Relation of turmeric with liver damage!

Turmeric is a spice common in traditional Asian and African food dishes. It has culinary and medicinal properties and is getting popular in the West. But this spice might potentially cause liver damage, a report states. There is a new study in a reputed medical journal that tried to assess the relationship between turmeric intake and liver injury.

Turmeric: the yellow colored spice

Turmeric is a yellow-colored spice that is in use in Asia, China, Jamaica and West Africa since many centuries. It is part of their soups, curries, spiced waters, meat dishes, certain rice preparations, marination preparation, and also in Golden milk latte. The latter drink is getting trendy these days.  Chinese traditional healers use it for inflammatory disorders of the body, for gut health, and also for blood health.

This cultural spice is gaining access to the western world lately. Some food preparations in Europe and the USA incorporate this spice in their recipe. There are a lot of claims of its health benefits. The USA FDA has put this spice in the generally recognized as safe or GRAS category. But a new report states that this spice can have damaging impact on the liver.

The new study in the American Journal of Medicine

The October 2022 issue of the journal, the American Journal of Medicine carried an article on turmeric and its potential for liver damage. The study recruits were those that had an enrolment with the U.S. Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN) between 2011 to 2022. In these patients, there were 16 cases that had a diagnosis of turmeric-induced liver injuries.

The grade of severity of liver damage in the 16 cases was from more moderate to severe. Additionally, there was one death in them. This fatality was due to acute liver failure. And 5 patients had needed hospitalization for their liver injury related to turmeric.

Three patients had consumed black pepper along with turmeric. Black pepper is also a spice that supposedly assists in effective digestion of turmeric, experts claim.

Interpretation: liver damage and turmeric

The study states that turmeric definitely causes liver damage but the incidence is low. In a decade there were only 16 cases. But it definitely has a potential to harm the liver. However, there is need for more research in this direction. One needs to know why and how turmeric causes the damage to the vital organ. What is the mechanism of the damage to liver and death of the liver cells?

This is not an isolated study to link turmeric with liver damage. In 2021, the International Medical Case Reports Journal reported two separate cases in adults of similar liver injury linked with turmeric. Tuscany in Italy has many such cases of liver failure with turmeric consumption.

Also, read Easy way to make Turmeric Latte with Back Pepper (Spicy, Warming)

Though not alarming, one needs to exercise caution during turmeric use. This is especially so if you are adding turmeric to your curries and food dishes or having turmeric supplements in capsule or other forms.