Does anyone know what exactly in kava causes nausea?

[Steve Mariotti]

@Steve Mariotti, how many tablespoons do you use with that micron bag ?

I started with 1/2 cup to 2/3rds of a cup, depending. But now I'm down to 2 heaping (and I do mean heaping) tablespoons per 2 cups of water. That's one "session" for me. So now that I've kind of hit my sweet spot, I find I don't need quite as much as before. I've also gotten MUCH better at getting all of the oilyness out of the root wad too. I'm a master kneader. I knead for 15 minutes all told, with a very small wetting second wash and third wash, usually.

 

[lonnyzone]

The taste.

 

[RedSked]

I seem to have had some success with yogurt and aloe juice/supplements. Seems to be a winning combo. I think part of it though is just eating some mushy food that will digest easily, pulling the kava down out of your stomach and into your gut. Good luck fellow kava drinkers!

 

[Camaytoc]

My winner combo is eating a small yogurt and then an apple, well chewed.
With that fixed, 20 min later I'm good to go for another session!

 

[Alia]

Often, but not always, the traditional method is the best. This is why I suggest a quick shot-style downing of a cup of kava beverage. Taste is not why I drink kava and when I do not taste the beverage, and/or it does not linger, there is no upset. Another, separate possibility is that a particular batch of kava may not have been harvested or washed / processed properly. Cleaning kava root/stump is a process and maybe an art. This concept has even been written about in numerous scientific papers.

 

[DottyLotty]

Ya know, I never get nausea but I do have an interesting reaction PRIOR to drinking Kava. The minute I start thinking about drinking some shells at around 2:30 or so, I end up going to the bathroom for a BM. So even though I don't feel nausea, I'm still scaring the crap out of my digestive system. Literally.

(Gee Deleted User01, thanks for sharing.)

 

[ArthurHolo]

I've found an article that says Kava can cause dry, itchy, and scaly skin if it’s consumed in large quantities. It’s also linked to nausea and weight loss. But I think it's very personal and depends on many aspects as health, amount of kava per day, etc. So you just need to be careful with what you drink and especially how much you drink.

 

[Alia]

In addition to what I wrote earlier, often, in some people, nausea can be due to dihydros and/or drinking too much too fast.

 

[KavaBobo]

Same here...when I think about the 16oz "shell "I'm about to slam, I have to psych myself up to down it. I also hold my breath while consuming so, I don't taste it's "earthiness" but, 5 minutes later, I'm happy I did cuz euphoria kicks in. Some minor shakes unless I overdo it but, I've learned my lessons and moderate accordingly.

 

[Manuel Joao]

I was reading somewhere how shrooms cause nausea, and SSRI meds also cause nausea, kava may have the chemical profile similar which causes nausea.

 

[The Kap'n]

I was reading somewhere how shrooms cause nausea, and SSRI meds also cause nausea, kava may have the chemical profile similar which causes nausea.

It boils down to what @Alia said in the post above. The dihydro kavalactones are known to be nauseating agents. Lebot, Merlin, and Lindstrom in "The Pacific Elixir" identify high levels of dihydromethysticin as being nauseating.

 

[Orz[EST]]

I'm much better off after adding one of those gold coffee filters at the very end of my process, that made a huge positive effect on my overall experience.

Does it pass easily? I tried but failed. Perhaps I used warm water and had dome fijian that was a bit finer than medium grind but the filter failed.

 

[Orz[EST]]

I was reading somewhere how shrooms cause nausea, and SSRI meds also cause nausea, kava may have the chemical profile similar which causes nausea.

No.

 

[amani]

Many moons ago I got the same thing only from very hard drugs. I think it's the dopamine excitement LOL

 

[amani]

No.

I have been taking SSRI's for half my life and never experienced nausea from them. But bodies are all unique.