Post #684331 by Hakalugi on Tue, Jul 2, 2013 8:13 AM

On 2013-07-01 14:51, TikiTacky wrote:
...
Kava is banned in a few European countries for potentially causing liver failure in otherwise healthy people, but obviously here in the US we don't care about that. :)
...

In 2001, Duke University Medical Center conducted two studies on kava extract. One study showed that kava is safe for the liver, causing no noticeable problems. The other study revealed that kava extract is as effective for the treatment of anxiety as the benzodiazepine class of drugs (Xanax, Valium), without the hazards caused by those medicines.
Out of the blue, one week prior to the publication of the Duke studies, a European-based report declared, contrary to all previous known medical science, that kava had caused liver toxicity in 21 people. Kava sales crashed, insurance companies panicked, European health regulators over-reacted and Pacific islanders were left with their pockets turned out. It took several years, and the dedicated efforts of many medical research teams to establish that the kava liver toxicity report was shoddy and baseless. But the damage to kava was done. To this day, despite absolutely no evidence of liver toxicity among kava drinkers, and despite liver safety demonstrated in medical studies, kava still carries the taint of concerns over liver toxicity.