Kava kava, or Piper methysticum, is also called intoxicating pepper or simply kava. For thousands of years, the Pacific islanders of Tonga have made a nonalcoholic, socially bonding beverage by mashing kava roots. In 1999, a research report by the anthropologist Harry Feldman of Australian National University described its benefits to Tongan society and its traditional medicine. He also noted its intoxicating dangers. Kava and alcohol are both calming, in the right doses, but the similarity is superficial. Different biochemistry produces different side effects and dangers. If you use kava for its medical benefits, consider your safety too.
Liver
Kava use can cause liver damage. A 2007 report in Clinical Toxicology, published by the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, says that 65 percent of Tongan men who consume kava regularly have levels of the liver enzyme gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase that are more than twice that of nonkava drinkers. The enzyme called alkaline phosphatase was found at eight times normal in a fourth of chronic kava drinkers. Dr Sandra Cabot, an Australian physician and author of "The Liver Cleansing Diet," published in 1997, says these findings confirm that liver disease is caused by regular, heavy kava use.
Combining kava and alcohol can be even riskier. A single alcoholic drink taken by a person using kava has caused liver failure and has led to at least one liver transplant.
Psychology
Kava's active ingredients, called kavalactones, have been proven to relieve anxiety, calm nervousness and relieve pain. But Dr. Harriet A. Hall, a former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon and family physician, warns patients already using prescribed psychiatric medications to avoid kava. Kava can cause unsafe intensification of your prescription's therapeutic effects and an exaggeration of its side effects, including involuntary neuromuscular movements in your face, neck and arms.
Driving
Kava use has been linked to erratic driving and has resulted in DUI citations identical to those given for alcoholic driving.
Genetics
The website Health Scene Nutrition describes differing individual sensitivities to many medications, including kava. The absence of certain side effects among the Pacific island population that has traditionally used kava does not guarantee that other ethnically distinct populations will have the same tolerance.
Controversy
The Food and Drug Administration noted in 2002 that several European nations and Canada had limited or banned kava-containing products. According to Nakamal@home, a kava advocacy organization, as of 2009 the United States had not banned kava, and most European nations had lifted their bans.
In a 1999 article published in the Western Journal of Medicine, researchers noted that kava's side effects are usually mild and often outweighed by the benefits. But they proposed best practice guidelines and careful label reading when shopping for kava supplements and strongly suggested consulting a doctor before beginning any kava use.
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