The food supplement that ruined my liver'

[Farooqji]

Jim McCants took green tea capsules in a drive to get healthy in middle age. His doctors now say they left him needing an urgent liver transplant, writes the BBC's Tristan Quinn.

bbc.com/news/amp/stories-45...

[KERRINGTON]

I have seen other similiar references to green tea capsules, as well.

[reedboat2]

Thanks for posting. A number of people on this forum are taking EGCG capsules. It's probably safer to drink green tea.

[Enidah]

People tend to think that vitamins and supplements are safe but they all go through the same process, which involves the liver, as any other medication. I try to keep them to a minimum to give my liver a break hoping it will last as long as I do.

[condor39]

We all have a choice of taking prescribed medication with known effects and known side effects, or taking alternative substances with unknown and unproven effectiveness, and unknown side effects.

Those lucky enough to have mild Parkinson’s, or to have partial remissions (as I have) are prone to attribute this to whatever regime they are following, and then enthusiastically promote the regime to others.

[Farooqji in reply to condor39]

what is the partial remission and to which thing you attribute it

[condor39]

Maybe remisssion is not the right word . I am improved over the last year while taking Prolopa (Canadian version of Madopar) But I take NO supplements of any kind, follow no special diet or exercise program.

I attribute this to luck.

[Despe]

Detox the liver! Fresh lemon juice in a glass of water!

[Gioc in reply to Despe]

Despe

Now I understand why my wife makes me find and drink every morning a lemon and water sponge that I drink and I like a lot🤔

Did you two agree without my knowledge?

[Despe in reply to Gioc]

Oh, it's a secret, Gio.

[ConnieD]

Very scary! I don’t take it but I wonder if it applies to other supplements too. Here he thought he was doing something healthy for himself. Thanks iqbaliqbal for the info!😊

[sharoncrayn]

I read the article. It seems dubious at best that a single cap a day of a ECGC green tea supplement could cause extreme liver damage. Think about it. 4 years later he has had his liver transplant, but his obviously overweight and sedentary. Now we find out he also has kidney disease and chronic abdominal pain, and will need dialysis eventually. Something is wrong with this picture. What caused the kidney disease and chronic abdominal pain? Certainly not green tea.

So, was green tea really the culprit in his liver damage?

[healthabc in reply to sharoncrayn]

As supplements are not regulated, perhaps the "green tea" capsules had more fillers and less "green tea"... who knows what was in the capsules he was taking-