Is Kava Safe?

Kava Safety

Is Kava safe?? This question gets asked an awful lot and if you visit the web you will find a whole cornucopia of answers with no real cohesive response. Some of the information is years old and has not been updated.You will come across articles claiming it is bad for the liver, your health and everything in between.

Here is why…

Research led by Switzerland and Germany over 15 years ago led to a ban after they found high levels of Liver Toxicity in some people. Word spread quite fast and a worldwide ban was put into effect without further research or questioning. In spite of the fact that our South Pacific Brother and Sisters have been drinking it with no ill effect for hundreds of years.

The ban was reversed in 2015 after new research reputed the original studies. Partly due to the Liver toxicity being related to poor Kava practices in regards to processing and the use of ethanol used in commercial kava production. Alcohol and kava are not a great combination and some studies suggest this may have caused liver toxicity in some individuals. It is important to note that all traditional Noble Kava is produced naturally without the use of ethanol. The commercial kava was also shown to have parts of the kava plant not traditionally used in its mix. Traditionally only the root is dried out and ground down to a fine powder. We have no idea why possibly as a filler or sheer ignorance of ancient practices.

Fast forward to 2020 and new studies show that the risk of  liver illness due to Kava is less than 1:1,000,000 daily doses. Showing that negative side effects is minimal.

The World Health Organization Codex Alimentarius concludes:

“Kava has had at least a 1500 year history of relatively safe use, with liver side effects never having arisen in the ethnopharmacological data. Clinical trials of kava have not revealed hepatotoxicity as a problem. This has been confirmed by further studies evaluating the toxicology of kava drink. Based on available scientific information it can inferred that kava as a traditional beverage is safe for human consumption”

Luckily a more balanced view of Kava is emerging as a herbal supplement and its benefits on the mind and body.

Here at thekavaroots.com we adhere to strict safety practices. We only partner with Noble kava farmers and farmers that respect the ancient traditions of farming and processing this incredible elixir.

www.TheKavaRoots.com

www.TheKavaRoots.ca