Kava Not Only A Relaxant But Also Helps With Muscle Growth, Which Can Benefit an Entire Economy.

Christopher Hruby
Plants and Civi
Section 2

Christopher Hruby
Plant and Civi
Section 2
Kava Not Only A Relaxant But Also Helps With Muscle Growth, Which Can Benefit an Entire Economy.
Kava has always been known for a relaxant that can cause health issues if used in large amounts. But there are also benefits to the plant as well. The South Pacific Kava plants roots provide a natural relaxant, while at the same time allowing an increase in muscle growth to increase as well. Since the economies of countries in the South Pacific such as Fiji are dependent on this plant; it can be sold for the use in work out supplements to promote muscle growth. Which the demand for new work out supplements is always at a high level and that is why the economy of Fiji would increase for growing this plant.
The Kava plant is also known as the Piper methysticum. It is a perennial shrub and it is part of the piperacea family (Sarris and Scholey, 2012). Kava is from the South Pacific region of the world. This is one crop that truly only grows in this region. Seeing how it needs the warm weather and the moist ground in order to flourish (Sarris and Scholey, 2012). Although the plant only grows in the region of Fiji, the plant has not been needed in mass amounts as of now. This is because of the health issues to the liver that arose during the 1990’s, mainly Hepatotoxicity (Sarris and Scholey, 2012).
The process in how the kava plant is consumed is fairly simple. The Kava plant has been found to have leaves that are toxic with alkaloid which means they cannot be used (Sarris and Scholey, 2012). The Kava plant is harvested but the only part used from the plant is the roots. This is what allows the benefits of the relaxant to occur. The preparation of the roots determines the potency of the fluid it makes (Sarris and Scholey, 2012). The fresh roots of the Kava seem to be high dosage of the natural relaxant, while the dried up and more common version is less of a dosage (Sarris and Scholey, 2012). The roots are used by simply brewing them in water and then are consumed by drinking the fluid. This is all that is needed to take the relaxant. The Kava plant is used almost more for recreational use in this region. (Sarris and Scholey, 2012).
As the far as the South Pacific it is vital all throughout their culture. The Kava plant is known as Yaqona in Fiji and Kadavu. It has been domesticated in the South Pacific Islands for over 3000 years (Sofer, 2007). The plant usually is grown for 3 to 4 years before harvested. This is so the roots of the plant can grow enough to be efficient to produce enough Kava to drink. But for special occasions such as a ceremony the plant may not be harvested until 10 years (Sofer, 2007). This is to recognize the importance of the plant to the Fiji society (Sofer, 2007).
The health issues with Kava have been serious in the past. The issue that most commonly occurs with Kava is Hepatotoxicity (Baker, 2011). This issue simply deals with the liver. It causes the liver to fail and this has been the major problem with Kava, which has been the main reason for Kava being banned in a lot of countries (Baker, 2011). This is extremely where a lot of European countries really started hating the plant after deaths from it was found. In fact the two main countries banning it, was the United Kingdom and Germany, which occurred in 2002 and 2003 (Teschke & Gaus, 2003). The BfArM is a German regulatory group and it tested the Hepatotoxicity effect on the liver with nineteen patients (Teschke & Gaus, 2003). Throughout the studies Hepatotoxicity was only found throughout one of the nineteen patients. Also there was a trace of it occurring in another one. But it is also important to know that the patients that encountered these problems were either elderly or still a teenager (Teschke & Gaus, 2003). For instance one of the patients was eighty one and the other seventeen. From these conclusions it is clear Kava can cause Hepatotoxicity but it is also clear that it does not occur in everyone. Plus you have to take in account how much alcohol and other liver damage happened in the past to that certain person (Teschke & Gaus, 2003). The kava plant is also prescribed as medication in some countries and it is said to be taken in certain dosages. For instance the manufactures of this product have stated that it is safe to take 70 to 240mg a day (Humberston & Akhtar, 2003). There are four people in Germany that got a liver transplant due to Hepatotoxicity. But the key information is the fact that these patients exceeded the 240mg a day mark and this is where the main problems occurred (Humberston & Akhtar, 2003). The kava plant is known for being used to help with anxiety. But it also stimulates the muscles, which if in the process of muscle building it can help support faster muscle recovery. This will be a key supplement in a market that is always striving for a product that simple helps people gain muscle faster (Baker, 2011). Now the skepticism here would be that liver damage can occur. But this is why Kava would have to be mixed in a supplement such as creatine in light amounts. If it is regulated it can solve most over consumption problems. Also most supplements that are in the market today can cause pressure on the liver if over consumed. Just like with any plant consumed the more amount of intake, the greater chance of some toxicity to occur.
It is shown that kava in the south pacific countries such as Fiji has shown that kava may not affect the liver like it does in people from different regions of the world (Clough & Bailie, 2003). For example in the South Pacific less alcohol consumption occurs, compared to North American our European countries. This could explain the tolerance to the kava. Also the fact that kava has been used for centuries in this region could mean a certain immunity to the kava (Clough & Bailie, 2003). But the fact is that when the people of the South Pacific were evaluated, it was reported that they did not see any unusual functions to the liver. Now in this same report they did a test on how the recovery rate of the liver on people who used kava (Clough & Bailie, 2003). It showed that even when a group of North American people took kava for 2 months the liver did show increases in the GGT levels (Clough & Bailie, 2003). But after one year of no kava intake the levels were back to normal. From these studies it is still clear that the liver is affected, although the liver does recover from any abnormal behaviors with time (Clough & Bailie, 2003).
While another study showed that the kava only becomes toxic to the liver by the way it is extracted (Whitton, Lau & Salisbury, 2003). When glutathione occurs in the body’s cells, it occurs in constant amounts (Whitton, Lau & Salisbury, 2003). But with certain lactone levels it will disrupt the glutathione levels in the body. This causes major issues in the body to occur. The glutathione allows amino acids to be absorbed by the gut, while the glutathione can really just keep reprocessed over in hepatocyte (Whitton, Lau & Salisbury, 2003). This all protects against lactones being administered. Now when kava is in its traditional South Pacific extract the glutathione is processed at a one to one ratio with the lactones (Whitton, Lau & Salisbury, 2003). This is when everything is going smoothly and no issues with the liver occur. The main problem comes from the extracts that are standardized (Whitton, Lau & Salisbury, 2003). This is because when the kava is standardized it happens to have no glutathione in it. But it has up to thirty times the concentration levels of lactones (Whitton, Lau & Salisbury, 2003). So this study came to the conclusion that there is a simple solution to prevent liver damage. In the process of extraction the solvent for the organic concentration must be limited to a maximum amount of twenty five percent in order to keep the glutathione effect (Whitton, Lau & Salisbury, 2003). It is clear that kava can have some health debates, but one thing that is known is the economic benefit for the South Pacific countries such as Fiji. The Kava plant grows over in the South Pacific Islands very well. But it does not grow well all over the world. This is what makes this plant vital to the economies of the South Pacific Islands. They would almost have a monopoly over everyone else in this circumstance. Especially since the kava plant is grown traditionally in this region, so the one to one ratio between glutathione and lactones allows the plant to be less harsh on the liver (Whitton, Lau & Salisbury, 2003). This crop for the Fiji and Kadavu has become the major source of exports and is vital to their survival strategy (Sofer, 2007). It is thier major cash crop. The major leap in production of Kava appeared in 1991 when the plant was being used to treat anxiety (Sofer, 2007). Also this plant was starting to be used as a recreational relaxant because of how easy it was to consume and how well it worked as a muscle relaxant. This is when the health issues started to occur and the boom in production of Kava was going to come to an end, but the plant that was used was the strain from Europe. The production rate has now dropped rapidly since then and the issue occurs on how the small countries of the South Pacific, like Fiji, will grow there economy without this plant (Sofer, 2007). If the usage of Kava can increase muscle growth by helping with the muscle recovery process it is clear a lot can benefit. The demand of this cash crop could increase dramatically. This would allow many farmers in the region to grow their own Kava and with more owners opening their business in this region, means more jobs and an economy that can boom all off of one plant (Sofer, 2007).
Kava as of now is looked at as a relaxant that cannot be used in any way due to the problems that occur with the liver. I am trying to point out the fact that there may be a useful solution for this plant. Plus if the plant is monitored and the glutathione levels match the lactone levels, the health issues that people argue about can be solved (Whitton, Lau & Salisbury, 2003). This would allow people to realize the plant is not a danger and from this European countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom will unban the product (Teschke & Gaus, 2003). There is always research being done to try and find a plant that has certain plants qualities. In this case the plant will be used to increase the economy of South Pacific countries that cannot thrive in today’s market. This is all because the market for people trying to find the best supplement for muscle building is always increasing. Kava could be the answer to their issues of recovering at a faster rate after a workout. This means that the Kava plant will sell all over the world because working out is a worldwide tendency. The key to the idea of the economy increasing in the South Pacific is the region that needs to occur in order for the plant to successfully grow. They have this specific region and this will allow farmers to start producing a cash crop that can make them a significant amount of income compared to the amount they are making today off of exports (Sofer, 2007). Fiji in particular can really become a strong economy because as of now their economy is mostly all off of tourism, but with the Kava they could add a major export to their economy as well. The main argument for this entire process of kava being legal worldwide is the health issues. But as I have pointed out there are many reasons why that liver failure occurred to those who developed it. From over consumption of the product to the region it is grown in. They all factor into the current kava plant and how safe it can be in the future.

Sources:
Baker, J. (2011). Tradition and toxicity: Evidential cultures in the kava safety debate. Social Studies of Science 41: 361-384.
Clough, A., & Bailie, R. (2003). Liver function test abnormalities in users of Aqueous Kava Extracts. Clinical Toxicology 41: 821-829.
Humberston, C., & Akhtar, J. (2003). Acute hepatitis induced by kava kava. Clinical Toxicology 41: 109–113.
Sarris, J., & Scholey, A. (2012). The acute effects of kava and oxazepam on anxiety, mood. Psychopharmacol Clin 27: 262-269.

Sofer, M. (2007). Yaqona and the fijian periphery revisited. Asia Pacific Viewpoint 48: 234-249.
Teschke, R., & Gaus, W. (2003). Kava extracts: Safety and risks including rare hepatotoxicity.
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Whitton, P., Lau, A., & Salisbury, A. (2003). Kava lactones and the kava-kava controversy. Phytochemistry 64: 673-679.