Kava Research What happened with kava in Europe in the late 90's early 2000's? (The experts' perspective)

[The Kap'n]

Yep, I'm back on that topic again. This is a refresher on what went down in regards to the liver toxicity scare in Europe which inevitably spread over the entire globe by ways of bans and restrictions. Remember this only occurred during a small time frame between 1998-2004. This time, don't just listen to me, read the included paper. It's not all that complicated and really fills in the blanks where a number of questions still stand in people's minds.

This paper addresses the German court, refuted adverse event reports, a bit of ethnobotanical history, phytochemistry of cultivars, and possible theories concerning perceived "liver damage". This includes aerial (above ground) portions, organic solvent, excessive flavokavains, adulteration and mold contamination.

I bring this up because I've seen a rather notable uptick in suggestions that stems cause liver damage. This has not been proven, and studies administering large doses of Pipermethystine (the alkaloid found in the aerial portions of the kava plant) do not cause hepatotoxicity when administered in-vitro at doses of 10mg/kg (aka, WAY more than you would be able to get even eating kava leaf and stems). Now, would I recommend brewing up a batch of stems on a regular basis, no it wouldn't feel good, but it's not necessarily something that automatically damages the liver.

We need to move past this, and understand that yes, some bullshitery probably did happen between those years in question, however it speaks nothing to the ultimate quality and safety of kava as a beverage and a plant. Kava the plant was a perfect scapegoat for these pharmaceutical manufacturers to back away from the table and claim "oh...must be something toxic with the plant itself. Definitely not us. nope. Not our preparation. No way.". Even though all of the manufacturers in Europe at the time of the liver issue were using the same source, and kava extract preparations made with alcohol have been used safely for WELL over 100 years. Still nope, couldn't be their Frankenstein of a kava extract.

If you drink kava regularly, do yourself a favor and read this document. It may even make you a little angry about the way kava is and has been treated. Kava is a CULTURAL KEYSTONE SPECIES being treated as some toxic swill. Kava demands more respect than this.

Read this document:

Kuchta, Kenny, Mathias Schmidt, and Adolf Nahrstedt. 2015. “German Kava Ban Lifted by Court: The Alleged Hepatotoxicity of Kava (Piper Methysticum) as a Case of Ill-Defined Herbal Drug Identity, Lacking Quality Control, and Misguided Regulatory Politics.” Planta Medica 81 (18): 1647–53. https://sci-hub.se/10.1055/s-0035-1558295.

 

[Skinskava]

Thanks Kap

 

[Jean]

Very good article, however the political background in those times has played in my opinion a major role in the "German panic" : it was absolutely clear for the German authorities that the problem was linked to products made in Germany since the liver damage cases appeared only in areas where the German products were sold. The point was that at the same time a) the FDA had big concern about the side effects of the German drug Lipobay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerivastatin and b) inside the German BfArM, the two main branches of alternative medicines (namely homeopathy and anthroposophical drugs, massively produced in Germany) were against (for commercial reasons) the use of kava in phytotherapy https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9527466/, http://www.bfarm.de/EN/Medicinal-pr...and-traditional-medicinal-products/_node.html. In other words, in order to save the reputation of the money bringing drugs (pharma, homeopathy and anthroposophical drugs), kava had to be sacrificed.

 

[The Kap'n]

Very good article, however the political background in those times has played in my opinion a major role in the "German panic" : it was absolutely clear for the German authorities that the problem was linked to products made in Germany since the liver damage cases appeared only in areas where the German products were sold. The point was that at the same time a) the FDA had big concern about the side effects of the German drug Lipobay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerivastatin and b) inside the German BfArM, the two main branches of alternative medicines (namely homeopathy and anthroposophical drugs, massively produced in Germany) were against (for commercial reasons) the use of kava in phytotherapy https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9527466/, http://www.bfarm.de/EN/Medicinal-pr...and-traditional-medicinal-products/_node.html. In other words, in order to save the reputation of the money bringing drugs (pharma, homeopathy and anthroposophical drugs), kava had to be sacrificed.

Do you have this document linked above?

 

[Alia]

Very good article, however the political background in those times has played in my opinion a major role in the "German panic" : it was absolutely clear for the German authorities that the problem was linked to products made in Germany since the liver damage cases appeared only in areas where the German products were sold. The point was that at the same time a) the FDA had big concern about the side effects of the German drug Lipobay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerivastatin and b) inside the German BfArM, the two main branches of alternative medicines (namely homeopathy and anthroposophical drugs, massively produced in Germany) were against (for commercial reasons) the use of kava in phytotherapy https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9527466/, http://www.bfarm.de/EN/Medicinal-pr...and-traditional-medicinal-products/_node.html. In other words, in order to save the reputation of the money bringing drugs (pharma, homeopathy and anthroposophical drugs), kava had to be sacrificed.

I have heard this speculation* before and while it seems reasonable, are you aware of any studies or papers or articles that address it, specifcally?
Is it within the references you cite? If so, I cannot locate. Please kokua.
*that the 2 main branches of alternative medicines were against the use of kava, therefore it had to be sacrificed.

 

[Funkay]

Living in germany my whole life i already was very fucked up about the way germany treated kava! Unfortunately germany is still very conservative and close minded in large parts

thx for the article

 

[Jean]

Concerning the Lipobay, it is in the first link, Cerivastatin is the name of the Lipobay for the North American market. There is much more information available in German (Lipobay Affäre). The role of the homeopathy and anthroposophical "chambers" inside the BfArM has always been a matter of concern and came back last year again due to the anti-vaccine lobby of members of those chambers. The German public tv has broadcasted a very interesting investigation on this subject, showing the link between politic and the industry of "alternative" medical drugs. Interestingly, the French authorities have labelled some of the German "alternative" drug lobbies, based on religious sects founded in the XIXth century, as "of concern" if not dangerous. To my knowledge there is however no unambiguous proof for the time being that the "alternative drugs" chambers have played a role in the kava ban, but the array of presumption is very high. We can only hope that some documents could be made public.