Kava: a drink for calm?
Short-term yes; for an anxiety disorder, not shown.
Kavahana sells Kava Nectar, made from noble kava root, as “the non-alcoholic drink that actually works”. Short answer: pooled placebo-controlled trials found kava extract eased anxiety in the short term, so the evidence grades well. But the largest, longest trial — 16 weeks in people with diagnosed generalized anxiety disorder — found no difference from placebo and more abnormal liver tests. Severe liver injury has been reported with kava and is not yet explained.
How the evidence flows
Each claim (middle), the studies that tested it (left) — green found it, red found nothing — and the grade they add up to (right). Drawn from the same records as the grades below. Tap to open full size.
Kava (Kavahana) · evidence checked 2026-10-27
What the research shows
Grades are calculated from the studies listed, by fixed rules.
- Kava eases anxietyEstablished
Older placebo-controlled trials, pooled twice, found kava extract eased anxiety in the short term. The largest and longest trial — 16 weeks in people diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder — found no difference from placebo, and more liver-test abnormalities on kava. So: maybe for short-term, situational anxiety; not shown for an anxiety disorder.
- Pooled analysis of randomized trials, size not stated (2000) — primary outcome: improved. Funder not checked.
- Pooled analysis of randomized trials, 330 people (2018) — primary outcome: improved. Funder not checked.
- Double-blind randomized trial, 171 people, 16 weeks (2020) — primary outcome: no difference from placebo. Funder not checked.
- Kava Nectar is “the non-alcoholic drink that actually works”No real evidence
The ad said “Our Santa Monica bar has served over 500,000 cups of kava. Here’s why people keep coming back. / Kava Nectar is made from cold-pressed noble kava root, enjoyed in the South Pacific for over 3,000…”
Kavahana · Facebook ad, seen Oct 2026
We found no study of Kava Nectar. The trials above used standardized extracts in tablets; the ad does not say how much kavalactone a cup holds. Severe liver injury has been reported with kava and is not yet explained, and the 16-week trial found abnormal liver tests more often on kava — worth raising with a doctor before drinking it regularly.