Friday, December 27, 2013

Superfood powders as a cause of HDS induced liver injury: an exaggerated danger?

I had been thinking: my experience with these superfood powders, has taught me how to rid myself of fatigue, so long as I take care not to overdose; after all these years the health food stores have finally become good at making these powders; these super-food powders allow me to bless myself with powerful antioxidants while minimizing my overall food intake which is good because of evidence showing that generally the less animals eat the longer they live.

Then I was shocked to hear that the big recent news is that these superfood powders cause liver damage. So I did a Google search:

green tea liver - Google Search

Which led to

Despite New York Times' Warning, Liver Damage from Green Tea Extract is Rare, a December 21, 2013 article which created confusion regarding who exactly wrote the report the NY Times was talking about, what the title of the report was, and where it could be found.

The 'Despite New York Times' piece led to
Spike in Harm to Liver Is Tied to Dietary Aids - NYTimes.com, which also obfuscated regarding the author title and location of the report they were talking about.

  Finally I found the closest thing to the report they were talking about at Hepatotoxicity from herbal, dietary supplements rising | Hepatology .

But I still could not find the report itself, despite wearing myself out trying.

After spending a few hours studying the matter, I came up with the following:

For the sake of argument, lets admit that the herbalists get liver disease from herbs, at the same rate the druggies (those into pharma) get liver disease from drugs. Nevertheless, such instances of liver disease are nothing compared to the liver disease in the population that is not caused by herbs or drugs.

If 40% of herbalists have liver disease, and 0.1 to 1.0 percent of herbalists have liver disease caused by herbalist consumption of herbs, then 0.25% to 2.5% of herbalist liver disease is caused by herbs.

If 40% of non-herbalist druggies have liver disease, and 0.1 to 1.0% of druggies have drug-caused liver disease, then 0.25 to 2.5% of druggie liver disease is caused by drugs.

So, about 99% of liver disease in herbalists and non-herbalist druggies, is caused by something other than herbs or drugs.

If, the herbalist rate of overall liver disease aside from cause, is lower than the druggie rate of liver disease aside from cause, then focusing on liver disease alone, the herbal approach is not inferior to the non-herbal approach.

Beyond that, looking at overall health, if the overall health of the herbalists is superior to that of the non-herbalists, then the herbal approach comes out on top.

If the herbalist rate of disease caused by factors other than herbs, is lower than the druggie rate of disease caused by factors other than drugs, then insofar as liver disease in concerned, the herbalists win.

Imagine that 10% of the herbalists were coming down with herb-caused liver disease whereas only 1% of druggies were coming down with drug-caused liver disease. Nevertheless, if in total 40% of the population had liver disease, and 20% of the population was herbalist, then, if 39% of the druggie population had liver disease caused by factors other than drugs/herbs, whereas 29% of the herbalists had liver disease caused by factors other than drugs/herbs, the herbalists would still come out on top, in terms of the war on liver disease.

Which indicates to me, that: 'superfood' powders should be chosen carefully from trustworthy retailers without penny-pinching; the powder chosen should contain few ingredients; the powder should not advertise magical capabilities; the powder should contain only natural organic type substances (a powder being a concentrated form of a plant, impurities can also become dangerously concentrated); the powder should be consumed at low doses that are gradually increased; the consumption of the powder should be combined with the avoidance of activities and substances that stress the liver; one should be alert to the warning signs of liver disease while consuming the powder and cease from consumption if they manifest; the powder should be consumed with plenty of pure watery liquids or water; if and when the powder produces positive effects, the dose should be gradually increased until the overall cost/benefit to the mind/body begins to decline.

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