins, herbal teas and remedies, nutrition supplements, over-the-counter items and other products you take. Many of these can have side effects and interact with each other, and with many medicines. This could end up hurting your liver. Your doctor, pharmacist or trained nutrition expert can advise you. More information is found in Project Inform’s publication, Herbs, Supplements and HIV or visit www.consulerlab.com.

Some people think taking more vitamins and minerals than necessary will give them better health. However, that can be dangerous. High amounts can actually be harmful. Avoid high doses of vitamins A, D, E and K. As well, taking iron supplements may be hard on your liver. It may be wise to avoid iron-fortified foods or iron-coated cooking utensils. Also, taking vitamins, minerals or herbs probably can’t correct the damage from personal habits like smoking or overeating.

Be aware of the claims that some products make. Simply because a product says it’s “natural” doesn’t mean it’s safe for you. (Venom from a spider bite is natural but not safe.) Taking more of a product doesn’t mean it will be better or will do more for you. In fact, it could be harmful or even fatal. What your family or friends take may be OK for them, but it doesn’t mean it will be safe for you.

Virtually no study has been done to prove which herbs help the liver. In fact, studies are not required to show the safety of herbal products as are prescription meds. This leaves a person with little or no independent information about their benefits or side effects. People have, of course, used herbal products to treat conditions such as aloe vera for sunburns or ginger for mild nausea. However, what may be good for one part of your body may not be good for another. Aloe vera can be good for your skin when used on top of it, but when taken by mouth in some forms can be very toxic.

A few supplements are thought, but not proven, to help the liver. Some of them include artichoke, astragalus, California poppy, chamomile, dandelion, garlic, ginkgo biloba, licorice root, milk thistle, peppermint and soybean. However, many herbs are known to harm the liver. Talk to your doctor before taking herbs. A list of herbs to avoid is found here, excerpted from www.hcvadvoacte.org.

What is difficult to know is how each and every herbal product on the market gets broken down by the liver. This is because your liver uses different proteins to break down prescription drugs, and the same proteins may be used to break down herbs at the same time. When this happens, problems occur with the amount of drug in your blood. In particular, one herb called milk thistle affects an important protein, called p450, which is used by some anti-HIV meds. This means that milk thistle could alter the blood levels of these or other drugs. Another common herb, St. John’s Wort, greatly lowers the blood levels of some anti-HIV meds. In the end, we just don’t have proof what kind of reactions will happen with different herbal products.

Several groups of people should avoid using herbs unless OK’d by their doctor. These include infants, pregnant and nursing women, and people with liver disease, organ transplants, serious medical conditions or those who are scheduled for surgery.