ELI5!

[JonT]

Explain Like I'm Five!

1) Why does kava cause euphoria?
2) Why does kava make you sleepy?
3) Why does kava make your muscles feel relaxed?
4) Why is kava not physically addictive?

We have threads on some of these already, notably @infraredz very detailed explanation, but can it be broken down even simpler?

 

[Ligermeat]

1. I'm no scientist I'm sure a lot of kava's feel-good effects come from kavain which produces serotonin (a pleasure chemical).

Another prevalent chemical in kava is yangonin, which makes the cannaboid 1 receptor start pumping.
Cannaboid 1 produces dopamine, another pleasure chemical.

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

I had no clue kavain had that effect. Hmmm.

 

[Ligermeat]

2. "Sleepy" kavas like nene have a lot of DHM and DHK in them. These chemicals have a sleepy effect.

 

[Ligermeat]

I had no clue kavain had that effect. Hmmm.

It's just a speculation acoruding to wikipedia. Forgot to point that out.

 

[Ligermeat]

3. Dhk and DHM also work as muscle relaxants in addition to being sedatives.

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

Hmm. I wouldn't doubt that it does that but If it did I would assume that it's interaction with ssris would be ridiculously uncomfortable. Which doesn't seem to be the case.

 

[Ligermeat]

4. If you take a drug like coke or opiates, your brain makes too much happy chemicals. This is called euphoria. Kava makes your brain make happy chemicals too, but not enough to cause euphoria.

When one feels drug induced euphoria, they feel the urge to replete the experience again and again. This doesn't happen with kava though, so don't worry

 

[Ligermeat]

Hmm. I wouldn't doubt that it does that but If it did I would assume that it's interaction with ssris would be ridiculously uncomfortable. Which doesn't seem to be the case.

You mean like Prozac. I see what you mean. It's kind of unfortunate that not enough good research has been done on lava to get to understand it better.

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

Kava doesn't create dependency/ is non addictive due to a lack of replicating a natural function on its own and not overloading receptors through mimick.
It seems when a substance mimick a natural chemical in the body to a large extent it can "replace" the chemical and is known then as dependency. Without this chemical your body doesnt function fully. Addictive chemicals tend to he singular ... and maybe that's what cannabis and kava have that helps . Multiple actions. The more concentrated the singular chemical the more addictive it becomes... Take cannabis for example . The closest addictive chemical in cannabis is thc ... when it's enhanced and isolated (hash) the addictive potential becomes more apparent .. although never reaching addictive it's the closest to the edge of addiction . Creating the most minor WD symptoms of any substance, yet they are there. Such as appetite suppression insomnia and boredom. It seems the more the thc and less other stuff the worse this becomes.. eating cannabis seems to barely offer any addictive traits unlike smoking.
Kava has 6 maybe more active chemicals creating a multiplicity of effects on different avenues... none seemingly similar enough to create receptor sites and therefore withdrawl from lack of filling those sites. But who knows ???

This is all speculation by mrbinx under the influence of Hiwa kava

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

This is not the source of addiction.. as you can become addicted to something without any euphoria suprisingly enough.. if you take a ambien at a low enough dose and don't even"feel it " after a month or two you will have become addicted

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

Yeah if kava up regulated serotonin then someone on ssris could go through serotonin syndrome ... which is serotonin overdose.

 

[Ligermeat]

Yeah if kava up regulated serotonin then someone on ssris could go through serotonin syndrome ... which is serotonin overdose.

I guess I'll remove that part then if its just a speculation and a poor one at that.

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

4. If you take a drug like coke or opiates, your brain makes too much happy chemicals. This is called euphoria. Kava makes your brain make happy chemicals too, but not enough to cause euphoria.

When one feels drug induced euphoria, they feel the urge to replete the experience again and again. This doesn't happen with kava though, so don't worry

Quick note, the original poster is talking about physical addiction/withdrawal, you're speaking of mental addiction. It's not quite known why kava doesn't share the physically addictive properties as other similar drugs like benzos, alcohol, ghb etc...
Technically a person could get 'mentally' addicted to kava, but it appears to be unlikely, or minor, because of the reasons you stated.

Spoiler

MDMA which is one of the most, if not the most potent giver of euphoria also is not physically addictive but could become mentally addicting...although even that is kinda rare

 

[HeadHodge]

Quick note, the original poster is talking about physical addiction/withdrawal, you're speaking of mental addiction. It's not quite known why kava doesn't share the physically addictive properties as other similar drugs like benzos, alcohol, ghb etc...
Technically a person could get 'mentally' addicted to kava, but it appears to be unlikely, or minor, because of the reasons you stated.
MDMA which is one of the most, if not the most potent giver of euphoria also is not physically addictive but could become mentally addicting...although even that is rare, despite it's extremely pleasurable high, which seems somewhat counter-intuitive.

What's MDMA?

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

Ecstacy without the other drugs.. aka
methylenedioxy-methamphetamine

Sadly now I can never tell what headhodge doesn't know and what he just wants to use for a FAQ lol... do you really not know ?

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

I wonder if it's scary to certain governmental groups that the kava community and the psychedelic community contain some of the most well versed people in phytopharmacology. Lol seriously some of the people I've encountered on here and in other forums it's insane how smart our community is

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

Explain Like I'm Five!

1) Why does kava cause euphoria?
2) Why does kava make you sleepy?
3) Why does kava make your muscles feel relaxed?
4) Why is kava not physically addictive?

We have threads on some of these already, notably @infraredz very detailed explanation, but can it be broken down even simpler?

The complete work on studying kavalactones, their effects and interactions is not even close to being finished.
But as I can recall from the studies I have read;
Basically, your body always has endogenous chemicals in it that control how you feel. Some control happiness/sadness, wakefulness/sleepiness, confidence, fear, calm, pain perception etc...
When you take psychoactive drugs (chemicals) they either directly or indirectly influence those chemical to change balance and produce a different perceptible effect.
Some kavalactones like DMY and Methysticin are said to be MAO-B inhibitors, to inhibit MAO-B allows more Dopamine to flow into your brain without being broken down. Dopamine is responsible for things like mood, pleasure and pain. Dopamine rushes, at a much higher degree than kava typically provides, are responsible in large part for the effect you would get from many popular illegal drugs.
Kavain is said to be a quick acting anxiolytic. Some studies show a direct GABA influence, others show indirect responsibility through altering Sodium and Calcium channels in your brain. GABA is the thing responsible for you feeling anxious or calm...a drop in gaba creates fear and panic, extra gaba makes you calm and carefree. GABA is the main thing that gets altered by Benzodiazepines, alcohol, ghb, hypnotics etc... Isolated kavain may also somehow have a stimulating effect.
DHM is the most potent analgesic(pain killer) of the bunch, followed by DHK...but I'm not sure exactly what they influence to create the effect.
Yangonin is supposed to have no pain killing power, but may have a very slight affinity toward a certain cannabinoid receptor in the brain, which could make it responsible for some of kavas 'high' but not kavas anti-anxiety effect. Many kavalactones appear to have more than one effect, but each one will succeed at a certain aspect more than the next.

The answer to question #4 is: kava is magic

 

[HeadHodge]

@shakas, your post is absolutely awesome!! It's exactly what I would have said right off the top of my head too.

 

[Squanch72]

I wonder if it's scary to certain governmental groups that the kava community and the psychedelic community contain some of the most well versed people in phytopharmacology. Lol seriously some of the people I've encountered on here and in other forums it's insane how smart our community is

Sometimes I feel like Ricky trying to read a medical journal on here