Author Ashley McCarthy / Category Kava / Published: Nov-11-2018

The Kava or kava kava plant (piper methysticum) is a native shrub in the South Pacific Islands. Piper Methysticum literally translates to "intoxicating pepper" and kava kava to “bitter”, which is a spot on definition to both the effects and the flavor of the extracted tea. Kava tea is water-based drink made from the extracted actives located inside of the kava kava plant roots. South pacific islanders have been enjoying kava tea for hundreds if not thousands of years in the countries of; Tonga, Hawaii, Vanuatu, Samoa, and even Fiji, where the tea is considered to be the national drink of the country and is consumed on an everyday basis.

The tea is traditionally extracted from the plant by first removing the roots of the plant, then shaving off all of the bark covering them. The leftover roots are ground up into a chunky powder which will be used either immediately for fresh tea, or dried out for later use. In America we do not have access to raw kava root due to it commonly spoiling while being shipped (It can take up to 6 weeks aboard cargo ship!), so kava powder is dried out to preserve the key actives and make it sturdy enough to be transported to our ports (Vanuatu ain't close!). This is why whenever you're out in the South Pacific you MUST take advantage of the fresh kava kava!

Kava tea is traditionally brewed in a beautifully ornate large wooden bowl called a "tanoa". Here the root powder is poured into a thin mesh bag, which is finally tied shut and soaked in the bowl with water. Although every culture has their own style of ceremonial mixing, usually the bag is then squeezed and set back into the water to be picked up and repeatedly squeezed again. This meshing is essential to extract the active ingredients within the roots called kavalactones.

Once consumed, the actives in the drink known as Kavalactones create a relaxing sedative effect, calming you without impairing your mental clarity. Although hard to exactly explain, as most people's kava experienes may differ, the sensation is commonly referred to as a sensory-heightened state without the corresponding negative effects often found in recreational/social lubricants such as alcohol. However, consuming too much kava in a short space of time may cause symptoms such as nausea, double vision, sleepiness and skin-drying. Anecdotally the author notes that people who have a particular sensitivity to peppers should not ingest the kava root (such as with micronized powder), as this may cause stomach pains/issues.

Kava's popularity has grown so rapidly in the last decade, that even celebrity physicians such as Dr. Andrew Weil have made it a point to state their views on how, "Preliminary evidence suggests that kava may work as well for anxiety as potentially addictive benzodiazepine drugs."  Which may come as a bit of a worry to larger Pharmaceutical companies who hold the patents for these drugs, although rumor has that they attempting to stunt the industry in 2002 through the liver scares.

Although many variables may exist on your kava journey, there are a couple generic points you must keep in mind.

Kava is known to have a reverse tolerance - Unlike alcohol, your tolerance to Kava will decrease the more often you drink it, meaning you'll enjoy greater effects the more often you drink it. It may take some time to adjust and get used to the active material. Most people complaining about it not working usually have not built up the tolerance for it yet. Stick to it! To get a background, it took 3 trips to the local kava bar before the founder of DrinkRoot even felt anything!

Kava is best consumed on an empty stomach - Food is known to muttle the effects of kava and the combination we've seen, at least anecdotally, to enhance possibilities of nausea. Because of this we recommend drinking on an empty stomach, well after your last meal and sometimes before it. Our Fijian friends hold their ceremonies after work an hour or so before dinner and we recommend to do the same

The last decade has seen an elevated interest from research scientists who, since mostly debunking the 2002 toxicity scare, have been increasing funding for clinical testing for kava as a natural anti-anxiety medication. In fact, recent evidence of the anxiolytic herb causing hepatotoxicity in the liver suggests "poor quality of kava raw material as a cause of its toxicity." With science researchers Teschke, Harris, and others suggesting "going back to the traditional use of kava for the sake of the patients."

We actually conducted an in-depth analysis on the liver hepatotoxicity cases and founds some hidden statements in the research literature about the correlation with kava extracts.

You can read more about the more thorough article 👉 Here.

The tea itself is considered to be the best natural symptomatic treatment option for patients with anxiety, boasting significant reductions in both placebo and double-blind cinical trials with a 95% confidence interval. Todays stressed out youth are even hailing it as "Natures Xanax".

Over 20 clinical studies to date with many more undergoing trials, currently support the tea's rare effectiveness as an potent remedy in easing the suffering of nerve-wrecked patients. An example being the 2013 published clinical trial by the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, stating empirical evidence of Kava reducing symptoms in patients who were suffering from general anxiety disorder (GAD).

Again, we wrote an in-depth article specifically on this troublesome topic.

You can read more about the more thorough article 👉 Here.

👆 We HIGHLY Recommend you read this if you consume kava.