Kava

Related Topics:
Kavaja :: Kavala :: Kava-Kava :: Kava_kava :: Kava,_Alex :: Kavanah,_Patrick

Kava (Piper methysticum) is an ancient crop of the western Pacific. Other names for kava include `awa (Hawaii), 'ava (Samoa), yaqona (Fiji), and sakau (Pohnpei). Kava is related to the black pepper; both have heart-shaped leaves and flowers similar to the flower spike of the anthurium. Kava also has a peppery taste. Kava has long been a part of religious, political, and cultural life throughout the Pacific.

Pharmacology

Pharmacologically, kava is not addictive. Its active principal ingredients are the kavalactones, of which there are six major ones used to identify the chemotype of a particular variety. While kava has been considered to be relatively safe, some kava herbal supplements may contain pipermethystine from aerial stem peelings which may contribute to rare but severe hepatotoxic reactions to kava (see section on safety).

Preparation

Kava is traditionally consumed as a herbal tea; that is, an infusion made from straining a mixture of water and shredded, pounded, dried, or fresh root and/or stump. The plant may also be chewed as part of preparing kava; this will affect the final product due to the enzymes in saliva. The extract is an emulsion, consisting of suspended kavalactone droplets in a starchy suspension. The taste is slightly pungent, while the distinctive aroma varies if prepared from dry or fresh material, and by variety. The color is grey to tan to greenish opaque.

Perhaps the simplest method of making the tea is to put two or more heaped tablespoons of kava root powder per person into a clean sock or stocking, tie a knot in it, and squeeze it repeatedly in a bowl of cold water. An even easier method is to whisk up root powder and cold water in a blender. In the west, it is often taken in pill form.

Kava can also be combined with coffee to produce kavajava, the effects of which are said to combine the most pleasant qualities of each.

Medicinal kava

In the Western world, kava is used as a herbal remedy to ease the symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression.

On 15 February 2006, the Fiji Times and Fiji Live both reported that researchers at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, and the Laboratoire de Biologie Moleculaire du Cancer in Luxembourg had discovered kava was effective in the treatment of ovarian cancer and leukaemia. Kava compounds inhibited the activation of a nuclear factor that led to the growth of cancer cells. Aberdeen University had published its findings in the journal, The South Pacific Journal of Natural Science, that kava methanol extracts had been shown to kill leukaemia and ovarian cancer cells in test tubes. The kava compounds were shown to work selectively, passing healthy cells by and targeting only cancerous cells.

Fiji Kava Council Chairman Ratu Josateki Nawalowalo welcomed the findings, saying that they would boost the kava industry. For his part, Agriculture Minister Ilaitia Tuisese called on the researchers to help persuade members of European Union to lift their ban on kava imports.

Effects

The effects of drinking kava, in order of sensation, are slight tongue and lip numbing caused by the contraction of the blood vessels in these areas (the lips and skin surrounding may appear unusually pale); mildly talkative and euphoric behavior; calming, sense of well-being, clear thinking; and relaxed muscles. Sleep is restful and there are no after-effects the next day.

Other interesting uses of kava include dispensation to military personnel (Fiji) to aid in vigilance and anxiety reduction; to provide concentration, focus, and muscle control before sports and music performances; to reduce the anxiety associated with public speaking and other public performances; use in corporate board rooms to aid in mental clarity, sociability and improved decision making.

Some indigenous communities in Australia have encouraged the use of kava as a safer alternative to alcohol. Many of these communities have problems with alcohol abuse and related violence.

Safety

Recently, concerns have been raised about the safety of kava. There have been several reports of severe liver toxicity, including liver failure in some people who have used dietary supplements containing kava extract. While a conclusive link to kava has not been established, the severity of liver damage have prompted action of many regulatory agencies. Regulatory drug agencies in France and Switzerland have outlawed kava completely. The health agency of Canada issued a stop-sale order for kava in 2002. However, subsequent legislation in 2004 rendered the legal status of kava in question. The United States CDC has released a report expressing reservations about the use of kava and its possibly adverse side effects (specifically severe liver toxicity), as has the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Some counter that the cases resulting in the liver toxicity included concomitant use of alcohol or other drugs (Download PDF 1.87MB). Another claim is that kava extracts used by patients experiencing liver toxicity were made with solvents other than the traditional water and that the whole plant was used rather than just the roots. Not a single conclusive case of adverse liver effects has ever been reported natives who have used it for hundereds of years. The issue is controversial and debate is fuelled by economic interests of kava-exporting nations of the Pacific Islands as well as disagreements between the medical establishment and proponents of herbal and natural medicine.

There is ongoing research into the causes of kava liver toxicity and why it apparently does not affect traditional kava users. One study at the University of Hawaii at Manoa found that an alkaloid called pipermethystine may be responsible for the liver toxicity cases, based on its effects on liver cells in vitro. This alkaloid is found primarily in stem peelings and leaves of the plant, but is not present in the roots. Users of kava in the South Pacific have traditionally discarded the peelings and leaves, using only the roots for the consumed product. However, industrial production of kava extracts encouraged the use of these peelings and leaves because of their higher concentrations of the psychoactive kavalactones. Industrial use of peelings and leaves was aided by the fact that traditional producers considered them a waste product and sold them inexpensively as compared to the roots. Since traditional users avoided consumption of these parts of the plant, this may explain the extensive use of kava in the Pacific with no ill effects, whereas the novel use in Europe and America witnessed cases of liver toxicity due to improper use of the plant.

Meanwhile, the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) that first evoked a total ban, has since agreed with teams of other experts, that, on closer inspection, the evidence does not support this stance. This included a team of experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO). Thus, the BfArM has agreed to a partially revoke its actions. This allows for manufactures of products derived from kava reapply for product registration in Germany.

A New Zealand committee who also looked at the same evidence, commented in their summary: "A comparison with paracetamol-associated hepatotoxicity, results in the conclusion that these potential risks for kava are dramatically less than that of a popular non prescription drug widely sold through grocery outlets." The NZ government is currently only looking at the possibility of a suitable advisory label standard to go on kava products.

Heavy use of kava is associated with kava dermopathy, a scaly eruption of the skin which is reversible by discontinuing its use. It is considered to be a harmless curiosity. Ancient Hawaiians would drink copious amounts of kava to encourage this in order to bring about a smoother layer of new skin. With normal use kava dermopathy is non-existent.

Dr. Ifereimi Waqainabete of the Fiji School of Medicine told the a conference of the Pacific Islands Surgeons Association (7 March 2006) that kava adversely affected a person's nervous system. Students under the influence of Kava had proved unable to correctly complete a symbol test, he claimed.

The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration has recommended that no more than 250mg of kavalactones be taken in a 24 hour period. (Download PDF 44KB)

Secondary substances and other effects

Kava contains several other purportedly psychoactive substances which are not appreciably soluble in alcohol or water, but are soluble in fats. Extractions of these into various vegetable oils with lecithin added are possible. Even though kava is usually an acquired taste, the taste of the resulting mixture is reportedly horrendous. Also such an extraction would require at least basic chemistry skills and tools. The potential for use of kava as a hallucinogen therefore seems low.

Kava botany & agronomy

There are several cultivars of kava, with varying concentrations of both primary and secondary psychoactive substances. The Republic of Vanuatu is recognised as the 'home' of kava because it hosts the largest number of cultivars. The kava plant has historically been grown only in the Pacific islands of Hawaii, Federated States of Micronesia, Vanuatu, Fiji, the Samoas and Tonga. In modern times (i.e., since WW2) there has been some kava grown in the Solomon Islands, but most kava used in that country is imported. Kava is a cash crop in Vanuatu and Fiji.

The kava plant, a shrub, thrives in sandy well-drained soils and it grows well as an understory crop (i.e., too much sunlight, especially in early growth, is deleterious). It grows naturally where rainfall is plentiful (over 2,000mm/yr). Traditionally, plants were not harvested until they were at least 5 years of age, as older plants have higher concentrations of kavalactones. However, over the past two decades farmers have been harvesting younger and younger plants--even as young as eighteen months. Older plants are not much taller (around 2m.) than younger plants; growth adds diameter to the culm and more stalks than height.

Kava culture and mythology

Main article: Kava culture

Kava is used for a variety of purposes, medicinal, religious, political, cultural and social throughout the Pacific. These cultures have a great respect for the plant and place a high importance on it.

The Tongans have a story about the origin of kava:

In the place of Fāimata on the island of Eueiki, close to Tongatapu, there lived a man and his wife. Fevanga and Fefafa were their names. They had a baby daughter called Kavaonau, who had a scaly skin disease (possibly leprosy).

Then once upon a time it happened that an important envoy of the Tui Tonga king, Loau, came to Eueiki, and landed his canoe at the house of Fevanga and Fefafa. Customs required that such a high chief was to be received with an abundant meal. But a famine was over the land, and only a kape (Alocasia macrorrhiza) plant was available with no meat at all. In despair the parents killed their little daughter and baked her as a pig in the same oven as the kape.

Loau was impressed by the sacrifice the poor people had made for him. He said that he could not eat from their daughter, and that instead she was to be buried as a chief. He ordered her head to be buried on one place, and her body on another place. And then he left. After a time two new, unknown plants grew from the parts. Fevanga tended them until they were mature. Then a rat came and chewed from the plant which was growing from the head, and was as scaly as the skin of Kavaonau had been. The rat became partly paralysed. Next it chewed from the other plant, growing from the girl's intestines, and the animal recovered and ran away.

Fevanga harvested the plants and brought them to Loau's residence in Haamea on Tongatapu. There Loau announced that the first plant was to be called kava, being the daughter of Fevanga and Fefafa, and that it would be the beverage of chiefs from now on. But like the rat, they would also consume in conjunction the second plant, which was to be called sugar cane, to balance the influence of the kava. (for several more variants see: Gifford, Tongan myths and tales, 1923)

This myth symbolizes the importance of Kava within the Tongan culture in terms of peace-making, sacrifice, diplomacy and loyalty.

References

External links

Farmers Bookshelf - Information on Tropical Crop Production in Hawaii (Site has javascript navigation and kava ('awa) pages cannot be directly linked: click on "nutraceuticals", then "'Awa".)
Kava Ban documents
Lycaeum: Includes list of isolated chemicals
Erowid's Kava vault (includes some details of secondary effects)

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Kava