Kava for Stress
Kava has only thin, largely borrowed evidence for easing stress, and because it has been linked to rare but severe liver injury, it is not a recommended way to manage stress.
Why this grade7-layer evidence engine
The grade is Weak because direct evidence for stress is thin. Only one small randomized trial actually used a stress endpoint: Cropley 2002 (PMID 11807960, n=54) found that seven days of kava blunted the rise in systolic blood pressure during an acute mental-stress task. The other two trials (PMID 14692723, n=141; PMID 23194958, n=58) measured anxiety and tension, so their benefit is borrowed for stress by extrapolation. All three are small, dated to 1996-2003, and report no usable effect sizes.
Whatever modest signal exists is overshadowed by safety. Kava has been repeatedly tied to rare but severe liver injury, including hepatitis, liver failure, transplant, and death. The U.S. FDA issued a consumer warning after 25-plus adverse-event reports, the WHO published a 2007 hepatotoxicity risk assessment, and the UK and Germany went further, banning or revoking kava medicinal products in 2002 over liver concerns.
Clinical bodies echo this caution. NIH's NCCIH notes kava may help anxiety but flags liver injury that is sometimes fatal; Mayo Clinic states plainly to avoid kava, and Cleveland Clinic warns against use by anyone with liver problems or who drinks alcohol. None endorse kava specifically for stress. Set against a documented risk of serious liver harm, this thin, indirect efficacy data does not support using kava for stress.
Scoring transparency
All scores computed by a 7-layer evidence engine — fully auditable▸View the full decision path (audit trail)
- compute_raw_score — 加權公式: L2×0.30 + L3×0.25 + L5×0.25 + L11×0.10 + L1×0.10 = 0.473
- tier_from_score — 依分數區間映射至 tier letter
- apply_hec_rules — 無高階證據可裁決
- tier_strict_requirement_check — Tier 條件達標，未降階
- detect_disputes — 偵測到 0 個 hard + 1 個 soft dispute
- decide_status — 依 tier + dispute 結果決定 status