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Tumer-sick.
Looking for relief for joint pain and after hearing social media influencers tout the anti-inflammatory benefits of turmeric, a New Jersey woman began taking the spice in a daily supplement.
Weeks later, Katie Mohan was beset with symptoms of nausea and exhaustion, and despite maintaining healthy hydration levels, she noticed her urine was considerably darker.
“I just did not feel well generally,” she told NBC News
Turmeric is derived from the root of the Curcuma longa plant, a type of ginger. The root contains curcumin, a compound known to have anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, and has been proven to have a wide range of health benefits, ranging from treating ulcerative colitis to reducing the risk of heart disease.
However, too much of a good thing can be bad news.
Turmeric pills are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and there are no clear guidelines on what amount is safe to consume. However, the World Health Organization has established that an acceptable daily dose of turmeric is 0 to 3 mg per kilogram of body weight.
For a woman of Mohan’s size, that equates to 200 mg a day.
Her supplement level? 2,250 mg per day.
It wasn’t until Mohan watched an NBC News report on the rising rate of liver damage from herbal supplements that she connected her symptoms to her own supplementation.
“A light bulb went off in my head and I said, Oh, my gosh! I wonder if this is what’s wrong with me.”
A visit to urgent care revealed that Mohan’s liver enzyme levels were 60 times the normal limit.
Upon being transferred to NYU Langone in New York City, doctors were shocked by the extent of the liver damage caused by Mohan’s supplements.
“It was very serious,” said Dr. Nikolaos Pyrsopoulos, a hepatologist at NYU. “Katie actually was one step before full liver damage, liver failure, requiring liver transplant.”
Thankfully, after six days of hospitalization, monitoring, and IV treatment, Mohan’s liver, which Pyrsopoulo describes as a ‘forgiving organ’ was able to regenerate.
Supplements and liver damage
Experts note that though still relatively rare, there has been an uptick in liver injuries caused by supplements.
The Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network, a research group backed by the National Institutes of Health, is trying to track cases of supplement-induced liver damage. Since 2024, the program has enrolled more than 1,800 patients, with 19% of liver damage cases linked to supplements.
According to a study published last year in JAMA Network Open, turmeric is one of the most common herbal ingredients linked to toxic hepatitis in the US, while a review in the journal Hepatology found that 20% of liver toxicity cases are tied to herbal and dietary supplements.
Experts note that “natural” can easily be construed as healthy. While low doses of turmeric, like those used in cooking, are expressly safe, supplements like the one Mohan was taking often contain doses of 2,000 mg or more.
Further, turmeric supplements often include piperine (black pepper), which can substantially increase the bioavailability, or the body’s absorption of the spice.
One study found that 20 mg of piperine taken with turmeric can increase its bioavailability 20-fold, amplifying the risk of liver injury.
According to a study in the journal Liver Transplantation, cases of supplement-related liver failure that required liver transplant increased eightfold in the US from 1995 to 2020.
For Mohan, who is still recovering, herbal supplements of any kind and dose are absolutely off the table. “I’ll never put another supplement in my body again.”
