Herbal Dietary Habits on Liver Enzymes and Oxidative Stress

Abstract

Herbal plants are a significant source of several nutrients that are essential for human and animal diets and are used to prevent or treat ailments. These elements are essential nutrients for their survival and must be obtained through diet because the body cannot generate them. The Saudi market is brimming with numerous medicinal plants that citizens use as "traditional medicine," many of which are imported from Asia and Africa, while the remainder is harvested locally. They are also used in cooking, cosmetics, and up to 80% of the world's population relies on plant-derived medications for medical purposes. This review provides information on Saudi individuals' consumption of herbs and their composition to assess the toxicity of the essential oils of myrrh, marjoram, senna, and asafoetida plants. A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, the Cochrane library, and Web of Science, for studies that investigated Herbal dietary habits on liver enzymes and oxidative stress. In this review we found that the most common side effects of the long term usage of the herbal plants are eyes or skin irritation, stomach discomfort, cramps, and diarrhea. In some cases there is liver damage. Furthermore, the findings of this review serve as a foundation for future studies of herbal plants in Saudi Arabia, as well as characterize patterns of practise among Saudi individuals.