Truth About Tudei Kava Dangers? Few things have been more controversial in recent history of the Kava Marketplace, especially when it comes to opinions that have been disseminated as fact on Kava forums, than the issue of Flavokawains and their possible hepatotoxicity. If we were to believe the opinions of a few non-scientists, we may be led to believe that Flavokawain B is the scourge of the Kava industry. We would also be led to believe that any Kava that is “Tudei” Kava, needs to be demonized and wiped from the marketplace. Using science and peer reviewed articles, I choose to offer a contrary set of facts that shows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Flavokawain B (FKB), at least in any consumable amount by any human, is not only NOT harmful, but may also have several healthy and protective benefits to the consumer.

First, I want to quote one of the studies we will dissect in this article:

Kava alone did not affect mouse growth and induced no signs of hepatotoxicity. Various causes have been proposed for kava’s hepatotoxic risk, but none have been validated so far.

This is from a study called “Flavokawains A and B in Kava, Not Dihydromethysticin, Potentiate Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatotoxicity in C57BL/6 Mice” came to this conclusion. Researcher went on to conclude; “Anxiolytic kava products have been associated with rare but severe hepatotoxicity in humans. This adverse potential has never been captured in animal models, and the responsible compound(s) remains to be determined.”

Context is everything here. In the reviewed research studies that found Flavokawain B (FKB) to be harmful, also used extraordinarily large amounts of FKB in the tested population. One of the reasons for these extreme doses, is because researchers are looking for the elusive “LD50” number. This number is the lethal dose for 50% of a tested population.  In rare cases, there is no LD50, as in the case of Cannabis. But a great number of products we consume every day have LD50 results in extremely large quantities.

Also, we must understand that cases of hepatotoxicity with Kava are extraordinarily rare. You literally have a greater risk of having a vending machine fall on you and kill you, or dying from a lightning strike than you have of experiencing any hepatotoxicity from the consumption of Kava, Tudei, Noble, or otherwise. Furthermore, the above quoted study goes on to state; “∼90% of the purported hepatotoxic cases associated with kava usage involved concomitant consumption of other drugs or dietary supplements, suggesting that kava’s hepatotoxic risk may be mediated via herb–herb or herb–drug interactions.”

So, out of the extraordinarily rare cases of hepatotoxicity that MAY be associated with Kava in general, over 90% of those rare cases involved “concomitant consumption” of other drugs and/or dietary supplements. One of those drugs is acetaminophen, which carries its own warnings regarding liver damage when taken with things such as alcohol. If someone chooses to consume Kava while concurrently consuming acetaminophen and alcohol, it’s not fair to blame the Kava any the health issues that may arise. Yet, this has been precisely the case in 90% of the already rarely reported cases of Kava and potential liver damage.

REFERENCES

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Johnson, T. E., Hermanson, D., Wang, L., Kassie, F., Upadhyaya, P., O’Sullivan, M. G., Hecht, S. S., Lu, J., and Xing, C. ( 2011) Lung tumorigenesis suppressing effects of a commercial kava extract and its selected compounds in A/J mice Am. J. Chin. Med. 39,  727– 742.

Lebot, V., Do, T. K., and Legendre, L. ( 2014) Detection of flavokavins (A, B, C) in cultivars of kava (Piper methysticum) using high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) Food Chem. 151,  554– 560.

Johnson, T. E., Kassie, F., O’Sullivan, M. G., Negia, M., Hanson, T. E., Upadhyaya, P., Ruvolo, P. P., Hecht, S. S., and Xing, C. ( 2008) Chemopreventive effect of kava on 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone plus benzo[a]pyrene-induced lung tumorigenesis in A/J mice Cancer Prev. Res. (Phila.) 1,  430– 438.

Narayanapillai, S. C., Balbo, S., Leitzman, P., Grill, A. E., Upadhyaya, P., Shaik, A. A., Zhou, B., O’Sullivan, M. G., Peterson, L., Lu, J., Hecht, S. S., and Xing, C. Dihydromethysticin (DHM) from kava blocks tobacco carcinogen 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK)-induced lung tumorigenesis and differentially reduces DNA damage in A/J mice. Carcinogenesis  2014.

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Triolet, J., Shaik, A. A., Gallaher, D. D., O’Sullivan, M. G., and Xing, C. ( 2012) Reduction in colon cancer risk by consumption of kava or kava fractions in carcinogen-treated rats Nutr. Cancer 64,  838– 846.

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Zi, X. and Simoneau, A. R. ( 2005) Flavokawain A, a Novel Chalcone from Kava Extract, Induces Apoptosis in Bladder Cancer Cells by Involvement of Bax Protein-Dependent and Mitochondria-Dependent Apoptotic Pathway and Suppresses Tumor Growth in Mice Cancer Res.65,  3479– 3486.