Texas man says food supplement 'ruined' his liver



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A North Texas father says his drive to get healthy in his liver transplant, the BBC reports.

Jim McCants says he was at his high school graduation just outside Dallas when his wife looked at him.

"She said 'Do you feel OK?'" Jim recalled. "I said, 'Yeah I feel fine, why?' 'Your face is yellow, your eyes are yellow, you look terrible.' When I looked in the mirror it was shocking. "

'The food supplement that ruins my liver' https://t.co/AXmNTw7nLg

– BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) October 25, 2018

He was soon admitted to the hospital with a loss of life. Doctors quickly ruled out alcohol, as Jim says he rarely drinks, and he was not taking drugs at the time.

A liver doctor asked him about his supplement intake, however.

Jim tells the BBC As part of his "mid-life health kick," he started taking green tea supplements because he heard about his possible heart benefits. He was taking them for two or three months before he started to feel sick.

He underwent several blood tests, and about three weeks after he first got sick, doctors told him the bad news.

"She said you need a liver transplant.

One day later he was located, and he underwent the surgery that would save his life.

So what about the green tea supplements?

The BBC reports are not certain why they might be doing harm at higher doses for some people. Green tea is considered a food by the U.S. and Europe. Even in its concentrated capsule, the BBC reports.

If you are a modest amount, you're likely very safe. The risk comes with the most concentrated extracts, health experts believe.

Concern has focused on Epigallocatechin-3-gallate, a possibly toxic ingredient.

Dr. Herbert Bonkovsky, Director of Liver Services at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, says people who take these things are often trying to lose weight, so they can not be eating.

"We know from animal studies that they are much more important than other animals, and that they are also important as modifying factors," says the doctor. .

In a lengthy report on the matter, the U.S. Institutes of Health

"Green tea is a popular and widely consumed drink and its extract is found in many herbal and dietary supplements (HDS). Green tea extract and, more rarely, ingestion of large amounts of green tea have been implicated in cases of clinically apparent acute liver injury, including instances of acute liver failure."

Read more on the BBC's website, here

© 2018 KHOU

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