While doing some research on kava's potential ability to prevent certain types of cancer, I've found a rather interesting article on kava drinking in Vanuatu published by the Pacific Health Dialogue Journal back in 2003. Its author, Robert Grace, conducted a hospital-based survey at Port Vila's Central Hospital. He was interested to learn about kava drinking habits in Vanuatu and potnetial health implications of regular kava consumption. While the results of this survey cannot lead to any far-reaching conclusions (due to a relatively small number of people surveyed) they are nevertheless quite interesting and can be seen as a valuable contribution to the kava safety debate.
35% of the 150 surveyed patients and employees of the hospital drank kava regularly (and close to 10% daily!) and in amounts much greater than typical doses of kava consumed in the West. In other words, the survey results suggested that "the consumption of fresh kava on a regular basis is very common in Vanuatu". More importantly, the author noted that such high rates of kava consumption do not seem to correlate with any significant health problems.
This part was particularly interesting:
35% of the 150 surveyed patients and employees of the hospital drank kava regularly (and close to 10% daily!) and in amounts much greater than typical doses of kava consumed in the West. In other words, the survey results suggested that "the consumption of fresh kava on a regular basis is very common in Vanuatu". More importantly, the author noted that such high rates of kava consumption do not seem to correlate with any significant health problems.
This part was particularly interesting:
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