WARNING: This post contains graphic depictions of bloating and gas. It contains content that may not be suitable for all audiences. Reader discretion is advised.
So last night, I wanted to put the "eating before kava" thing to a test, as others have advised to the contrary in the past, which goes against my own personal experiences with food and the most noble of noble roots. My wife had made a ton of baked chicken wings. Healthier than deep fried. At least to the point where I put 3 tbs. of melted butter and half a bottle of Frank's Red Hot into a bowl and dumped half of them in.
I ate first, then brewed the kava. It was half KavaBoy half Nene. 1 cup of root to 3 cups of water. Ostensibly strong at that ratio, at least for me. I had a belly full of buffalo wings and started my shells. I thought on the one hand, the fats and oils (and butter) in the wings would be a good vehicle for fat-soluble molecules like the blessed 6 that have been identified as contributing to kava's wonderful anxiolytic properties. It'll be superhighways instead of bumper cars.
It took a while for the kava to present itself. I was through 4 cups and well over an hour before I started to feel something. It came on very low and slow and build gradually to a point of great relaxation, but didn't feel uplifting at all. In fact, I was kind of sad, lamenting a few things going on in my life and feeling droopy. The nagging worries seemed to drop away after about 2 hours and I'd drunk all of the 3 cups of grog.
Contrast this to tonight, where I was feeling it after 1 shell (and some vaped Deep Awa) and it built rapidly up to a loftier point than last night by far. And I ate no dinner (and had only a light breakfast) today.
I would say that kava comes on stronger if you haven't eaten. Or, at least, if *I* haven't eaten. I used to not think it mattered, as I always got the full effects, but now I think I was wrong. This is now something that I will play with and see if I can find a good balance between kava sensitivity and healthy nutrition. A project!
The chicken wings + kava were a terrible, terrible idea, though. The volume of gas I produced was unparalleled. I wasn't gurgling like I do when I get root fiber, I was pretty solid except for the fact that I could produce a cubic hectare of toxic, noxious, room-clearing gas on command from 4pm onwards the next day. And the length and frequency of the gas was inhuman. Like a one of the X-Men who got stuck with a shitty mutation. Gastro!
Anyways, after the Great Chicken Wings Experiment, I'm convinced that economizing kava, maximizing effectiveness of the relaxation and stress-reduction (the nagging stressors I was lamenting about were diminished so as to be nearly gone) properties, and prepping less, is best served on an empty stomach. Delaying dinner until a full two hours later seems to be about the right amount of time for me, too, which makes it hard to eat with the family at the table every night.
So I'll be fasting before kava, I think. And noting how that goes.
So last night, I wanted to put the "eating before kava" thing to a test, as others have advised to the contrary in the past, which goes against my own personal experiences with food and the most noble of noble roots. My wife had made a ton of baked chicken wings. Healthier than deep fried. At least to the point where I put 3 tbs. of melted butter and half a bottle of Frank's Red Hot into a bowl and dumped half of them in.
I ate first, then brewed the kava. It was half KavaBoy half Nene. 1 cup of root to 3 cups of water. Ostensibly strong at that ratio, at least for me. I had a belly full of buffalo wings and started my shells. I thought on the one hand, the fats and oils (and butter) in the wings would be a good vehicle for fat-soluble molecules like the blessed 6 that have been identified as contributing to kava's wonderful anxiolytic properties. It'll be superhighways instead of bumper cars.
It took a while for the kava to present itself. I was through 4 cups and well over an hour before I started to feel something. It came on very low and slow and build gradually to a point of great relaxation, but didn't feel uplifting at all. In fact, I was kind of sad, lamenting a few things going on in my life and feeling droopy. The nagging worries seemed to drop away after about 2 hours and I'd drunk all of the 3 cups of grog.
Contrast this to tonight, where I was feeling it after 1 shell (and some vaped Deep Awa) and it built rapidly up to a loftier point than last night by far. And I ate no dinner (and had only a light breakfast) today.
I would say that kava comes on stronger if you haven't eaten. Or, at least, if *I* haven't eaten. I used to not think it mattered, as I always got the full effects, but now I think I was wrong. This is now something that I will play with and see if I can find a good balance between kava sensitivity and healthy nutrition. A project!
The chicken wings + kava were a terrible, terrible idea, though. The volume of gas I produced was unparalleled. I wasn't gurgling like I do when I get root fiber, I was pretty solid except for the fact that I could produce a cubic hectare of toxic, noxious, room-clearing gas on command from 4pm onwards the next day. And the length and frequency of the gas was inhuman. Like a one of the X-Men who got stuck with a shitty mutation. Gastro!
Anyways, after the Great Chicken Wings Experiment, I'm convinced that economizing kava, maximizing effectiveness of the relaxation and stress-reduction (the nagging stressors I was lamenting about were diminished so as to be nearly gone) properties, and prepping less, is best served on an empty stomach. Delaying dinner until a full two hours later seems to be about the right amount of time for me, too, which makes it hard to eat with the family at the table every night.
So I'll be fasting before kava, I think. And noting how that goes.
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