Is Kava Really an Intoxicant?
jposer I have read these stories about some obscure kava that is so strong and intoxicating, that you can't even walk after you drink it. There is also some story about some stuff that knocks you out for two days. And then we all know it is known as the intoxicating pepper. My personal experience with kava has never yielded anything close to a state of intoxication. While I thoroughly enjoy it, I usually ony drink 2 or 3 cups of Kava in a sitting. My experience probably rates closer to taking a mild dose of muscle relaxers as opposed to putting away several martinis. Am I just not drinking enough? Or maybe these are just exaggerated legends that have been passed around for years? I am curious about any of your experiences.
yee
quote:
Originally posted by jposer
I have read these stories about some obscure kava that is so strong and intoxicating, that you can't even walk after you drink it. There is also some story about some stuff that knocks you out for two days. And then we all know it is known as the intoxicating pepper. My personal experience with kava has never yielded anything close to a state of intoxication. While I thoroughly enjoy it, I usually ony drink 2 or 3 cups of Kava in a sitting. My experience probably rates closer to taking a mild dose of muscle relaxers as opposed to putting away several martinis. Am I just not drinking enough? Or maybe these are just exaggerated legends that have been passed around for years? I am curious about any of your experiences.
Kava is not a martini or like any alcoholic drink. And the two-day (tuday) kava of Vanuatu, as I understand it, isn't taken regularly. The tuday is reputedly high in DHK & DHM. I haven't seen it here and people in Hawai'i apparently prefer Hawaiian kava ('awa) which is high in K (kavain). At one time, at the height of the kava craze a few years ago, kava from outside Hawai'i was reputedly being diluted by unscrupulous people with used kava grinds or other fillers; hence, contributing to a weak effect. I haven't heard of any such reports recently, so I guess those guys may have gone out of business. The effectiveness of the beverage preparation is also important. A poorly prepared beverage amounts to a waste of kava material. As you probably can see for yourself, unlike alcohol, the rational mind apparently functions nicely with kava while providing a sense of well-being. The extent of this effect appears to depend mostly on dosage and is proportional to the the degree of anxiety or distress one may have. The more one has anxiety or distress, the more higher the apparent effectiveness of the kava. The muscle relaxation I experience is a bonus, and this has helped provide me with temporary relief from a sore shoulder or back I've experienced. These two aspects, I feel are important in music performance, where I feel that kava has helped my focus and relax my muscles, esp. in where speed and agility are required. I usually stop when I feel that I'm satisfied with the effect. I don't believe intoxication has ever been an accurate term for my drinking. However, perhaps others may want to share their experiences. mahalo, Jonathan See also the posting on straining http://jonathanyee.com/nativeplantsforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24 http://jonathanyee.com/nativeplantsforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=35
muskie
quote:
Originally posted by jposer My personal experience with kava has never yielded anything close to a state of intoxication. While I thoroughly enjoy it, I usually ony drink 2 or 3 cups of Kava in a sitting. My experience probably rates closer to taking a mild dose of muscle relaxers as opposed to putting away several martinis. Am I just not drinking enough? Or maybe these are just exaggerated legends that have been passed around for years? I am curious about any of your experiences.
I was once fooled by a very potent kava with a slower-than-expected onset, and drank more of it than I bargained for. Mercifully I'm a wheelchair user and don't need to worry about standing upright, because I'm certain I wouldn't have been able to-- I was barely able to navigate my way from the kitchen to the bedroom. It wasn't some exotic Vanuatu tudei that did this to me-- it was an easily-obtained variety. I don't care to repeat the experience (it came with a boatload of nausea) but I'm confident I could reproduce it with nearly any potent kava just by drinking way too much of it way too fast. Two or three cups of a standard (1 tablespoon to 1 cup) preparation drunk at a sane pace wouldn't be enough-- maybe three cups, drunk recklessly in succession, of a three tablespoons-to-one-cup blender-prepared kava might do it, though I really do not endorse the experiment for anyone who doesn't enjoy "praying to the porcelain god" afterwards. Externally, the state I found myself in resembled drunkenness. Internally it didn't feel like alcoholic drunkenness but it definitely fell under the category of "intoxicated". Kava in moderation is a good thing. Kava intoxication is not so good a thing (trust me!), but it's certainly real. If I can pontificate further on the theme of moderation (and who's to stop me from trying? :-)), "more" kava, in my experience, is not necessarily "better". "Better", for myself anyway, is cooperating with the kava-- for example watching a sunset, or meditating, or just sitting quietly, rather than, say, watching TV news or trying to do bookkeeping. More kava, after a point, is just a route to becoming not-particularly-enjoyably sleepy or sloppy. If what someone wants is to be heavily under the influence of an overpowering drug, there are better substances (both legal and illegal) for that.
rickhard I realize that this thread is old, but, it's something I can relate to. I've had an experience with kava that could best be described as intoxication. I used to order from a supplier that provided a really finely ground powder. You could mix it, drink it straight, no straining required. It was micronized. That supplier went out of business, and I found myself trading suppliers. Bad thing to do, considering the variation in strengths that you can find. Anyway, one day, I got some new kava. It was from Vanuatu and was waka grade. And, it was micronized. I'd been using 4 tbsp of another brand which wasn't micronized, and just dealing with the chunks. ugh. I still shiver when I remember that! I used 4 tbsp of this new micronized stuff one day while I was at work. (as I said in another post, I'm in sales, and usually, the mellowness helps.) I had to go to a meeting right after I took it. In the meeting, auditory effects came on quickly. Sounds sounded really pronounced and clear. Then came the euphoria. Hit like an IV shot of demerol. Then, came the really bad effect. My head started buzzing, and I lost control of my ability to speak. I was asked a question in the meeting. I knew what I wanted to say (Kava cruelly doesn't dull the mind) but it came out as garbled gibberish. I looked incredibly foolish. I felt great, but looked dumb.[8D] After the meeting (I'd regained control of my faculties by this time) I explained that I was trying a new supplement, and it interacted with a cold medicine. People thought I was having a stroke, I had been drinking, I was on drugs, any number of explanations was offered. But, the fact is, I miscalculated and got hammered by kava. I still laugh at that. Funny event. [:)] -Rick
replicant76@sbcglobal.net i think i may have found it https://www.nakamalathome.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=N&Product_Code=EBPK10&Category_Code= "stop your foul whining, you filthy piece of distended rat dung"