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Kava + alcohol (within 12 - 24 hours, not at the same time)

Edward

Edward

Aluballin' in the UK
Kava Vendor
I don't think there's much kava in 2 yogi tea bags anyway despite what the label says. "Kava root extract" could mean a lot of things...

For me I don't drink both on the same day. I tend to hanker after something relaxing anytime after 6pm onwards, sometimes earlier and sometimes later. If I get the chance to drink kava in the day then I often do but on the increasingly more rare times that I drink alcohol it tends to be later on in the day, perhaps when I haven't got time to give the kava the respect and "ceremony" that it deserves. If I have an evening of one starting at 6pm one day I don't worry about starting the other at 6pm the following day which isn't strictly 24 hours between each but I feel ok doing that.
 
kavadude

kavadude

❦ॐ tanuki tamer
This is a really old thread. There has been research confirming that kava should absolutely not be combined with any kind of hepatotoxic substance.

I would recommend leaving at least 24 hours between consumption.
 
D

Delicate Drunk

Kava Curious
I have combined kava and alcohol many times. Usually the situation is that I get quite drunk on alcohol, and then start chewing or drinking kava when the alcohol is starting to wear off. It really helps extend the drunk state, but with less toxic effects from the alcohol. I actually wake up feeling much better the next day than if I had drunk more alcohol instead of switching to kava.
I know it seems like horrible idea, but back when I was doing this the most it was before the kava liver scare thing, so I didn't think much of it. The whole liver scare was really created by the big drug companies because they were threatened by losing sales to kava. I am sure people get much more liver damage from taking aspirin and ibuprofen with alcohol.
Nowadays I still occasionally do this, but with a little less alcohol I suppose. Anyways, I really actually feel better the next day if I end my drinking session with kava. Not saying this is a good idea, but I am not sure why it wouldn't be. There appears to me to be no hard scientific evidence yet that alcohol and kava are bad combination, unless somebody already has a bad liver.
 
D

Deleted User01

kavadude said:
This is a really old thread. There has been research confirming that kava should absolutely not be combined with any kind of hepatotoxic substance. I would recommend leaving at least 24 hours between consumption.
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I totally agree with @kavadude. I have tried mixing the 2 and I was not that happy with the result. Alcohol has bad next day effects and Kava is the opposite. Even the day before I drink I go real easy on the Kava because it still interacts with the alcohol and lowers my tolerance. The whole reason that I went to Kava is that I felt I was overdoing the daily "Happy Hour" and I knew the side effects were all bad. I'm very happy with having alcohol a couple of times a week and sticking with only kava on the other days. They just don't mix well. But I guess people are going to mix it just like we used to smoke dope and drink beer in my younger days. You might get away with it while you are young but the damage is cumulative as you get older.
 
M

moff000

Kava Enthusiast
Since taking up drinking kava again i've gone from drinking 35 pints of beer a week to 4-5 pints a week which suits me fine. One thing i have noticed is if i've had alcohol the day before and i open my Kava bag and thats as far as it gets, as i just feel sick with the smell of the powder.....
That really does annoy me lol
 
kasa_balavu

kasa_balavu

Yaqona Dina
It is *very* common for Fijians to have a beer or two after a grog session. It's called a wash-down.

So long as you're in otherwise good health, and you don't do it regularly, you should be fine.
 
nabanga

nabanga

Kava Enthusiast
I find that drinking kava the day after an alcohol night is very different to drinking alcohol the day after a kava night.
After a decent kava session, if I drink beer/ wine the next evening my heart rate goes up, I can go red, and my breath has a very strong alcohol smell even after just 2 pints of beer. This has been happening consistently for years, so I try to avoid it now.
Conversely, a good kava session the day after half a dozen beers and/ or a bottle of wine is fine and I feel no adverse effects at all.
No idea why this should be, but for me, it definitely seems fine if the kava day comes after the alcohol day but not the other way round.

As for drinking alcohol directly after a kava session on the same night, it is fairly common in urban (non- traditional) Vanuatu - one or two beers after kava ("kale").
 
D

Deleted User01

@kasa_balavu, that's interesting about the Fijians. In my opinion, that's plain bad behavior. That's agin to what I did as a young man, smoke dope and drink beer. The 2 drugs effect me differently. If I want a really, really deep sleep, I certainly don't do alcohol. On top of everything, I do Kava to cut back on alcohol and the bad side effects including weight gain. However, I must confess that the older I get, the less that I want to get shit-faced.
P.S. When I first started Kava, I remember having 1 beer on 2 occasions (but I didn't inhale). I can understand the temptation to have a cold beer to help take the edge off the mild kava dehydration. But a cold glass or water does the trick too. I don't drink sugar laden soft drinks either.
 
D

Deleted User01

Steve Mariotti said:
FWIW, I put a day in between alcohol and kava. The only time I drank both on the same day, I regretted it all the next day.
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Aw, yes, I remember that about you .:D All joking aside, the two don't mix well for most of us. I'm still perplexed by the Fijians horsing down beer after kava. You would thing that would be a cultural no no.

P.S.
Stevie, this is your current/future wife. Loose the beard Rasputin. :LOL:
 
D

Delicate Drunk

Kava Curious
kavadude said:
This is a really old thread. There has been research confirming that kava should absolutely not be combined with any kind of hepatotoxic substance.

I would recommend leaving at least 24 hours between consumption.
Click to expand...
Not doubting you, but could please provide a link or two supporting your statement, for further reference.
 
D

Deleted User01

Judd Rench said:
@Deleted User01 @kasa_balavu It is very common in Vanuatu as well. Many nakamals also sell beer.
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Well I guess it is up to us to show kava drinkers how to take kava responsibly. That all we need ... some kid wrecks his car and damages people. Then he says, "I only had 2 beers but I drank a buttload of Kava at Bula Kava House". Now, which drug is going to get blamed for the wreck? I'll give you one guess. Anyway, you'all partiers can mix them if you want. I do kava to avoid alcohol because I consider it way safer than alcohol and waaaayyyyyyy more conducive to sleeping. I do have my alcohol days but I ain't gonna mix them. Oh, and I don't drink wimpy beer either. I guess I can see someone drinking a bud lite after a kava session.
Ok, now leave me alone while I do some Kava and have a few 16 year old single malt scotches on the rocks. Hmmmm, it shor' is relaxin'.:eek:
::frosty:: You'all partiers be sure to mention me in your will. That's Frosty the Zombie Snowman. No relation to the christmas guy. Talk about a fruit loop.
 
D

Deleted User01

Delicate Drunk said:
Not doubting you, but could please provide a link or two supporting your statement, for further reference.
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I think @kavadude got that pearl of wisdom from the "Book of Common Sense" and from our experiences. I'm disappointed that modern day Islanders have taken to mixing the two drugs. But then many third world citizens have taken to bad habits as they get left behind by the 20th century. At least we have stated our case and if someone gets messed up, then we can say "We do not condone that and we said so 100 times". That keeps the kava community in the clear and isolates the damage to one person. So everyone just do whatever feels right for you but the majority of Kava users do not condone mixing alcohol and kava. I think we have beaten this poor horse senseless.
 
kavadude

kavadude

❦ॐ tanuki tamer
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D

Delicate Drunk

Kava Curious
Deleted User01 said:
I think @kavadude got that pearl of wisdom from the "Book of Common Sense" and from our experiences. I'm disappointed that modern day Islanders have taken to mixing the two drugs. But then many third world citizens have taken to bad habits as they get left behind by the 20th century. At least we have stated our case and if someone gets messed up, then we can say "We do not condone that and we said so 100 times". That keeps the kava community in the clear and isolates the damage to one person. So everyone just do whatever feels right for you but the majority of Kava users do not condone mixing alcohol and kava. I think we have beaten this poor horse senseless.
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New users are coming to this forum all the time, and the science is hopefully evolving all the time as well, so I don't think the horse has been beaten to death. I hope we could gain some useful information from threads like this. I really want to learn something new, because so far the science behind kava still seems very minimal compared to many other drugs.
When I first started drinking kava 20 years ago all the books and information I could find about it made it seem as some kind of miracle drug with no side effects. Now we have some inconclusive studies and a lot of worrying to go with them. The assumption that kava is worse for the liver when combined with alcohol would seem to be negated if you don't presuppose that kava is bad for the liver. In fact this forum has been very useful to me to hear people post about all their liver tests, and they all seem to come back perfectly fine, leading one to conclude that kava is not harmful. If somebody can tell me or post links to the studies that show the mechanisms by which alcohol and kava interact harmfully, I would love to see it.
 
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GussWest

GussWest

Kava Enthusiast
I'm beginning to think that the MEOS metabolic pathway may be part of the explanation.
Chronic heavy drinkers have an upregulation in this metabolic pathway for alcohol.
Kavalactones are metabolized by similar enzymes.

Perhaps it is possible that kava causes greater liver damage in chronic heavy drinkers than in occasional drinkers.
(A similar phenomenon occurs with acetaminophen, for example). This is pure speculation.

I also always note that the kava doses used in these studies is rather high.
 
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