Kava and Ginseng, Any Kava Drinkers here consume ginseng? Interactions?

[Donwanagan]

Ive recently purchased some red Chinese ginseng. Its vitamin shoppe brand, 648mg, i believe. It just says ( root ) in the ingredients, so i believe it to be ground root in capsules.
In the past I've taken ginseng liquid shots while at work for the stimulating effect, my job being labor intensive.

Anyhow, I've done a bit of Google search and found no definitive interactions between kava and ginseng. Granted im not the best Google researcher and i only spent 10min. Ive also done a search here at kava forums, and while I've seen allot of posts with kava drinkers mentioning they have or do consume ginseng, i dont see any talk directly related to the subject.

So, I'm making this thread to ask of the kava drinkers here who also have or do use ginseng for whatever purpose, how it effects, if at all, their kava drinking.

I read everywhere about enzymes that kava inhibits and i must admit, i am no chemist and so i can't understand which things to avoid based on disabled enzymes etc. Lol.
If you drink kava, do you avoid consuming ginseng with it? In the same day? Do you notice any adverse interactions? I have more questions but just want to open the topic to anyone who can shed more light.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Donwanagan]

Update,
I drank my usual 2tbsp worth of kava tea last night around 6 or 7 pm. And today around lunch i took one of the ginseng capsules and broke it open and poured the ginseng powder into my Gatorade.
It didn't give me any ill effect whatsoever. In fact it didn't give me the energy surge i was expecting based on my experience with the ginseng energy liquid shots ive tried in the past. This might be due to amount of actual ginseng or other ingredients that were in that shot. I wish i could remember the name of the brand.

But anyhow, just wanted to go on the record that i feel at this point that someone who drinks kava can also add ginseng to their supplement diet.

Ive also found a kava ginseng extract mix online.
https://kava.com/shop/kava-ginseng-tincture-blend/
I wouldn't be interested personally, but if it were toxic to mix the two im sure this wouldn't even exist, although to be realistic ive seen alcohol/kava mixtures and that to me is a no brainer not to mix, yet that exists.

But anyhow, ill report my experience as i continue to get back into ginseng supplementing for a bit while also continuing to enjoy and learn about kava tea.

 

[Donwanagan]

So, this is probably my last update on this. Im not trying to keep this thread alive or anything.
When i started researching kava, most of the useful information i could find was the shared experiences of members here. And in that same spirit i just wanted to share my own in case it benefits anyone.

Yesterday morning i mixed another ginseng capsule into my Gatorade before work at about 7am. Then around 6 to 7pm that same day i had a great kava drink via my aluball.
No interactions to note, hence, probably the end of my posting in this. But hope it could help anyone.

 

[Pounigirl]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. More knowledge is always better than less. I've never had the ginseng capsules. I have an Oriental market here that sells the fresh ginseng root so I usually buy that and make a hot tea out of it with some fresh ginger and agave nectar. It's yummy.

 

[The Kap'n]

So, this is probably my last update on this. Im not trying to keep this thread alive or anything.
When i started researching kava, most of the useful information i could find was the shared experiences of members here. And in that same spirit i just wanted to share my own in case it benefits anyone.

Yesterday morning i mixed another ginseng capsule into my Gatorade before work at about 7am. Then around 6 to 7pm that same day i had a great kava drink via my aluball.
No interactions to note, hence, probably the end of my posting in this. But hope it could help anyone.

Hi. Yes! Thank you for letting us know. I'm sorry you got such a room full of crickets on your question there. Occasionally a question comes along that only personal experiences help us to answer.

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

To be clear.. very few herbs interact* in the way we think of as westerners .. many herbs interact with drugs ... but very few will cause an actual Ill combo. MAOIs being the largest exception but still many a times more with drugs than other herbs.
Try it out

What I am more concerned with is the quality of ginseng you have and whether you need it anyway .

Side effects from herbs are not from the herb directly... but from your own body system being already in state of over stimulation or under stimulation and the plant pushes you further in this direction.
The distinction is clear and important.
One is a physiological change that can be re produced in many different people. A plant however could cause you a "side effect" that is nowhere in the literature and is exactly what the plant is claimed to cure typically!
Ex = exhaustion from ginseng or anxiety from kava .

True ginseng . Asian ginseng the real wild rough hard done by roots are strong and for old people and people with no energy very sick and low low energy.
It's very very strong stuff . I can't use it.
Russian or Siberian ginseng Eluethero root . Is good for younger more youthful people who want to keep that health.

Both used as DECOCOTIONS.
That is boiling a tablespoon or so of root in water for 10 to 20 minutes.
Kava can be made this way and is shown by Chris in his boiling kava method video .
That is a standard decoction shown by Chris . It is typically used for roots, seeds, twigs and bark. Where as an INFUSION as its typical called is simply a teaspoon of herb or a few inside of a cup of water and NOT boiled. Usually for flowers, leaves, and other fragile plant parts with volatile constituents.

I hope this helped . Any questions just pm me or reply

 

[kastom_lif]

In my garden and woods, I overlap use of kava with echinacea, artemisia and ganoderma sp. and have no ill effects.

The only herb I NEVER use with kava is hypericum perforatum, St. John's Wort.

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

St johns is a very contrindicated plant . It is an Maoi.

Why don't you mix them personal experience ?
@kastom_lif

Also what type of artemesia ?
I have mugwort here in new York but there are many wormwood and mugwort relatives under Artemesia

 

[kastom_lif]

A. annua and A. absinthium are the ones I've grown. Never noticed any effect from either, to be honest.

As for St. John's Wort, it doesn't play well with anything that affects serotonin. Although kava doesnt directly hit serotonin, it does have some SNRI (selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor) qualities, so I play it safe.

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

This is what I pointed out above.
We kind of confuse plants and think of them like covered up drugs. But really they are much different and buffered is only half right as a term.
Personally I've combined them with no ill effects .
St Johns wort is stimulating to a certain extent and if you can't handle coffee and kava I would avoid them two together for that same reason . But overall it is safe as a combo in my experience . I find myself thinking in terms of constituents and slices of studies and such and it's really ideally sound but not experientially many times.
Kava doesn't have strong enough force on serotonin neither does st johns to cause serotonin syndrome together.
At least not over a few days which is how I've taken them together before . Too much st johns and I feel a little over stim.

The srni makes sense with Kava . I've definitely felt it's ability to hold adrenaline and this may be why it does not mix with caffeine in high doses

 

[Donwanagan]

To be clear.. very few herbs interact* in the way we think of as westerners .. many herbs interact with drugs ... but very few will cause an actual Ill combo. MAOIs being the largest exception but still many a times more with drugs than other herbs.
Try it out

What I am more concerned with is the quality of ginseng you have and whether you need it anyway .

Side effects from herbs are not from the herb directly... but from your own body system being already in state of over stimulation or under stimulation and the plant pushes you further in this direction.
The distinction is clear and important.
One is a physiological change that can be re produced in many different people. A plant however could cause you a "side effect" that is nowhere in the literature and is exactly what the plant is claimed to cure typically!
Ex = exhaustion from ginseng or anxiety from kava .

True ginseng . Asian ginseng the real wild rough hard done by roots are strong and for old people and people with no energy very sick and low low energy.
It's very very strong stuff . I can't use it.
Russian or Siberian ginseng Eluethero root . Is good for younger more youthful people who want to keep that health.

Both used as DECOCOTIONS.
That is boiling a tablespoon or so of root in water for 10 to 20 minutes.
Kava can be made this way and is shown by Chris in his boiling kava method video .
That is a standard decoction shown by Chris . It is typically used for roots, seeds, twigs and bark. Where as an INFUSION as its typical called is simply a teaspoon of herb or a few inside of a cup of water and NOT boiled. Usually for flowers, leaves, and other fragile plant parts with volatile constituents.

I hope this helped . Any questions just pm me or reply

Thats really helpful and makes alot of sense. Ill have to look into Siberian ginseng and the points you made, as i am not an older person yet, just 28 but i put my body through alot so if i don't maintain myself a little more than the next guy, and preferably with natural methods, i fear ill end up like some of the older guys i work around or know of who don't work anymore, that suffer all kinds of bodily issues from years of work.
Thanks for the information and thoughts!