KAVA PRODUCT ALERT Feel Free "Wellness Tonic" - Botanic Tonics

[The Kap'n]

Correct. From the website a few months ago.

Wow the bastards have started calling the kava extract in their product kava.
The FDA is a joke.

If we're lucky they wont just start calling it "The other K@"

 

[mountainguy]

I ended up on this forum because I have been using Feel Free for the last 8 months, and I wanted to make my own mix because $8/bottle is too expensive for me. (I had been paying about $4.40/bottle with a discount.) I see, though, there a lot of negative feelings about Feel Free. I can understand that given it's addictive nature, and I am pretty skeptical myself about the use of K@, having read many stories online of addictions. Although I've let a number of friends try it, I'm a little hesitant, and I usually warn them about the addictive nature of K@, and that it's a pseudo-opioid (my own term).

My own experience is that it was one of the things that helped me get through a pretty rough time (my wife passed away last year), and that it has not been noticeably physiologically addictive. I've quit for a week a couple times without any noticeable physiological side effects. Though I'm guessing it has probably affected dopamine levels in some way, and I probably need to do a dopamine reset at some point. I've used it nearly every day for the past 8 months, from 1/2 bottle ~ 2 bottles, depending on the day. (If it's a 4:1 kava:K@ ratio as indicated in podcasts, I guess that puts me at about 250 ~ 1000mg of K@/day (according to the 2600mg listed in the post above). Seems that's a pretty small dose compared to what many people in the K@ world use, so I'm guessing that's why no noticeable physiological withdrawal symptoms.

I'm very disturbed though to hear that this was being handed out for free to college students and more or less sponsored by the college. :-/ Stories like that, and the lack of transparency on their site make me pretty hesitant to ever recommend someone try them again.

Nevertheless, one of the reasons I've stuck with the kava/K@ mix is that it makes me feel much like a cup of coffee--energy and hope and creativity--without the jitters or crash that I get a few hours later from coffee. As far as I can tell so far, my energy levels seem have seemed more balanced on days I drink that instead of coffee, and I've decreased the amount of coffee I drink (maybe 1-2 cups/week). That's one of the reasons that I'd like to keep using some kind of kava/K@ mix as an energy drink. But I guess I should phase it out for a while and try some other things!

I know this is a very old post, but curious if you are still around. I too have found Feel Free to beneficial in some ways, but am a bit wary of a few things about their product and am curious for your thoughts.

Are you still using it, and if so, any side effects?

Did you have any luck creating your own drink with similar effect from kava and K@ combined?

I like this product, but a few things about it raise red flags. The disingenuous marketing is one (promoting it as a kava drink when in reality it much heavier slanted towards K@). Another is the changes in the label and formula several times since I've used the product. It's very hard to tell exactly what you are consuming and in what amounts. There are also numerous reports on reddit of folks becoming very addicted to it, but the consumption amounts are typically excessive and most of it could be tied directly to the K@ in it.

Any feedback is appreciated!

 

[The Kap'n]

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/c...cle_47e9d976-e919-11ed-b01e-8b65b3d59ce8.html

GPT4 Summary:

"Federal officials in Tulsa seized a large amount of K@, an herbal ingredient considered dangerous by the FDA. U.S. Marshals and FDA investigators confiscated over 250,000 [email protected] products and 1,000 kilograms of bulk K@, valued at more than $3 million. The seizures took place at Botanic Tonics LLC, where the products were marketed under the brand "Feel Free Plant Based Herbal Supplement." The FDA claims there is inadequate information to ensure K@'s safety and has received concerning reports about its use. K@ affects opioid brain receptors, potentially exposing users to addiction, abuse, and dependence."

 

[Krunʞy]

I would be lying if I said anything other than this made me happier than anything this week, I hope they get sued out of existence and I wish people would have more common sense with these products...I blame the internet.

 

[WilliamD]

I get text messages from Botanic Tonics (the makers of Feel Free) and yesterday I was informed that they are rushing a new product to market that contains a bunch of medicinal mushrooms, Rhodiola, and NO K@. I have no idea why anybody would pay those astronomical prices for this garbage without about 100 mgs. of MIT which is about what it had before. I know for a fact that many people took this stuff without being aware it had K@ extract in it. I am a K@ person, but people should be able to make informed consent about what they are putting in their bodies, and a lot of people had no idea that they were ingesting a high potency K@ product that even many K@ lovers like myself would steer clear of.

 

[The Kap'n]

(https://toptreeherbs.com/whats-the-deal-with-the-botanic-tonics-feel-free-lawsuit/)​

 

[The Kap'n]