Kava and the liver

[jeffsleep]

Was wondering as to the general consensus when it comes to kava hepatotoxicity as of 2011. I have read in the past that there have been some links between severe liver damage and certain alkaloids found in kava..specifically the root i believe.. anyway i was able to find a comforting article that basically described kava as safer, and having less side effects in general than traditional and otc medications(this is the article for those who are interested http://www.cassmd.com/library/kava.warnings.html). Anyway I'm really not so concerned as so far it sounds more like trite FDA shit rather than anything factual, more so just interested. Any insight would be appreciated. cheers.

 

[Seattle_Stranger]

Nearly everywhere I look, I'm finding more and more information pointing towards it having NO liver toxicity at all. It seems the jury is still out on this one.

As from personal experience, I'm yet to experience any abdominal discomfort or troubles as a result of kava usage. All it takes is one heavy alcohol drinking session and a person will suddenly become very educated on the effects of liver toxicity. Kava has no similar effect on me. As a matter of fact, for an experiment, I have taken kava in various dosages every day for the past week, most of the time taking the ground-root-powder by the spoonful, right into my mouth, swallowing most of it.

Everything seems to be workin' just fine!

Hope it helps.

 

[Cat-N-Da-Hat]

I think its something in the commercial pills, but not in all preparations.

 

[Cane2theLeft]

^ this (sort of).

The root has been safely used without virtually any hepatotoxicity in the south pacific for generations but when pharmaceutical companies discovered the efficacy of kavalactones, they sought cheaper ways to standardize preparations... this lead to using lots of parts of the plant that indigenous who regularly consume it have always discarded. Traditionally, ONLY the root is used and when you use root-only products, you should be safe. Most products at least in the US have adopted this after several European countries banned kava over these concerns. Products SHOULD label whether or not they are root-only but not all do.