Try looking for information on kava and you’ll see the media warnings about how dangerous it can be. Kava is made out to be something like “The Blob” or an alien creature from science-fiction movies; an evil flesh-eating plant that will suck the life out of anyone who tries it!
The media makes Kava out to be a B-Series Monster!
According to the B-Movie hype Kava will melt your liver, turn your skin jaundice and make Hepatitis look like a head-cold in comparison! Watch out for the Giant Evil Kava or it will Kill You!
If you look on the Internet that is pretty much what you will find when looking for information about kava and health risks.
Every week a few new articles about “the dangers of kava” cross my desk and it boggles my mind to read these news reports which keep repeating the same old mantra that kava is going to kill you.
It seems to me that the writers of these articles are just trying to fill up space without uncovering any new facts on kava or sharing any insights into why Kava was banned in some countries in 2002.
Today I read an article from a Registered Dietician writing for an online website who said:
Seems Using Kava May Come at a Cost
Kava is a popular and also controversial dietary supplement. It’s commonly used to treat anxiety, insomnia and to relieve stress and tension. Yet there has been increased fear among consumers regarding this supplement, as a growing number of case reports have raised serious concerns about kava’s safety, including risk of severe liver injury.
Read the full article at FYI Living: http://fyiliving.com/nutrition/vitamins-supplements/herbs/seems-using-kava-may-come-at-a-cost
Talking about the dangers of Kava use and showing a picture of a traditional Kava ceremony is misleading! The trouble with kava is when it is not prepared properly. Don't throw the baby out with the grog!
What really pisses me off is that this article showed a picture of a traditional Kava bowl and what looks like a traditional kava ceremony…the reason kava got banned was not because of traditional kava use being linked to liver damage but to modern corporate greed creating potions using garbage kava to add to supplements that caused liver damage. When they show a picture of a traditional kava ceremony and then discuss the 2002 kava ban it makes my coconuts boil!! They should show a freakin’ pill bottle and not a carved wooden bowl…oh darn those media dumbats and their sensationalism!
This is the same non-reporting that has been going on for years so I shouldn’t blame a registered dietician who has taken a 28 hour course at a community college (I’m kidding) for spreading the same old same old bad publicity for kava should I? I’m just so sick of hearing people dredge up the old “science” about kava that caused it to be banned in Canada and other countries (well we can buy it for our own consumption in Canada). The linking of Kava to Liver injury can be considered a bit of reach if you ask me…it doesn’t relate to the thousands of years of proper kava use by Pacific peoples and their health, stamina and well being, instead it is based on Western mixtures designed by corporations for profit.
Wherever you look you will find websites saying that Kava is dangerous because of the liver attacking properties of this plant; it causes liver failure and countless other human toxicities. But these articles are all based on mainly one German study that now more and more research is showing is lo-and-behold, perhaps not true after all.
Kava, a natural gift from our planet, has been used for over 3000 years. Brewed into a drink this wonderful plant has been given a bad rap by modern science and corporate manipulation of facts
In a November 2010 article in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology authors Rolf Teschke1, Jerome Sarris, Xaver Glass, and Johannes Schulze summarized their findings with this:
Did you read that? This is from a 2010 kava study! Let’s read that again shall we?
That is huge news that every serious health reporter issuing new articles about the status of kava should read and report on instead or replaying the old myths and fallacies! Sounds like some companies poisoned people using crap kava and improper kava parts and used bad extraction methods and the whole kava plant and kava industry was blamed and shut-down!
Yep…sure in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s there were Western companies pumping out supplements filled with crappy kava and other ingredients processed using potentially dangerous techniques that could have been linked to sickness but think about this supplement industry a bit (look at diet pills, energy drinks) :
The health and diet supplement industry is pumping out new concoctions all the time and creating fancy marketing for their new fad diet products. Just like these new energy drinks are creating issues of intoxication and death because manufacturers are putting dangerous products on the market. Should every ingredient in Red Bull be banned because deaths have been associated with Red Bull or just that particular mixture branded as “Red Bull”?
The liver damage and few deaths that lead to the 2002 kava ban were NOT caused by the natural kava root but by either the processing of a poor quality kava (imagine processing a kava root with formaldehyde to speed up the extraction process or tweaking the chemistry a bit with some harsh chemicals just like a crystal meth lab does).
Beating The Dead Horse that they called Kava.
Also, the deaths attributed to kava back in the late 1990’s were mainly in patients who either had alcohol consumption or hepatitis issues, pre-existing liver problems, or else their conditions could never be traced specifically to kava as they were using a whole panoply of supplements or had other aggravating conditions.
The interesting thing this new study states is that we should go back to the traditional use of kava…not the corporate production and marketing of kava as a silver bullet and adding it to supplements to then market the value of kava in a dangerous recipe.
Stick to the consumption of kava as the Pacific Islanders have done for centuries. Be careful of any product that lists kava among one of the 50 ingredients…stick to pure kava root, pure kava powder, pure kava extracts. Just like food, when using kava, the less processing the better.
If the FDA and Health Canada really want to ban a plant responsible for a few illnesses they should maybe look at tobacco. How is it that cigarettes, a known carcinogenic product responsible for thousands of deaths per year, can be sold legally but kava is banned because of unscrupulous companies that transformed bad quality kava using harmful processing techniques into supplements for profit?
According to Liver International 2010, regarding the safe use of Kava Kava:
The raw material should consist of peeled rhizomes and roots excluding all aerial parts of the kava plant. To be on the safe side, the kava extracts should be water based (, at least initially; evidence is lacking that solvents such as ethanol or acetone are primarily responsible for hepatotoxicity by kava extracts, but they may theoretically play some role when poor-quality kava raw material is used.
Moreover, daily overdose and prolonged treatment should be avoided and comedication should be reduced.
So be smart! Enjoy Kava like the islanders do…mix up some good quality kava only once and a while and don’t drink the stuff until you overdose every day and get your daily exercise and eat well and love your family and friends and you will be ok because you live a balanced life!
Find balance through moderation in all things and holistic health through nutrition and you will find happiness…naturally!
