A New Scientist piece questioned turmeric extracts’ benefits and raised liver-safety concerns. The American Botanical Council says the article omitted established human clinical evidence and overstated the frequency of hepatotoxicity.
New Scientist (Alice Klein, June 1, 2026) questioned the health benefits of turmeric extracts and highlighted reports linking turmeric to liver injury.
The American Botanical Council (ABC) responded with a letter arguing the New Scientist article failed to present documented clinical benefits and overstated risk by not providing context or consumption-based incidence data.
ABC says human clinical studies and systematic reviews document benefits for conditions such as knee osteoarthritis and metabolic syndrome.
# What happened On June 1, 2026 New Scientist published a piece by Alice Klein that questioned the health benefits of turmeric (Curcuma longa) extracts and advised caution because of possible liver concerns. The article cited a paper that linked turmeric to three cases of clinically apparent liver injury and quoted language suggesting turmeric appears to be a leading cause of herbal-related liver injury in the United States.
# Why ABC objected Council (ABC) sent a letter to the editor criticizing the New Scientist article for not discussing established human clinical evidence supporting turmeric and its extracts. ABC said the article omitted numerous human clinical studies and systematic reviews that document benefits in areas such as knee osteoarthritis and metabolic syndrome.
# The core factual points in dispute
# What ABC offered in its response ABC sent a letter to the editor and included consumption-based data intended to put the reported hepatotoxic cases in context. ABC concluded that, taken together with real-world consumption figures, turmeric and its extracts present an extremely low risk of liver injury. ABC also emphasized that the article missed an opportunity to give readers a balanced account of both benefits and safety concerns.
# Practical implications for readers
# Where to look next ABC referenced HerbalGram (www.herbalgram.org) for additional material. The original New Scientist article and the paper it cited remain the direct sources for the case reports and the phrasing about herbal-related liver injury.
# Bottom line This is a dispute about framing and context: New Scientist emphasized liver-safety reports tied to turmeric extracts, while ABC objects that the article did not also present the body of human clinical evidence for benefits nor consumption-based data that show hepatotoxic events to be very rare.
Psst — no supplement is going to stop you from aging. The post Turmeric Is Good. That Doesn’t Mean You Need Supplements. appeared first on The Good Men Project .
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