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Botanical illustration of Kava
MedicinalSourced entry

Kava

Piper methysticum

A root from the South Pacific, drunk in ceremonies for thousands of years. It may ease anxiety short term, but it has been linked to rare, sometimes fatal, liver damage.

Safety at a glance

Tap a box to read the safety notes below. “Nothing recorded” means our sources don't cover it, not that it's safe.

Kava may interact with some medicines. If you take any medicine, read Interactions with medicines below and talk to your doctor or pharmacist before using it.

What is Kava?

Plant family
Piperaceae, the pepper family
Parts used
The root and underground stem
Where it grows
Native to the South Pacific
Genus
Piper
Species
methysticum

Also called

Kava Kava, Kava-kava

Traditionally used for

  • Anxiety
  • Relaxation
  • Ceremonial drink

Traditionally described as

  • May ease anxiety

Health topics

Where Kava appears in symptom search, and why. Being listed doesn't mean it's a proven treatment.

  • Anxiety

    May ease anxiety short term, but doesn't appear to help generalized anxiety disorder, and has been linked to serious liver damage.

  • Liver Safety Warnings

    Kava products have been linked to rare but serious liver damage, including deaths.

Natural compounds

Kavalactones

How it's prepared

Common ways Kava is prepared or sold. This isn't advice on how to take it; see Safety below.

Safety

Interactions with medicines

  • Don't combine kava with alcohol, sedatives (medicines that make you sleepy) or benzodiazepines. Talk to your healthcare provider before using it with any medicine.[2]Health agency

Side effects

  • Kava can cause stomach upset, headache and dizziness. Long-term, heavy use can cause dry, scaly, flaky skin, red eyes, and temporary yellowing of the skin and nails.[2]Health agency

Pregnancy

  • Kava carries special risks during pregnancy and breastfeeding because it contains harmful substances.[2]Health agency

Toxicity testing

  • Kava products have been linked to rare but sometimes serious liver damage, including deaths. Early cases involved extracts made with alcohol or acetone, but traditional water-based kava drinks have also caused liver injury.[2]Health agency

What does the research say?

Traditional use

These are traditional uses, not proven treatments.

  • Kava, a member of the pepper family, has been used by Pacific Islanders for thousands of years in ceremonies and as a medicine. In the United States it is sold as a supplement and promoted for anxiety.[2]Health agency

Research in people

  • Research suggests kava supplements may help with anxiety, but it takes several weeks to work. It doesn't appear to help symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder. There's little research on other uses.[2]Health agency

  • A 2018 review of 7 placebo-controlled trials found kava worked better than placebo in 3 of them. Pooling 5 trials (330 people), people taking kava were 1.5 times as likely to respond. Side effects were no more common than with placebo. The authors concluded kava may be a short-term treatment for anxiety, and that liver damage is especially possible if it's taken for more than 8 weeks.[3]Review or trial

    Technical detail: responder risk ratio 1.50 (95% CI 1.12 to 2.01).

  • A 2018 review of kava for generalized anxiety disorder found mixed results: two placebo-controlled trials and one comparison trial favored kava, but one trial found no difference from placebo. Pooled results favored kava but weren't statistically significant, so the evidence isn't enough to confirm it works better than placebo.[4]Review or trial

    Technical detail: 3 placebo-controlled trials (n = 130), SMD 0.59 to 0.99; 120 to 280 mg kavalactones a day for 4 to 8 weeks was well tolerated.

In short

Linked to serious liver damage; don't combine with alcohol or sleep and anxiety medicines.

Sources

  1. [1] WHO monographs on selected medicinal plants, Volume 2 — "Rhizoma Piperis Methystici" monograph — World Health OrganizationGovernment health agency
  2. [2] Kava: Usefulness and Safety — National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NIH)Government health agency
  3. [3] The effectiveness and safety of Kava Kava for treating anxiety symptoms: A systematic review and analysis of randomized clinical trials — Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice · DOI: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2018.09.003Review or clinical trial
  4. [4] Kava for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Review of Current Evidence — Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine · DOI: 10.1089/acm.2018.0001Review or clinical trial

This information is educational and traditional in nature, and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Unfamiliar word? See what these words mean.