Potency Frustration

[Summer]

Hi Everyone,
I just don't understand all the percentages and numbers involved with kava.
For instance, how can a kava candy or two with 50 - 100mg give someone a super feeling when it takes a tablespoon or two (or way more) of micro or instant for others? Surely there are way more kavalactones in the powder, aren't you getting hundreds maybe thousands of mg in root powder?! And traditional prep I do not understand at all ~ it's not like you are eating the powder so it seems like it would take even more of the root powder to get an effect.

I've had all of them.

 

[kavadude]

I don't think anyone really knows how the contents of the kava you're taking correlates with the intensity of the experience.

Here are a couple of points:
- Stated mg or kavalactone% may not be accurate -- it could vary based on the quality of the particular source root, and the efficiency of the extraction (in the case of say, candy or trad. prep)
- We don't understand how kavalactones correlate with the effects of kava. There are 6 or more, their effects are synergistic. A kava listed at 20 KL% might be less potent than a 15 KL%, if the 15 KL% has more of a kavalactone that gives stronger effects.
- Kavalactones might not be the only compounds in kava responsible for kava's effects: http://kavaforums.com/forum/threads...gnalling-pathways-by-components-of-kava.5578/
- Some people may be genetically much less sensitive to kava, explaining why one person might get poor effects from a product that someone else loves.
- Re: traditional prep -- Instants are made from traditionally prepped kava. Extracts take pounds and pounds of root material to make small amounts of extract. Some micronized products have the coarse fibers removed which account for a lot of the weight of the plant but little of the potency. So yeah, you might have to use more root powder in traditional preparation, but it's still the most cost effective way to consume kava, and in my experience is much more likely to confer the full array of kava's effects.

 

[Summer]

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation. The article in that link is interesting as well.

It's been hard for me to understand how a 6 foot tall man can feel one or two teaspoons. It takes more than that for me ~

 

[kavadude]

It bums me out a lot too @Summer. Watching @Kavasseur's videos kinda bum me out because he's clearly visibly effected by his 4-5 tbsp batches whereas I have to use twice that. The good news is after doing it for a few years I know what I need to do to get consistently excellent results so...you will get there.

 

[ElDudarino]

also, set and setting - hence the "listen to the kava." Who you are with and where you are affect perceived potency. Also, other substances you may be taking. For me coffee seems to up it a notch, but for others it's counterproductive.

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

 

[Runding]

I don't think anyone really knows how the contents of the kava you're taking correlates with the intensity of the experience.

Here are a couple of points:
- Stated mg or kavalactone% may not be accurate -- it could vary based on the quality of the particular source root, and the efficiency of the extraction (in the case of say, candy or trad. prep)
- We don't understand how kavalactones correlate with the effects of kava. There are 6 or more, their effects are synergistic. A kava listed at 20 KL% might be less potent than a 15 KL%, if the 15 KL% has more of a kavalactone that gives stronger effects.
- Kavalactones might not be the only compounds in kava responsible for kava's effects: http://kavaforums.com/forum/threads...gnalling-pathways-by-components-of-kava.5578/
- Some people may be genetically much less sensitive to kava, explaining why one person might get poor effects from a product that someone else loves.
- Re: traditional prep -- Instants are made from traditionally prepped kava. Extracts take pounds and pounds of root material to make small amounts of extract. Some micronized products have the coarse fibers removed which account for a lot of the weight of the plant but little of the potency. So yeah, you might have to use more root powder in traditional preparation, but it's still the most cost effective way to consume kava, and in my experience is much more likely to confer the full array of kava's effects.

I wish I could like this about 10 more times. We're so unfamiliar with what each kavalactone really does, that I think we always seem to look to the overall kavalactone percentage as the end all be all for how potent a particular kava is. I find myself constantly drinking the 6-7% kavas that, in effects, often compare to the ones tested in the 10-12% range. There really should be less focus on the overall percentages, and more about which chemotype combinations work best for each individual person.

Something that isn't brought up often, but I feel is incredibly important, is how fresh the kava is. The older stuff is less oily, has strange smells/tastes, and just doesn't work as well. It could be the same cultivar as you usually enjoy, but after sitting in a warehouse for a long time, the oils break down or something. @Deleted User , have you been able to see any difference between fresher/older kavas and their potency? Maybe the overall KL% measures similarly, but the effects aren't there? Just a shot in the dark.