The reason why islanders are able to safely consume this beverage without the side effects is because they consume kava the only way it's meant to be consumed. And that's by crushing the root, adding water, and straining. That's it!! And they consume the root and only the root of the plant. Because consuming any part of the plant above the root of the plant can be potentially harmful to the human body. Why try and mess with mother natures recipe by extracting one part of the plant to make a high concentrate pill to consume? And in other reports I've read of people drinking kava tea (which is consisted of the leaves of the plant than steeped like tea) which is a terrible thing to do.