Kava Kava

[bloads]

Anyone use this legal herb for anxiety? I've recently starting taking extracts of it, it works wonders for my anxiety. I tend to drink a lot, anxiety seems to promote this, and drinking kava kava definitely changes my mindset where I no longer crave drinks/shots (I'm a bartender). This thread has a few purposes: to inform people about the herb, to figure out good sources of it, to figure out if growing it is feasible, and to find out different preparations of it.

Here's the little info I know.
The medicinal part of the plant is from the root. It's a plant native to South Pacific islands, though Hawaii has some too. There's many different 'strains'. Some of the kavalactones are water soluble, others are oil soluble (evidently this means that making a drink that has oil in it will enhance the effects of the kava). It was featured in the movie 'Endless Summer'; one of the main characters had to retire to his tent because he'd had too much kava during a tribal ceremony.

 

[El Cerebro]

i've read to not use it concurrently with regular alcohol consumption, can have very negative effects on the liver that way. the peel and leaves also have a potentially liver-damaging compound, so only the root parts/extract should be ingested.

apparently Fijian society is rather mellow and anxiety-free, likely the result of heavy Kava consumption as a social norm.

 

[chickenman]

Been to Fiji and participated in Kava ceremonies with the locals, not tourist shows.
Gets you real mellow, we would pass the cup all nite,,,
It was an honor to be accecpted. Tasted like bitter mud.
My mother was a school teacher and their school district was discarding all their books.
We arranged to have them sent over and distributed all over the islands.
When we returned a few years later they had a parade and feast in our honor.
The Fijians are some of the happiest care free people Ive ever met...
1/2 the population is Indian. They came from India to harvest sugar cane way back in the day. Many were cannabalized at first, still some tension between the races,but totaly safe for tourists.