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Carbs in Kava

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Go Krunk Yourself

Kava Enthusiast
I eat a ketogenic diet or atkins or low carb or whatever you want to call it. I have noticed my weight loss slowing down recently and ir corresponds with an increase in my Kava usage. I use mostly micronized Kava from Kalm with Kava and it has worked out pretty good for me minimal gastric problems etc however from what I understand because there is still much of the plant matter there which actually is a starch its probably increasing my carbs (i am very strict no potatoes white bread etc). Maybe I am mistaken?

Would switching from micronized to the proper way most of you do it end up with significantly less carbs since its heavily strained into a pure liquid? I'm not sure maybe someone with a similar experience can weigh in.
 

Krunkie McKrunkface

Kava Connoisseur
I don't do anything to promote weight loss, but I have been losing weight as a side effect of drinking kava. I noticed what happens is I will suddenly drop to a new baseline and then stay at that baseline for some time before dropping to another new baseline. There is no steady decline of pound per pound, it goes baseline to baseline, each corresponding closely to a point on the BMI scale. Ymmv, of course.
 

HeadHodge

Bula To Eternity
I eat a ketogenic diet or atkins or low carb or whatever you want to call it. I have noticed my weight loss slowing down recently and ir corresponds with an increase in my Kava usage. I use mostly micronized Kava from Kalm with Kava and it has worked out pretty good for me minimal gastric problems etc however from what I understand because there is still much of the plant matter there which actually is a starch its probably increasing my carbs (i am very strict no potatoes white bread etc). Maybe I am mistaken?

Would switching from micronized to the proper way most of you do it end up with significantly less carbs since its heavily strained into a pure liquid? I'm not sure maybe someone with a similar experience can weigh in.
I dont have a solid answer for you, but I switched from using micro to exclusively instant for the very concerns you have expressed. I dont weigh myself unless my doctor weighs me so I cant say if I gained weight or not from using micro. But I do know that since last Oct Ive lost 35lbs and was using only instant. It would be interesting if you could do a little study for us by weighing yourself over a period of time with micro then the same again but with instant.
 

WimblySlop

Kava Curious
I do a ketogenic (low carb, high fat) diet, and I noticed that if I am drinking Kava I get kicked out of ketosis. YMMV, but it's a repeatable effect for me. I go into ketosis, and once I'm registering lost ketones in my urine, if I have a big kava session, I'm no longer in ketosis. Take that for what you will.
 

Groggy

Kava aficionado
Admin
I do a ketogenic (low carb, high fat) diet, and I noticed that if I am drinking Kava I get kicked out of ketosis. YMMV, but it's a repeatable effect for me. I go into ketosis, and once I'm registering lost ketones in my urine, if I have a big kava session, I'm no longer in ketosis. Take that for what you will.
That's interesting, I've always had a feeling that was the case, I have been doing the weight watchers diet for the past 5 weeks with regular exercise. I get the feeling, a heavy kava day (which is often) may be adding carbs. Despite it being WW, I am trying to watch my carb. intake as well.
 

Go Krunk Yourself

Kava Enthusiast
I dont have a solid answer for you, but I switched from using micro to exclusively instant for the very concerns you have expressed. I dont weigh myself unless my doctor weighs me so I cant say if I gained weight or not from using micro. But I do know that since last Oct Ive lost 35lbs and was using only instant. It would be interesting if you could do a little study for us by weighing yourself over a period of time with micro then the same again but with instant.
Well since instant is only a liquid I think you remove a lot of starch that is still there in micronized. I know the feelings I get when I'm out of ketosis and ti took about 3 days of full use but I ended up having carb cravings and threw myself off the wagon. When you've been on ketogenic diets for so long you just know when you're off.

If I get the pure kava root like so (https://kalmwithkava.com/shop/fresh-vanuatu-kava-root/) and strain it will it come out to a mostly liquid subtance which should have a similar carb count to instant (non micronized) correct? This is my favorite kava and my "go to" i've tried others and haven't had much effect, and generally have a lot of anxiety about switching up strains and trying new things. It's a shame to move away from micro though I stocked up on the stuff but I suppose it will get used once the rest of the weight is off.
 

WimblySlop

Kava Curious
Well since instant is only a liquid I think you remove a lot of starch that is still there in micronized. I know the feelings I get when I'm out of ketosis and ti took about 3 days of full use but I ended up having carb cravings and threw myself off the wagon. When you've been on ketogenic diets for so long you just know when you're off.
Agreed, the reason I started testing was because I could feel I wasn't in ketosis. Lost the taste in my mouth, was hungrier than usual, cravings, etc.

FWIW, and I'm sorry to have to say this, but one of the times I tested I was using GHK Nene Instant. That being said, I also ate some KWK candies that day. Those are alcohol sugar (and not much at that), but perhaps that still affected things. I'm waiting on my next batch of GHK Instant as I type this. When it gets here, I will assure I'm in keto and then try it again using only instant and report back.

.wimbly

PS, Edit: Also, I'm not carb-sensitive when on keto. Which is to say, I drop into keto easily, and I can have more carbs than my friends who are also on the diet without coming out of keto. When I do come out, I usually go back in quite easily, and with the kava, I've noticed I'm back in keto by the morning or, if not, I take a run and I'm back in keto by noon.
 

HeadHodge

Bula To Eternity
I use a glucose/keytone blood meter to measure my level of keytones. But Im getting to the point now that I can almost guess the test results.

Take some kava powder and cook it. After it starts to boil, it gets really thick. Im pretty sure thats the starch doing it. It would be interesting to cook some micro and instant to see how they turn out under heat.
 

verticity

I'm interested in things
I used to do a keto diet, but that was mostly before kava, so I don't know it had any effect. @HeadHodge real men pee on a stick to test ketones... the blood test is much more accurate of course..

Kava contains some starch and sugars. If you drink micronized there will probably be a lot more starch than if you knead and filter medium grind, but the sugars being water soluble will be in both. This has been posted here before:

kava_carbs.png

Source: Ed Johnston & Helen Rogers in http://www.awadevelopment.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/awabook-web-part-2-of-2.pdf
 

verticity

I'm interested in things
Doing some math here: a tablespoon of micronized is about 8 grams. A little less than half of that would be starch and sugar. So, say you consumed 4 tablespoons. That would be 16 g of carbs. That's not a huge amount, but for an ultra low carb diet they recommend only consuming 20-50 g of carbs per day, so kava could make a difference.
 

WimblySlop

Kava Curious
Doing some math here: a tablespoon of micronized is about 8 grams. A little less than half of that would be starch and sugar. So, say you consumed 4 tablespoons. That would be 16 g of carbs. That's not a huge amount, but for an ultra low carb diet they recommend only consuming 20-50 g of carbs per day, so kava could make a difference.
Yeah, that would make sense. I typically have under 20 carbs a day from other dietary sources, but it isn't uncommon for me to have between 4-12 tablespoons in a given day. That means on a krunky day, I could be consuming as many as much as 45+ carbs from kava alone. Not a ton, which explains why I'm able to drop back into keto relatively quickly (and also explains why on light days I don't fall out of keto), but enough to make a big difference if you're on a ketogenic (rather than Atkins) diet.

A good thing to think about. I find it worth it because the appetite suppression effects make it a decent trade off in terms of diet, and I'm able to access ketogenic metabolism easily when/if needed (for long rides, etc.), but for people who are on ketogenic diet for more serious health issues, it might be best to temper your kava use...
 
Doing some math here: a tablespoon of micronized is about 8 grams. A little less than half of that would be starch and sugar. So, say you consumed 4 tablespoons. That would be 16 g of carbs. That's not a huge amount, but for an ultra low carb diet they recommend only consuming 20-50 g of carbs per day, so kava could make a difference.
Once I've completed my weight loss to my manageable weight I have no fear of Kava putting weight on my when I transition to a more 100 carbs or less version but atm I'm sticking to heavy keto as it's the only thing I don't stall in weight loss on.

The thing I'm having difficulty discerning is how much less carbs are in a medium grind borongoru strained the traditional way versus just having straight up micronized. A typical night might be about 4 tablespoons or so of micronized as you said veracity but if medium grind is anywhere near your calculation of 16g for micronized then i might have to cut out Kava all together until i finish losing weight which would be a shame. If it was half that it would be doable, especially because I am a user about 3 times a week and not everyday usually.
 

verticity

I'm interested in things
Once I've completed my weight loss to my manageable weight I have no fear of Kava putting weight on my when I transition to a more 100 carbs or less version but atm I'm sticking to heavy keto as it's the only thing I don't stall in weight loss on.

The thing I'm having difficulty discerning is how much less carbs are in a medium grind borongoru strained the traditional way versus just having straight up micronized. A typical night might be about 4 tablespoons or so of micronized as you said veracity but if medium grind is anywhere near your calculation of 16g for micronized then i might have to cut out Kava all together until i finish losing weight which would be a shame. If it was half that it would be doable, especially because I am a user about 3 times a week and not everyday usually.
I think the number for medium grind would be significantly smaller, since you aren't consuming the whole root, but I don't know how much smaller. There are different kinds of starches, and some are water soluble, but others aren't, and the solubility can change with temperature, so it's hard to say how much would end up in prepared kava.
 

HeadHodge

Bula To Eternity
I think the number for medium grind would be significantly smaller, since you aren't consuming the whole root, but I don't know how much smaller. There are different kinds of starches, and some are water soluble, but others aren't, and the solubility can change with temperature, so it's hard to say how much would end up in prepared kava.
Which brings me back to the reason I switched from using micro to instant. Just wish there was a way to easily quantify the difference.I guess using the keytone blood test is the best way.
 

wormwood

Kava Enthusiast
Kava has definitely helped me lose weight. The negligible amount of carbs in Kava is probably in the form of fibrous complex carbs and/or fiber (an educated guess). This has a negligible, maybe even positive effect on metabolism. Above this, kava promotes a decrease in appetite. If you are struggling with losing weight, the kava factor is way down on the list of things you need to look at and consider. Also, if you have been losing weight steadily, it becomes more difficult to lose more weight, thats just the way it is, unfortunately.

Kava will not make you fat, unless theres some negative side effect that one of the components of kava has on net metabolism in some unknown way. But again, Ive used kava very successfully as a weight loss aid. But its been just that, an aid. I havent really lost weight because of kava, but rather because Im eating right and exercising.

EDIT- I just re-read your post and saw that you were on a ketogenic diet. Sorry I missed that.
 
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HeadHodge

Bula To Eternity
Whats the big difference between Instant and Micronized?
micro has all the root fibres ground up into a very fine powder, so youre consuming raw root powder. Instant is prepared grog extracted from the root using water then dehydrated and ground. Instant doesnt contain any root fibre (mostly).

Some vendors will sell micro and call it instant, so you have to make sure what youre buying.
 

Go Krunk Yourself

Kava Enthusiast
micro has all the root fibres ground up into a very fine powder, so youre consuming raw root powder. Instant is prepared grog extracted from the root using water then dehydrated and ground. Instant doesnt contain any root fibre (mostly).

Some vendors will sell micro and call it instant, so you have to make sure what youre buying.
I just bought a pound of borongoru from KWK. My wallet is OUCH right now considering I have quite a bit of micronized kava I've only just recently bought!

I don't think I'll get much starch but the sugars will come through. I'll keep you posted HeadHodge if it slows my weight loss. Diet is absolutely necessary I feel terrible back on carbs but I would hate to live without my Kava lol. Is strained usually stronger than micronzied or the other way around? hmm.
 
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