New to Kava

[Steph]

Hi! So far I have tried Kava instant powder (a heaping teaspoon to 2 cups water). Have only felt the effect of a little numbness in my throat. My biggest problem seems to be with taste and stomach issues. I feel very nauseated after I drink it, and it continues. I bought the instant from Kauai Kava. They assured the Kava is Noble. To sum it up, really no good effects yet. Bad effects to the stomach. Any help from experienced Kava drinkers?

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

Yes. You are experiencing reverse tolerance. I'll have to let some other members who know more from experience with it to chime in on the specifics. But pretty much it takes a little bit for your body to feel kava (except your tummy :/ )

 

[Deleted User01]

Welcome to the Forum @Steph. Like @Mrbinx69 said, Reverse Tolerance. Or the cool kids would just say you have RT. Anyway, I remember NOT GETTING nausea when I started. Numb throat yes and that is a good thing. Switch to something else. Do something easy like Kava Kandy and see if you still get nauseated. And of course you know that you don't mix Kava with other drugs and alchohol. That does create problems.

 

[Steph]

Welcome to the Forum @Steph. Like @Mrbinx69 said, Reverse Tolerance. Or the cool kids would just say you have RT. Anyway, I remember NOT GETTING nausea when I started. Numb throat yes and that is a good thing. Switch to something else. Do something easy like Kava Kandy and see if you still get nauseated. And of course you know that you don't mix Kava with other drugs and alchohol. That does create problems.

 

[Steph]

Thanks for the help. I was wondering about kava paste. It seems you like using such a small amount might be easier to tolerate taste and stomach wise.

 

[The Kap'n]

Thanks for the help. I was wondering about kava paste. It seems you like using such a small amount might be easier to tolerate taste and stomach wise.

Kava paste, while incredibly easy to eat, and the effects profile are that of a fresh Hawaiian kava, it's expensive. The most expensive out of all the types of kava. If that doesn't scare you, then I'd suggest Paradise Kava for the extracts. However if you're experiencing reverse tolerance I would suggest against it, as it would be easily a waste of your money. Generally suggestions start with instant kava or kalm with kava drinks. Both of those are awesome to get through the reverse tolerance phase.

 

[Steph]

I tried the instant kava. As per one of the replies, I ordered the candy. Will this still be a good start?

 

[The Kap'n]

Any kavalactones you get into your body will help overcome the reverse tolerance stage. So although you may not feel the full effects from the candies, you'll be working your way towards them.

 

[Deleted User01]

I only recommended the Candy to see if the nausea would go away. You gotta start at the bottom and work your way up if you have a queasy stomach. I think it might be a good way to sniff out a possible Kava Allergy without doing too much damage. I only say that because one of the members had a full blown allergic reaction the other day. It's rare but it can happen.

 

[Edward]

Hello Steph, I'm surprised you experienced nausea from instant. How quickly did you consume the brew? I would maybe suggest splitting your consumption up a little and using less water. Try 1 tsp of instant in 4 to 6 oz of water and repeat after 15 mins. Do this up to 3 times and you've had the same amount of kava but taken it in over more time which could help avoid the nausea. I find instant ok and had 4 heaped teaspoons of instant last night in 8 oz of water, chugged it right off and felt fine although I know that doesn't help you ;-)
In terms of RT I am not long down that road myself but one thing I have noticed is that the more times I use the same kava the better the effect for the same dose. Also try eating something small after your kava and then drinking half a pint of milk. That definitely helps the kava work for me.

 

[Vekta]

A piece of fresh fruit might help to. Maybe crisp apple out of the fridge would help. Try a Pacific Rose apple if you can get it. mmmm.

 

[Deleted User01]

Or you can try my world famous apple salad. Oh wait a minute, this isn't the Cooking Forum? Sorry, got the wrong forum. Yeah, apples are really, really good but please eat the red ones and with the skin on to get the benefits.

 

[CactusKava]

Hi! So far I have tried Kava instant powder (a heaping teaspoon to 2 cups water). Have only felt the effect of a little numbness in my throat. My biggest problem seems to be with taste and stomach issues. I feel very nauseated after I drink it, and it continues. I bought the instant from Kauai Kava. They assured the Kava is Noble. To sum it up, really no good effects yet. Bad effects to the stomach. Any help from experienced Kava drinkers?

Hey Steph!

Two things:
1) All of the vendors on this forum have been assured by suppliers that kava they'll receive is noble -- but we've all had issues. Suppliers aren't the most honest of people, and oftentimes have no clue if the kava they have truly is noble. I would suspect what you have is not noble. Unless it has the TrueKava logo on it or has been tested by @Deleted User, you can never really be sure.
2) I gave some advice to another member in a PM and told him my method for drinking kava:

As far as nausea and taste, let me give you some words of wisdom about how to drink kava. Here's what I do:
Step 1: Get a glass of ice water, chilled kava, and candied ginger (you can find this at nearly any grocery store. I buy mine from the bulk bins where you normally find beans and such. It looks like this )
Step 2: Get your kava ready in a 4oz portion. I always use a little mason jar that shows the amount right on the glass.
Step 3: Exhale every possible last breath in your body.
Step 4: While holding your breath out and not breathing in, chug your kava.
Step 5: While still holding your breath, take a swig of water.
Step 6: While still holding your breath, take a nibble of ginger.
Step 7: Go ahead and breath in.

It sounds really complicated, but it's not too bad. This helps me reduce the taste of the kava (it's chilled and you're not using your nose, so it dulls the flavor), it helps to remove the taste of kava (swig of water + the pungent ginger), and ginger helps to relieve nausea.

 

[Deleted User01]

Thanks for the input @CactusKava. The Tudei subject is "the elephant in the room" because it sends some of the vendors into a "tizzy". For me, True Kava is the consumer guide for Kava and I won't drink any kava that has not been certified by TrueKava. And that being said, I must raise my shell and say, "Thanks @Deleted User".

 

[Steph]

Many thanks for all of your posts. Yesterday, I did not drink any Kava. I'm sending my boyfriend to get me some pineapple juice. I figured I'd give that a try with less liquid. I also ordered the candy and Kalm Kava drink. I'm looking forward breaking through the RT. Thanks again everyone.

 

[Steph]

A piece of fresh fruit might help to. Maybe crisp apple out of the fridge would help. Try a Pacific Rose apple if you can get it. mmmm.

I'm going to try this. I love apples, and where I live in Ohio this is the time of year for fresh apples. We get them straight from the farm.