Question

[Jack3]

How solid is the research demonstrating health benefits from kava? How much of it has used human subjects, what were the sample sizes, cohorts, and what were the protocols?

I’m interested because it seemed like much of it was preliminary, ie, test tubes, onions, and animals, all of which is considered to be relatively weak data. I would be particularly interested if any research drew parallels between field studies of populations who consume kava as a part of their culture with studies of industrial cultures who have picked it up more recently.

 

[Alia]

How solid is the research demonstrating health benefits from kava? How much of it has used human subjects, what were the sample sizes, cohorts, and what were the protocols?

I’m interested because it seemed like much of it was preliminary, ie, test tubes, onions, and animals, all of which is considered to be relatively weak data. I would be particularly interested if any research drew parallels between field studies of populations who consume kava as a part of their culture with studies of industrial cultures who have picked it up more recently.

Here I will address just one "Health benefit" --cancer prevention. There are more-- Alzheimer's prevention being one.
Also worth noting that traditional kava beverage has camphene which has health benefits in general (anticancer, antianxiety).
It all started with a study , observation really, which you can find on the Master List of Research articles/studies within these Forums --In-Depth Discussion, Kava Research, Master List... . Look for Steiner, Correlation Between Cancer Incidence and Kava Consumption. Also find Einbond, Traditional Preparations of Kava Inhibit...Cancers (Colon and Breast) in Human Cancer Cells. Kava as a Clinical Nutrient can be found there also and it has a very good list of studies in the references. True- most have been mouse models but there has been at least 1 or 2 small clinical trials using humans. These studies have been happening since just after Steiner. They include many forms of cancer and this has been recognized and published by the American Cancer Institute. I can offer some full text stuff if you want to PM me.