text:  Ava, or kava, is consumed throughout the Pacific as a drink made from the roots of the kava plant. Earlier this year, the state health department declared the drink as generally safe to drink, and some researchers have a hunch that ava consumption could actually impart health benefits and maybe even prevent cancers from developing. Chenghua Xing is a professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Florida who has studied the kava plant for over 20 years.