Estimated Exposure to 6 Potentially Hepatotoxic Botanicals in US Adults

Likhitsup A, Chen VL, Fontana RJ · JAMA Network Open

Turmeric was the most-used of the six botanicals, and an estimated 15.6 million US adults had taken at least one in the past 30 days — comparable to the number prescribed simvastatin or NSAIDs. Users were significantly more likely to have arthritis (adjusted OR 2.27, 95% CI 1.62-3.29).

Population

Nationally representative NHANES adults, 2017 to March 2020

Intervention

Self-reported use of turmeric, green tea, ashwagandha, Garcinia cambogia, red yeast rice or black cohosh in the past 30 days

Limitations

Cross-sectional self-report of exposure, not of harm; it sizes the denominator behind the case reports rather than measuring risk, from 236 turmeric users among 9,685 adults, and 87.6% of turmeric use was not recommended by a clinician. Two authors report grants from drug companies outside the work.