A New Jersey woman has vowed never to take a supplement again after she nearly lost her liver to a wellness pill. 

Katie Mohan, 57, began taking turmeric in March after seeing a doctor on Instagram say it could fight inflammation and joint pain.

She bought the supplement online, and started taking the pills daily, believing they would boost her health.

But a few weeks later, she began suffering from stomach pain, nausea and fatigue, then her urine turned dark, a warning sign of serious liver damage.

It wasn’t until Mohan heard about a man suffering from similar symptoms that she started to connect the dots. While taking daily doses of turmeric supplements, he was hospitalized due to liver damage.

‘A light bulb went off in my head,’ she told NBC News, who first revealed her story, ‘and I said, ‘Oh, my gosh! I wonder if this is what’s wrong with me?’

She went to the ER, where a blood test quickly revealed that her liver enzyme levels were 60 times higher than normal. 

Doctors said she was just ‘one step’ from liver failure, which would have led to needing an organ transplant.

Katie Mohan, 57, from New Jersey, said she nearly lost her liver after taking turmeric supplements

The turmeric supplements she took were pills that contained about 2,250 milligrams (mg) of curcumin, which gives turmeric its color, per pill.

This is about 11 times the daily dose recommended by the World Health Organization for an average woman weighing about 150lbs. 

Turmeric, a golden-colored staple in curries, is generally safe to consume, particularly in foods.

It has exploded in popularity in recent years particularly among arthritis patients, amid claims the supplement can help reduce inflammation and soothe joints. 

But doctors warn that it is possible for the supplement to cause liver damage, which may be because it can trigger an immune reaction in the organ.  

In Mohan’s case, she was hospitalized for six days and received an IV drip.

But her doctors said she was fortunate that the injuries were not much worse.

Dr Nikolaos Pyrsopoulos and a hepatologist at NYU who treated her, said: ‘It was very serious. Katie actually was one step before full liver damage, liver failure, requiring liver transplant.’

She was able to recover in part because the liver is one of the few organs in the body that retains the ability to completely regenerate itself.

The above shows a stock image of a turmeric supplement

Amid her recovery from the ordeal, Mohan said: ‘I’ll never put another supplement in my body again.’

Describing her symptoms, she said: ‘I just did not feel well generally. I also noticed that despite drinking a lot of water every day, that my urine was darker.’

About 11million Americans now take turmeric regularly, estimates suggest, particularly those who suffer from arthritis,  amid claims it can help to ease joint pain. 

But amid the surge in popularity, there has also been an uptick in liver transplants due to supplements.

A 2022 study found that between 1995 and 2020, the number of people who suffered liver failure due to a supplement had surged eight fold. 

Turmeric supplements have exploded in popularity online amid claims the substance can reduce inflammation, ease pain, improve memory and even fight cancer.