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Vitamins / minerals in Kava?

Hitch

Kava Curious
Bula everyone,

I've had more people asking me about why I drink kava... I generally say 'the effects' but I feel it also is just healthy overall. I've never gone deep into kava's nutritional profile, however

Does kava have certain vitamins / minerals in it that make it healthy beyond just its enjoyable, relaxing effects? Vitamin A, B, C, etc... or minerals like magnesium, potassium, zinc, etc.

Thank you all in advance for your thoughts :)
 

Alia

'Awa Grower/Collector
Bula everyone,

I've had more people asking me about why I drink kava... I generally say 'the effects' but I feel it also is just healthy overall. I've never gone deep into kava's nutritional profile, however

Does kava have certain vitamins / minerals in it that make it healthy beyond just its enjoyable, relaxing effects? Vitamin A, B, C, etc... or minerals like magnesium, potassium, zinc, etc.

Thank you all in advance for your thoughts :)
There is more to this. The following is 1 example but it can change depending on cultivar, fresh or dry.
"More work could be done"

Composition of ‘Awa



Fresh root and stump is 80% water. Dried rootstock is 43% starch, 20% fiber, 12% water, 3.2% sugars, 3.6% proteins, 3.2% minerals, and between 3 and 20% kavalactones.

The ‘awa drink contains fifteen amino acids, four sugars, and seven minerals, as follows:



Table 7.1. Composition of kava stump and roots

% dry matter


SugarsAmino acidsMinerals
Saccharose
Maltose
Fructose
Glucose
0.50
0.10
1.75
0.85
Aspartic acid
Threonine
Serine
Glutamic acid
Glycine
Phenylalanine
Histidine
Lysine
Arginine
Alanine
Valine
Methionine
Isoleucine
Leucine
Tyrosine
0.28
0.08
0.11
0.26
0.11
0.07
0.05
0.10
0.08
0.16
0.11
0.02
0.07
0.14
0.06
Potassium
Calcium
Magnesium
Sodium
Aluminum
Iron
Silica
2.237
0.372
0.179
0.111
0.150
0.106
0.090
From Lebot and Cabalion 1986, quoted in Lebot, Merlin, and Lindstrom 1992, 60-61.
 

Hitch

Kava Curious
Wow! Thank you for this comprehensive response Alia! I will share this with my friends next time they ask :)
 

fueledbykava

Kava enthusiast
You might be interested in this thread I started some time ago when I noticed quite a bit of minerals in my Kava and wanted to know how much of it was ferrous: https://kavaforums.com/forum/threads/look-at-all-that-iron.18323/

I believe we more or less concluded/settled on that it was more than likely originating from the Kava itself and not the processing equipment. You're certainly getting your minerals from a session here and there! Anecdotally, I would say that the amount of magnesium is probably also why it's such a great sleep aid. I get similarly vivid REM cycles when I take a ZMA supplement as when I drink Kava before bed.
 
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