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New to Kava. Have a Couple of Questions. Kava for social anxiety?

BlackCrow

BlackCrow

Newbie
Hey guys! In the past two weeks I've been looking into Kava and K@ in order to help reduce my anxiety. I suffer from moderate GAD, severe Social Anxiety, and mild-moderate Major Depression. I wanted to begin with Kava first before moving onto K@. What I've found so far about Kava, is that as a general guideline, different regions from which your obtain your Kava will result in different effects for the user:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Kava/comments/2ppj6r/different_strains_different_effects/

Can anyone vouch for this? I've also learned from my brief researching, that the chemotype of the Kava can give you clues as to its effects.

With all of the strains and vendors, I'm at a bit of a loss as to which strain would be best for me. I obviously want something that will ease my anxiety, calm my nerves down and make me more sociable. A sample pack would be great too if you guys can recommend me one.

What strainers do ya'll use to filter your Kava? I've seen many people using different varieties of mesh bags.

Lastly, what is the general ratio of Kava to water? How many servings does one batch make? How much Kava should I consume per day? Can I store prepared Kava in the refrigerator, if so for how long?

Thanks.
 
Groggy

Groggy

Kava aficionado
Admin
BlackCrow said:
Hey guys! In the past two weeks I've been looking into Kava and K@ in order to help reduce my anxiety. I suffer from moderate GAD, severe Social Anxiety, and mild-moderate Major Depression. I wanted to begin with Kava first before moving onto K@. What I've found so far about Kava, is that as a general guideline, different regions from which your obtain your Kava will result in different effects for the user:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Kava/comments/2ppj6r/different_strains_different_effects/

Can anyone vouch for this? I've also learned from my brief researching, that the chemotype of the Kava can give you clues as to its effects.

With all of the strains and vendors, I'm at a bit of a loss as to which strain would be best for me. I obviously want something that will ease my anxiety, calm my nerves down and make me more sociable. A sample pack would be great too if you guys can recommend me one.

What strainers do ya'll use to filter your Kava? I've seen many people using different varieties of mesh bags.

Lastly, what is the general ratio of Kava to water? How many servings does one batch make? How much Kava should I consume per day? Can I store prepared Kava in the refrigerator, if so for how long?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum BlackCrow :) I will do my best to address as many questions you have asked as I have some knowledge in. Everyone will have their favorite prep methods and strainer bags they use, many vendors recommended through this website will send you a free strainer bag with your purchase and that saves you money and worry of getting the proper bag. I personally use @Kavafied's 75 micron, Tongan style mesh bag for my traditional preps. It's the strongest one I have used thus far in my 6 month kava journey. It's super strong and filters out all the crap you don't want to drink.
I recommend steering clear of any information on the web other than the information on this website, this community is amazingly supportive and chock full of priceless information. Check these links out as a place to get more info;
http://kavaforums.com/forum/brdc-document/
http://kavaforums.com/forum/wiki/index/

I started drinking kava for anxiety as well, I was on Benzo's for about 10 years and since becoming a regular kava drinker, I have never looked back! There is a small learning curve to narrow down what works for you (strains, serving amount, etc) You could easily spend a few weeks reading all the posts on this forum by members with many more years of experience than me.

I have never tried K@, but from what I read here, it's highly addictive and not worth the side effects.

Beyond all the information on this website, you will not find a more supportive group of people anywhere on the iterwebz, that's the main reason I spend so much time here. There is a thread here in the off topic forum about Yerba Mate, I recommend you look into it as well, yerba mate has amazing nutrional value along with other great benefits that compliment kava.
http://kavaforums.com/forum/forums/yerba-mate.154/
 
BlackCrow

BlackCrow

Newbie
Thanks Winpig! I appreciate you taking the time help a newbie like me out. I will look into the mesh bag and the links you've provided.
 
Zac Imiola (Herbalist)

Zac Imiola (Herbalist)

Kava Connoisseur
Hey @BlackCrow thank god you were smarter than me and chose kava first.
I did the opposite and kava got me through the Paws from krat

Kava has some distinct strains for sure . It may take some experimenting to get one that resonates with you
But here's what I found is the case for me . Personally @Gourmet Hawaiian Kava is the most potent kava consistently and the strains are all varying .

Moi I think is one of the best for social anxiety. It's very heady ( upbeat stimulating) sometimes it can cause what I call physical anxiety. Yet helps with social.

Where others are more for physical anxiety. (Overstimulation from say caffiene) such as in my experience boroguru or hiwa.

Then we have some beautiful middle grounders that are quite balanced. Such as mahakea . And nangol noble from bula kava house.

If your looking for legitimate peace of mind. Nene is the key . It's quite balanced to and litterally calms the mind.

@Gourmet Hawaiian Kava has a few sample packs. Which usually include mahakea moi and nene so you can really dig in. He also has a mix of micro ( fine ground makas removed ) instant ( vacuum dried fresh kava) and medium grind ( normal root with Makas )

Makas are hard fibers that have low kavalactones and really just cause tons of farts and neasusa .
Don't worry they aren't easily extracted because they're litterally rock hard.

Personally because you said social anxiety and depression. I really think moi or mahakea would be a great choice for you. Moi really causes that talk talk talk same with mahakea . Nene is a nice uplift tho too. It's really hard to say ! I rotate alot because well how awesome is it to get to have a kava for every occasion !!!

If there's anything else I can help with or this was too confusing please message me or reply here and I'll keep going till your good :) welcome to the forums :) much love !
 
BlackCrow

BlackCrow

Newbie
I'm sorry you went through WDs from K@.

Funny you mentioned that sample pack from GHK. I placed an order of that exact pack a couple of minutes ago. Super excited! I was deciding between that one and the instant pack since they're both 60 bucks, but decided to try out the three different forms to get a feel for them.

I'm still looking for a strainer bag. I can't seem to find the one @Winpig suggested on the supplier's site. They just have a 50 micron but it's sold out.
 
D

Deleted User01

Welcome to the forum @BlackCrow! Funny that you mentioned GHK sample pack. I just ordered a sample pack of the Micronized from GHK. You stir it in water and gulp. You consume every last bit and therefore, I believe, you get more bang for your buck. @Gourmet Hawaiian Kava has some process whereby he removes the hard fibers from the freshly harvested kava (Macas) and before he processes it. As everyone has mentioned, I would stay away from K@. When I first started, I experimented with K@ and a lot of other things and Kava easily won the race.
 
Groggy

Groggy

Kava aficionado
Admin
You certainly don't need to worry about the strainer bag from Kavafied, it's just a bag I really like, as I mentioned before, some vendors here send you a free strainer with every purchase and you can always use an old T-shirt or women's half stockings as a strainer too.
 
Zac Imiola (Herbalist)

Zac Imiola (Herbalist)

Kava Connoisseur
Yeah the options are endless.. the only problem i have with some muslin bags are that they rip when your kneading too hard. which is what you have to do.

goodluck @BlackCrow and get your self an @Kavafied aluball for on the go... it kicks ass just dont overfill :) welcome again... im already enjoying your presence here :) hopefully your an active member... it might seem like some of us have been here quite some time... and some have.. but i showed up may of last year! So thats how welcoming we are :)
 
BlackCrow

BlackCrow

Newbie
No worries @Winpig. I wanted to hear what all y'all like anyways.

Thanks again @Mrbin and congratulations on the almost one year anniversary on the site. That Aluball seems pretty sweet. I reckon it could work well with micronized Kava for a light strain, but that just my newb thinking.
 
Zac Imiola (Herbalist)

Zac Imiola (Herbalist)

Kava Connoisseur
Haha yeah Ive had that thought a few times but micro really is just a toss and wash style stuff... but say you didn't trust the vendor then maybe it could seperate some of the dust but still micro is too expensive to strain ;D
 
BlackCrow

BlackCrow

Newbie
^True! I just saw that the Aluball has a mesh of 75 microns, so it's definitely more suitable for medium grind anyways.
 
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