Kava—or kava kava—is a root found on South Pacific islands. Islanders have used kava as medicine and in ceremonies for centuries.
Kava has a calming effect, similar to diazepam (Valium, for example). Kava also can prevent convulsions and relax muscles. Kava's effect may decrease with use.
Traditionally prepared as a tea, kava root is also available as a natural health product in powder and tincture (extract in alcohol) forms.
Why It Is Used
Kava's calming effect may relieve anxiety, restlessness, sleeplessness, and stress-related symptoms such as muscle tension or spasm. Kava may also relieve pain.
Kava should never be taken with prescription drugs, including anti-anxiety drugs, such as benzodiazepines and tricyclic antidepressants. Check with your doctor about using kava. Avoid using kava with other drugs until discussed with your doctor.
Risks
Kava may have severe side effects and should not be used by everyone. You should not use kava without consulting your doctor. Kava has caused liver failure in previously healthy people.
Before you use kava, consider that it:
Should not be combined with alcohol or psychotropic medicines. Psychotropic medicines are used to treat psychiatric disorders or illnesses and include antidepressants and mood stabilizers. Alcohol exaggerates kava's sedating effect.
Can affect how fast you react, making it unsafe to drive or use heavy machinery.
May gradually be less powerful as you use it.
Can cause an allergic skin reaction (rare).
Long-term kava use may result in:
Liver problems.
Shortness of breath (reversible).
Scaly rash (reversible).
Facial puffiness or swelling (reversible).
Reports from Germany and Switzerland about kava causing serious liver problems have led to the recent removal of these products from shelves in Britain. Other countries have advised consumers to avoid using kava until further information is available.
In the United States, the FDA advises people who have liver disease or liver problems, or people who are taking medicines that can affect the liver, to consult a doctor or pharmacist before using products that contain kava. People who use a natural health product that contains kava and experience signs of illness should consult a doctor. Symptoms of serious liver disease include brown urine as well as yellowing of the skin or of the whites of the eyes. Other symptoms of liver disease may include nausea, vomiting, light-coloured stools, unusual tiredness, weakness, stomach or abdominal pain, and loss of appetite.
The Natural and Non-Prescription Health Products Directorate (NNHPD), within the Health Products and Food Branch of Health Canada, regulates natural health products in Canada. Natural health products, including kava, must be reviewed and approved by the NNHPD before they can be sold in Canada. Health Canada has not licensed any kava products for sale in Canada.
Always tell your doctor if you are using a natural health product or if you are thinking about combining a natural health product with your conventional medical treatment. It may not be safe to forgo your conventional medical treatment and rely only on a natural health product. This is especially important for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
When using natural health products, keep in mind the following:
Like conventional medicines, natural health products may cause side effects, trigger allergic reactions, or interact with prescription and non-prescription medicines or other natural health products you might be taking. A side effect or interaction with another medicine or natural health product may make other health conditions worse.
Natural health products may not be standardized in their manufacturing. This means that how well they work or any side effects they cause may differ among brands or even within different lots of the same brand. The form you buy in health food or grocery stores may not be the same as the form used in research.
Other than for vitamins and minerals, the long-term effects of most natural health products are not known.
