This may be risky like discussing grams of protein per lb of body weight or vegan v. carnivore
What are you thoughts on kava specially be free or tru kava has anyone tried and what is your opinion?
Long story short, I’ve only been drinking wine on the weekends since the new year and I still crave something to help me relax / unwind etc. I have been taking ashwagandha organic india or the california vitality gummies. This have been great for a deep sleep but isn’t a habital replacement for a glass of wine.
Before getting into it, keep in mind that the items you mention are not FDA approved and therefore you can expect that reported dosages and ingredients will vary - in short, you don’t know how pure the active substance is, nor do you know if what the label says is what you’re getting. You also run the risk of active byproducts of whatever process was used to isolate the active ingredients.
There are refereed publications which positively indicate that Ashwagandha extract - the pure stuff, this is in controlled laboratory settings - hits at least 2 GABA receptor sub-types that are also targets of anxiolytics, and improved sleep has been reported as well.
Kava kava carries a risk of liver toxicity - no shortage of publications there - and has been identified to hit at least one GABA receptor sub-type, but as an anxiolytic the proof is in the pudding, namely that the people (and pharma companies) who study this sort of thing determined it was not useful enough to warrant getting it pushed through for GAD.
I’ve tried kava kava - not the brands you mention - and extracted it into coconut milk as the active components are hydrophobic and a water extract (1) tastes like dirt; and (2) doesn’t extract, well, hydrophobic things. My face got numb briefly and that was kind of interesting. I didn’t feel more relaxed.
Kava kava is unregulated and you don’t know if you’re getting the pure actives or a mix (the latter more likely, but again, you have no way of knowing except to send it off to a lab for expensive and extensive testing) - that and the liver toxicity are more than enough to bolster my opinion that it’s a pass.
Finally, both substances you mention can interact with other herbal products and a host of FDA-regulated medications in ways that range from nothing to worry about to this might be a problem.
P.S. - If it’s a glass of wine, that’s likely a better bet than either of the two things you mentioned: you yourself say it helps you relax/unwind, and the side effects are well known. My $0.02.
There is a KAVA bar down the road and a few years back they were advertising “alcohol is so 2000’s”. So I gave it a try. I think it was blended with coconut milk, like another poster said, it tasted like dirt and was served with a slice of pineapple in what they call a shell. I I drank two shells over an hour. I would say it gave me a calming sense, but not any more than taking a couple benedryls, just no sleepy feeling. Better yet, I would describe it as the feeling you have after a long run and the adrenaline or whatever is amping you wears off about 30 minutes to an hour after. at 20 bucks a shell, the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze. Researching how to make it at home, I find there is a lot of junk out there so I didn’t bother.
I’ll plug Peak Cocktails in here. I found them a few years ago when I was in a similar situation as you and now I’m sponsored by them. They have ashwagandha and a few other ingredients to help you wind down. My discount code is below if you end up buying some.
