How long to not drink kava before a liver blood test?

[BobBriggs]

I recently was having a blood test for something else and requested liver function test as well. It came back with slightly above normal GGT, at 63. My doctor wasn't very concerned with this. He said elevated GGT is only really concerning when it gets into the hundreds. He suggested I just have another test in six months.

I'm not that concerned either. It might have little to do with kava, as apparently it can have to do with fat around the middle (I'm not overweight but that's where my fat tends to go). Both sides of my family have a history of gallstones, which might be related. I will cut down a little on the kava and try to avoid perhaps my main bad kava habit - about once a week I drink kava and about 4-8 beers alcohol within 24 hours of each other (though on different calendar days).

But my main question is whether the fact I (foolishly) had kava less than 24 hours before the blood test is likely to have skewed the results? That makes sense to me, but I can't find much information online. There's nothing much about kava. When it comes to alcohol - which admittedly is a different substance - there's people, including doctors, saying different things. Some seem to imply you could almost have a few beers an hour or two before the test and it wouldn't matter if you have a healthy liver, whilst others seem to say drinking too close to the test can skew it. Anyone know (for kava in particular, I mean)?

 

[Jacob Bula]

I want to preface this by saying I'm not a doctor ( but I play one on TV. )

My understanding is that Kava that is traditionally prepared does not negatively effect the liver. I'm 30, and I've had high liver enzymes in past bloodwork due to alcohol and eating fatty foods. I was drinking about a 24 pack a day at my worst. After abstaining from alcohol for a few weeks the enzymes went back to normal. I don't touch alcohol at all now and my bloodwork is normal. Your liver prioritizes what to metabolize based on its threat level, and it prioritizes alcohol as threat #1 in most cases, which can allow other substances to do more harm than they normally would because your liver is busy dealing with alcohol. If you have ANY concerns at all about your liver, cut back or cut out alcohol and limit your fatty foods. Also coffee, spinach and any bitter greens are very good for your liver and can protect it.

 

[Zaphod]

I recently was having a blood test for something else and requested liver function test as well. It came back with slightly above normal GGT, at 63. My doctor wasn't very concerned with this. He said elevated GGT is only really concerning when it gets into the hundreds. He suggested I just have another test in six months.

I'm not that concerned either. It might have little to do with kava, as apparently it can have to do with fat around the middle (I'm not overweight but that's where my fat tends to go). Both sides of my family have a history of gallstones, which might be related. I will cut down a little on the kava and try to avoid perhaps my main bad kava habit - about once a week I drink kava and about 4-8 beers alcohol within 24 hours of each other (though on different calendar days).

But my main question is whether the fact I (foolishly) had kava less than 24 hours before the blood test is likely to have skewed the results? That makes sense to me, but I can't find much information online. There's nothing much about kava. When it comes to alcohol - which admittedly is a different substance - there's people, including doctors, saying things. Some seem to imply you could almost have a few beers an hour or two before the test and it wouldn't matter if you have a healthy liver, whilst others seem to say drinking too close to the test can skew it. Anyone know (for kava in particular, I mean)?

If you search the forums for GGT you will see that a slightly elevated GGT can be associated with kava usage (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17503265/). The preponderance of the evidence suggests that this is really just your liver working a little harder or adapting to remove the kavalactones and it should return to normal quite quickly - with no ill effects. That said if you want to abstain from kava to make sure that it is just slightly elevated from kava intake my guess is you should wait a at least a week for KL to fully clear from your system. Kava can hang around for quite a while as noted anecdotally by its anxiety "shield effect" and "hangover" grogginess you can get if you go hard with some of the heavier KLs. You can also look up some of the half-lifes of KLs which can be long (example Kavain half-life is roughly 9hrs and that is probably the one that is cleared the quickest). So you would want time for your liver to fully clear all KLs and then time for it to readjust. May even be as long as a week or longer. Of course all of this is highly dependent on dose, individual liver function, and probably a variety of other factors that could impact elimination time.

 

[BobBriggs]

Sorry for the delay and thanks for the info. If the slightly elevated GGT is quite common with regular kava usage, do I need to do anything? I mean, should I be cutting back a bit to try and get it down or can I just have slightly GGT from kava indefiniteindefinitely without actuall liver damage?

 

[Zaphod]

Sorry for the delay and thanks for the info. If the slightly elevated GGT is quite common with regular kava usage, do I need to do anything? I mean, should I be cutting back a bit to try and get it down or can I just have slightly GGT from kava indefiniteindefinitely without actuall liver damage?

I am not a doctor (nor do I play one on TV) but here is my take after reading many papers and discussing it with my doctor as well (even though my last liver did not have elevated ggt). The temporary spike in GGT is an indication that your liver is doing exactly what it should. Think of it like this - if you ran out to your mailbox your heart rate would temporarily spike up in response to the specific stimuli. As long as you have no other underlying heart conditions it is expected and will return to normal in short order. Your liver is working to remove the kava as it does with lots of substances. It might be made worse if you have combined other substances along with your kava. In short as long as your other liver markers AST and ALT are fine I wouldn't worry too much about it but discuss it with your doctor. If you want to make sure - take a week or two off and test again.

I have included a few more papers below.

Liver function test abnormalities in users of aqueous kava extracts - PubMed

Liver function changes in users of aqueous kava extracts at these moderate levels of consumption appear to be reversible and begin to return to baseline after 1 to 2 weeks abstinence from kava. No evidence for irreversible liver damage has been found.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Discussion: Liver function changes in users of aqueous kava extracts at these moderate levels of consumption appear to be reversible and begin to return to baseline after 1 to 2 weeks abstinence from kava. No evidence for irreversible liver damage has been found.

kava and gamma-glutamyltransferaseincrease: hepatic enzymatic induction or liver function alteration

www.bmj.com

Ultrasonography, blood tests for hepatitis A, B, C and serum protein electrophoresis were then performed and gave normal results. 3 volunteers reduced their kava consumption for 1 month and GGT decreased to normal values.