Hepatoprotective effect of Indian herbs and spices in alcohol-induced liver diseases

Abstract

Alcoholic liver disease is the manifestation of liver due to chronic overconsumption of alcohol sequentially leading to alcoholic fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis and then to alcoholic cirrhosis, which is the most fatal and is treatable only if the person undergoes liver transplantation. According to researches, 90% of the heavy alcohol drinkers or more develop fatty liver while only 20% of them show signs of alcoholic hepatitis and alcoholic cirrhosis. Women are more susceptible to liver damage through alcohol. India is a home of 50 different types of spices grown and traded internationally to more than 150 countries globally; There are many herbs and spices in our kitchen that have positive hepatoprotective actions against the alcohol-induced hepato-toxicity. The mechanism of the hepatoprotective role of these herbs can be associated with their free-radical scavenging properties, actions of decreasing lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress and increasing antioxidant properties.