How much is too much?
Today we tackle the question of “how much is too much?” We see this question asked at least once a week between the kava platforms. Every time this question is asked you’ll see various answers that are, in themselves, all correct. So what variables go into answering this question, and why are the answers so different?
First we need to define what the person means when they say “too much”. Typically this question relates to the feeling of inebriation beyond that of which the kava drinker is comfortable. Occasionally a user can ask this question in relevance to “overdose”. Both of these questions are unique and should be addressed separately.
“Too much” in terms of comfort can vary with every kava drinker. Where one user may drink 5 shells to find their comfort zone, another may drink 12. Kava amounts vary based on the culture surrounding the plant and the individual consuming it. Some Polynesian kava sessions may see kava drunk for as long as 6 hours and consume up to 8000mg of kavalactones, with the average rate of consumption being 1,482mg per hour [1]. As you can see this far exceeds the “clinically” recommended amount, and this leads to the second part of our question: Overdose?
Overdose of kava is a contested data point. Clinical amounts that were tested in vivo were limited from 60 to 120mg of kavalactones per day for no longer than 3 months. This was in line with the German Commission E recommendations regarding both daily kava dose and duration of treatment [2]. Aporosa, and Tomlinson found that 100ml of traditionally prepared kava contained an average of 247mg of kavalactones [1]. One shell of kava can contain up to 250ml of liquid which would equate to ~600mg of kavalactones per shell. This amount far exceeds the recommended dosage and would fall into “overdose”. Obviously one shell of kava is not an overdose. This is yet another instance where science and physical observation clash.
This leaves us with the reality that “too much” kava is completely an individual experience, and as such we need to look at the individuals to see what constitutes a “kava dose”. Going back to a thread from 2017 we find that most individuals average around 1kg of powdered noble kava consumption per month. This calculates out to around 30-40g of kava per day. Upper averages tended to level off around 60g per day with maximums being 100g per day. Negative effects such as dry skin, dry eyes, intense thirst and sluggishness were seen to become more apparent once consuming over 50g per day [3].
In summary, we find that “too much” kava, if using the emergence of negative side effects as a factor, resides in the 50g+ per day range of medium grind noble kava consumption. This amount varies per individual and this shouldn’t be used as an absolute in terms of what’s right for you. If you’re new, start with 25g and work your way up to where you feel comfortable. If we’re speaking clinically, then any kava drinking is overdose, therefore I set aside the clinical definition until such time where studies begin matching up to reality.
[1] (Apo) Aporosa, S., and Matt Tomlinson. 2014. “Kava Hangover and Gold-Standard Science.” Anthropologica 56 (1): 163–75.
https://doi.org/10.1353/ant.2014.0014
[2] BfArM (Bundesinstitut fu¨ r Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte, Bonn. Federal
Institute for Drugs and Medicinal Products in Germany), 2002 http://www.bfarm.de/de/arzneimittel/am_sicher/stufenpl/Besch-kava-Final.pdf
[3] Odourman. (2017, July 28. How much kava is too much kava? [Online Forum Thread]. Kavaforums.
https://kavaforums.com/forum/threads/how-much-kava-is-too-much-kava.12164/
Today we tackle the question of “how much is too much?” We see this question asked at least once a week between the kava platforms. Every time this question is asked you’ll see various answers that are, in themselves, all correct. So what variables go into answering this question, and why are the answers so different?
First we need to define what the person means when they say “too much”. Typically this question relates to the feeling of inebriation beyond that of which the kava drinker is comfortable. Occasionally a user can ask this question in relevance to “overdose”. Both of these questions are unique and should be addressed separately.
“Too much” in terms of comfort can vary with every kava drinker. Where one user may drink 5 shells to find their comfort zone, another may drink 12. Kava amounts vary based on the culture surrounding the plant and the individual consuming it. Some Polynesian kava sessions may see kava drunk for as long as 6 hours and consume up to 8000mg of kavalactones, with the average rate of consumption being 1,482mg per hour [1]. As you can see this far exceeds the “clinically” recommended amount, and this leads to the second part of our question: Overdose?
Overdose of kava is a contested data point. Clinical amounts that were tested in vivo were limited from 60 to 120mg of kavalactones per day for no longer than 3 months. This was in line with the German Commission E recommendations regarding both daily kava dose and duration of treatment [2]. Aporosa, and Tomlinson found that 100ml of traditionally prepared kava contained an average of 247mg of kavalactones [1]. One shell of kava can contain up to 250ml of liquid which would equate to ~600mg of kavalactones per shell. This amount far exceeds the recommended dosage and would fall into “overdose”. Obviously one shell of kava is not an overdose. This is yet another instance where science and physical observation clash.
This leaves us with the reality that “too much” kava is completely an individual experience, and as such we need to look at the individuals to see what constitutes a “kava dose”. Going back to a thread from 2017 we find that most individuals average around 1kg of powdered noble kava consumption per month. This calculates out to around 30-40g of kava per day. Upper averages tended to level off around 60g per day with maximums being 100g per day. Negative effects such as dry skin, dry eyes, intense thirst and sluggishness were seen to become more apparent once consuming over 50g per day [3].
In summary, we find that “too much” kava, if using the emergence of negative side effects as a factor, resides in the 50g+ per day range of medium grind noble kava consumption. This amount varies per individual and this shouldn’t be used as an absolute in terms of what’s right for you. If you’re new, start with 25g and work your way up to where you feel comfortable. If we’re speaking clinically, then any kava drinking is overdose, therefore I set aside the clinical definition until such time where studies begin matching up to reality.
[1] (Apo) Aporosa, S., and Matt Tomlinson. 2014. “Kava Hangover and Gold-Standard Science.” Anthropologica 56 (1): 163–75.
https://doi.org/10.1353/ant.2014.0014
[2] BfArM (Bundesinstitut fu¨ r Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte, Bonn. Federal
Institute for Drugs and Medicinal Products in Germany), 2002 http://www.bfarm.de/de/arzneimittel/am_sicher/stufenpl/Besch-kava-Final.pdf
[3] Odourman. (2017, July 28. How much kava is too much kava? [Online Forum Thread]. Kavaforums.
https://kavaforums.com/forum/threads/how-much-kava-is-too-much-kava.12164/
