Kava and Ashwaganda?

[Runding]

wow, I didn't even realize this thread existed. I've been taking ashwagandha with kava daily for about 2 months now. I normally have ashwagandha in the morning and kava at night. But, I also sometimes have both in the morning and kava at night. I haven't had any issues at all. I feel like the 'gandha helps with daily issues at work and keeping a level head, but the experience doesn't offer anything heady like a krunk experience does. I also don't find it to be a sedative, but I might be nuts.

 

[Rookietwoshoes]

Ashwaganda is an adaptogen, meaning it gives you what your body needs at the time that you take it. . During the day it helps me with energy while keeping my nerves calm.
If taken at night it helps one relax.

 

[50ShadesOfKava]

I can confirm that L-theanine potentiates a kava buzz, and can bring it back after it has faded. I usually take one of these before a kava session, and sometimes one after. Amazon product

 

[Steve Mariotti]

Also, green tea (not black or white) has L-theanine in it, so a strong cup of green tea is a good one with kava.

I drink green tea during the day at work.

 

[mjazzguitar]

For what it's worth, I've heard of folks combing herbs. If you go to a health food store and check out "anti stress teas" you'll find on the label that they combine 20 different herbs, granted those are in moderate amounts. Here's an article that discusses the effects of mixing kava with certain other herbs, but yeah, err on the side of caution:
http://kava.guru/ask-kava-guru/can-combine-kava-root/

That's the thing, these companies aren't herbalists. They might see that something promotes sleep, or is good for stress, or whatever, so they mix a bunch together and market it as such. However one of the herbs might raise your blood pressure, and another one might lower it. I remember yohimbine being marketed for a little while, and nowhere on the label did it say not to drink alcohol with it, which is a big risk.

 

[Kavo]

That's the thing, these companies aren't herbalists. They might see that something promotes sleep, or is good for stress, or whatever, so they mix a bunch together and market it as such. However one of the herbs might raise your blood pressure, and another one might lower it. I remember yohimbine being marketed for a little while, and nowhere on the label did it say not to drink alcohol with it, which is a big risk.

Yep, Yohimbine is an MAOI @Shredder which means Monamine Oxidase Inhibitor. Yes MAOI's are used as Anti-Depressants by suppressing MAO.
I tried some years ago and maaan, the old fellar was up all night LOL though it didn't increase the drive
Not necessarily Alcohol being the problem,but the one's with high amounts of Tyramine and foods like meat,cheese and fermented foods can cause a Hypertensive crisis.
Ashwagandha (Withania) is a tonic/adaptogenic and does help to control Cortisol flooding under stress. It's name basically means Sweat of Horse.
It's great stuff,easy to grow and process at home too

 

[Steve Mariotti]

I'm skeptical of the notion of "adaptogens" and would love to the see the science if anyone has any good links. It seems like an overly general description without calling out a specific method of action.

 

[Kavo]

Hey Steve, basically the term "Adaptogens" were coined by 2 Russian Botanists as a result of studying 1000's of plants. They found that some species were able to survive the Ice Age by adapting. They also found that these particular Siberian plants edit >and fungi <had "adaptogenic" effects. The term was adopted to other species from around the world that exhibited similar qualities. They published a lot of data on them and the effects on Humans. I'll try to dig up something if I can access my old HDD.

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

Yeah they don't have a specific mechanism of action but act on all the organs. Over half the studies are still in Russian only and other languages due to cold war blah blah

 

[kavadude]

Sounds legit