List of Toxic herbs

[Mr Liver]

Every so often I like to post a list of commonly sold herbs and botanicals that are harmful to our livers particularly so if the liver is compromised by disease. One of the botanicals listed below, valerian, has been mentioned several times here lately. The "all natural" sleep potion sold on TV ( Alteril ) has valerian as one of its 3 ingredients. It used to be in the original Sleepy Tyme tea from Celestial Seasonings but they took it out years ago. If you are taking anything on this list I would suggest you try to find out more about its safety profile. Some of these are more hepato-toxic than others but all are known to be toxic to the liver.

* Atractylis Gummifera
* Azadirachza indica
* Bush tea
* Berberis vulgaris
* Calliepsis Laureola
* Cassia angustifolia (Senna)
* Chaparral (creosote bush, greasewood)
* Comfrey (internally)
* Corydalis
* Creosote bush
* Crotaiaria
* Crotalaria (Ye Bai He)
* Germander
* Gordolobo yerba tea
* Groundsel (senecio longilobus)
* Eupatorium
* Fragrant valerian
* Galericulata
* Gentian
* Germander
* Gordolobo yerba tea
* Greasewood
* Groundsel
* He Shou Wu
* Hedeoma pulegoides
* Heliotropium
* Hops
* Jin Bu Huan
* Kava-Kava (long term, seek advise)
* Larrea tridentata (Chaparrel bush, Creosote Bush
  Greasewood)
* Lycopodium serratum (Jin Bu Huan)
* Ma-huang
* Margosa oil
* Mate tea
* Mentha pulegoides
* Mistletoe
* Pennyroyal (Squamint) oil
* Saw palmetto
* Sassafras albidum (Sassafrass)
* Scuteileria (Skullcap)
* Senicio species
* Skullcap
* Squamint
* Stephania
* Symphytum officinale (Comfrey)
* Teucrium Chamaedrys (Germander [mint family])
* Tusilago Farfara (peppermint)
* Valeriana officinalis (Valerian, Asfetida, Hops
Gentian)
* Viscum alba
* Yohimbe

ML

[Diane12855]

Thanks for the advice... I never even thought about there being any danger in herbal teas... I hope my "Sleepy Time" is OK...will check with the doc.

[desrt]

You're correct in stating some of these are more hepato-toxic than others. Some, like mistletoe, are just plain toxic. Some, like Ma-Huang, when compounded correctly are probably no worse than their OTC "western medicine" counterpart (Sudafed). How many people take way more acetominophen than is good for their liver? If you take herbal compounds, get someone with long years of experience to Rx them - preferably someone equally knowledgeable in Western medicine.
And if you take OTC meds, energy drinks, or herbal teas you should probably run those by your doctor first.

[granitekonig]

Thanks, Mr. Liver. Good info here.