Herb library · Herb · Catha edulis
Khat
An evergreen shrub of East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula whose fresh leaves are chewed by millions for their stimulant effect. Its main active compound, cathinone, acts much like amphetamine. Regular chewing is linked in people to high blood pressure, mouth lesions and liver injury.
Serious warning
Khat's stimulant, cathinone, acts much like amphetamine. Regular chewing is linked to high blood pressure, and reports of autoimmune hepatitis and of cirrhosis in young chronic chewers (28 patients in one 2026 case series, most with advanced disease) describe serious liver damage that improved in some cases after chewing stopped.
Traditional use
PROTA, the handbook of Plant Resources of Tropical Africa, records that fresh young leaves are chewed slowly, held in the cheek for hours, to fight fatigue in the fields, to stay awake while driving, trading or studying, and at religious and family gatherings, especially in Yemen, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia, and now in emigrant communities abroad; that dried leaves are made into a paste or a tea; and that in traditional African and Arabic medicine the leaves and roots are thought of as a remedy for nearly everything.
What studies show
- Limited
Blood pressure (harm): a 2025 meta-analysis of 15 observational studies with 12,409 people found that khat chewers were 2.4 times as likely to have high blood pressure as non-chewers. The studies were cross-sectional, so they show a link, not proof of cause.
- Limited
Mouth (harm): a 2026 meta-analysis found chewers far more likely to have white lesions inside the mouth (6 studies), which need a dentist's or doctor's check. Whether it raises the risk of mouth or throat cancer is uncertain: the pooled studies did not show a clear link.
- Insufficient
The traditional medicinal uses: no study of khat as a medicine in people was found.
Be careful of
Cautions
- NoteIt is a stimulant and can be habit-forming. Heavy use costs sleep, money and work time, which PROTA also records as a burden on families where chewing sessions are long.
- ConditionPeople with high blood pressure, heart disease, liver disease or a history of psychosis should not use it. In a 2019 household survey in a khat-growing area of Kenya, chewers were about twice as likely to report hallucinations.
- InteractionDo not combine it with other stimulants or with blood pressure medicine without your clinician's advice.
- PregnancyA 2023 meta-analysis found khat chewing in pregnancy linked to about 2.5 times the odds of low birth weight and higher odds of birth defects and of the baby dying around birth. Do not use it in pregnancy or while breastfeeding.
- Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.
Sources
- Does regular khat (Catha edulis) chewing in adults increase the risk of hypertension compared to non-use? A systematic review and meta-analysis (BMC Cardiovasc Disord, 2025) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Khat chewing and its association with oral/esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and oral white lesions: a systematic review and meta-analysis (Public Health, 2026) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Khat-associated autoimmune hepatitis: a review with RUCAM analysis (J Clin Transl Hepatol, 2025) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Suspected khat-associated cirrhosis: clinical characteristics of a 28-patient case series from a khat-endemic region (Ann Afr Med, 2026) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Khat use and psychotic symptoms in a rural khat growing population in Kenya: a household survey (BMC Psychiatry, 2019) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- The effects of khat use during pregnancy on perinatal and maternal outcomes: a meta-analysis (Arch Womens Ment Health, 2023) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Catha edulis — PROTA4U record (uses) (opens in a new tab) · PROTA · read September 25, 2026
Reviewed September 25, 2026.