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Potential Gotu Kola Side Effects, Adverse Reactions And Contraindications

Dehydration

Gotu kola acts as a diuretic. This means that it helps the body to get rid of excess fluids. Excess use can thus mean you might suffer from dehydration. This is especially damaging if you take other diuretic medication or supplements together with gotu kola. Other strong diuretics are for example green tea and gingko.

Liver disease

The more serious concern regarding gotu kola side effects is that there are some reported cases of liver inflammation, such as hepatitis. WebMD also warns on its website that anyone suffering from existing liver conditions, or taking liver function or altering medication or supplements, should not use gotu kola. It can increase the risk of liver damage and can worse your existing condition.

Interactions with other supplements

Other than potential gotu kola side effects, you should also be aware that there are a few cases of other supplements and medication that can interact with gotu kola. Thus, if you are using any of the following medications or supplements, you should refrain from using gotu kola:

* Liver medication
* Cholesterol lowering supplements
* Diabetes medication and blood sugar level supplements
* Sedatives or other sleeping medication

Pregnancy and breastfeeding

Gotu kola is safe to use externally during pregnancy and breastfeeding. At the moment, there is not enough evidence to support that taking it internally would be safe, so it is advised not to consume it orally. Thus, pregnant and breastfeeding women should keep gotu kola limited to use on the skin.

Overall, gotu kola is considered very safe and potential gotu kola side effects are very mild. The main thing to remember is that if any of these side effects mentioned gets worse or causes extreme pain or loss of vision, you should immediately contact your health care professional. Using gotu kola moderately should prevent the serious side effects from occurring.

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