AHP is ecstatic to release its long-awaited Monograph and Therapeutic Compendium for kava rhizome and root. The genesis of the monograph began in the early 2000s, when kava was booming worldwide. Then concerns regarding potential hepatotoxicity emerged that led to an almost entire world ban on this precious botanical. All work on kava stopped and it has taken decades to really understand the issues of concern.
Many theories regarding the potential for liver toxicity were put forth, all of which seem plausible; the wrong type of kava was used (noble vs today), wrong plant part (root vs stem); islander vs European genetic polymorphisms, microbial contamination, organic solvents in modern preparations vs. traditional water preparations, and the list goes on but these are primary. It is accurate to say that some of these things occurred but when all the data are critically reviewed, it is clear that hepatotoxicity is idiosyncratic; it does not appear to be dose, solvent, or time dependent.
