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Misc What is the latest consensus on kava kava liver toxicity?

deruyityn

Bluelighter
Joined
Feb 25, 2015
Messages
282
I have taken a few times and liked the effects altho rather short lived. Since becoming a kratom afficonado Im thinking it would mix great with it; with kratom being the backbone and kava just rounding out the sedation and chilling vibes.

Ive been on the lookout for a gabaergic to slot into this position but other options seem somehow dangerous to my pathetically fragile and anxious disposition. That or totally worthless such as the next to inert 'herbal remedies'.

But the main gripe is the liver toxicity worry; compared to the other options this seems to be the 'lesser evil'. I have read the old stuff about kava's liver issues read around the net like others but not in a couple of years cos kava was off my radar.

What are the general thoughts recently about it? Is it generally thought of as harmless? Is the sample size of regular users large enough to warrant it as a harmless substance? They tried to posit that it was a genetic thing which meant the islanders could use it for so long without incident but its gained a decent western following now hasn't it. For enough years for it to show whether or not it would have reacted badly to this other genetic audience.
 
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If you're eating kava root then you shouldn't worry, the consensus is that any toxic components are in other parts of the plants like leaves, stems etc.
 
If you're eating kava root then you shouldn't worry, the consensus is that any toxic components are in other parts of the plants like leaves, stems etc.

From what I've read the hepatoxicity of kava comes from Flavokavain B, a molecule with both hepatoxic and apoptotic properties. In addition to the possibility that mould hepatotoxins such as aflatoxins after harvest and during storage.
 
As Sekio said, make SURE you get only root. Unscrupulous companies making cheap kava products used the above ground portions of the plant and this is what led to toxicity issues.
 
Do you think that the liver problems have probably happend around the same incidence as those for kratom its just that kava ones were alot more sensationalised. Cos Ive read a couple of reports about liver issues with kratom as well its just they didnt produce as much of a huge fanfare. Just wondering in terms of looking at overall risk of one vs the other. Because I take kratom very happily on a weekly basis.
 
Not sure about kratom, it seems that reports of kratom related liver problems have all been anecdotal. As in "hey guys I took some kratom and now my liver hurts, what do I do?". The issues with kava were clinically verified and linked to products containing aerial plant matter. The waters are a bit muddier with kratom, could be adulterated product, could be heavy with pesticides, could be a rare but serious reaction to the kratom itself. I don't know if anyone can tell you the relative risks of one vs the other. If you're worried, just get your liver checked.
 
It's been disproven by several studies that kava is damaging to the liver and may even be hepatoprotective. The reports of liver damage are believed to be a result of companies using the foliage from parts of the plant that aren't the roots. Apparently certain parts of the kava plant are hepatotoxic but the root bark itself is not, possibly the opposite, so as long as your consuming pure root powder you should have no problems. I'd read the entire study for a better picture, kava apparent reverses diazepam induced liver enzyme spikes which is pretty interesting IMO.

Since kava-containing products were reported to develop liver failure requiring liver transplantation that occurred in some patients, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a consumer advisory in 2002 about the potential risk associated with the use of these products[30]. However, the data presented inTable 1support the potential safety of kava on liver enzymes activity where chronic kava administration elicited no elevation of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) at the two dose levels.

Noteworthy, it was previously reported that kava, at similar doses to those employed in the current study, did not affect neither liver enzymes nor cytochrome-P450 isoforms[31]. By the same token, Singh and Devkota[32]demonstrated that daily dose of 200 or 500 mg of kava did not alter liver functions manifest as alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase nor AST and ALT.

Moreover, Noor (2010) showed not only no change in liver functions but also showed significant reduction in AST and ALT, suggesting not only a lack of toxicity but potentially a hepatoprotective effect of kava[33]. However, one cannot rule out that different extraction methods and the solvents employed in the preparation of kava-containing products might be account for the reported hepatotoxicity associated with kava. Nevertheless, in the current study, the employed kava extract was the aqueous one, which has been shown to exert hepatoprotection[34]

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090123213001112
 
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That was a good, informative read, thanks :)

It's been disproven by several studies that kava is damaging to the liver and may even be hepatoprotective. The reports of liver damage are believed to be a result of companies using the foliage from parts of the plant that aren't the roots. Apparently certain parts of the kava plant are hepatotoxic but the root bark itself is not, possibly the opposite, so as long as your consuming pure root powder you should have no problems. I'd read the entire study for a better picture, kava apparent reverses diazepam induced liver enzyme spikes which is pretty interesting IMO.



http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090123213001112
 
I was reading on the kava forums and alot of those guys cliam they have elevated liver enzymes after having done tests and they give their stats so isn't just hearsay or the like. I know there could be compounding factors but still it made me uneasy. And they are the last people you would think would be bashing their beloved root. Seems to be about 50/50 who has liver enzymes elevated vs not after having done tests. Seems a bit too iffy for regular use.

Thoughts?
 
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