Kava Usage 

Author's Note: As I find the time, I will add commentary from noted authors, researchers, and other relevant persons regarding kava usage.

Traditional Use of Kava
The following is an excerpt from an e-mail I was sent. With the author,  I, too, share some concerns regarding traditional use versus contemporary Western-style use/marketing of kava.

"I just read what you have written about kava and I think that you have done an exceptional job at not making it out to be just another drink like beer or wine. I'm Samoan, and we use kava when welcoming important guests or government officials from different islands or countries. For us it is almost sacred, and definitely an honor when we are invited to partake of the drink.
For other polynesians, they use it for social gathering or as a right of passage as with the Tongans and Fijians. What ever the case, we see kava as an important part of who we are and where we are from.
I am starting to see Kava pills, extracts, etc. available in the grocery stores. I find myself feeling offended by this because my belief is that it should be for important occasions or guest, and here it is being paraded around for anyone to purchase and consume."

Kava and Anxiety
The following is a long quote from Harold H.Bloomfield M.D.
Healing Anxiety with Herbs
New York, NY : HarperCollins, c1998. ISBN 0060191279
(p. 79-80)

    "Kava pills come in different strengths, usually from 100 to 250 mg, and the percentage of kavalactones (the active chemicals in kava) in the extract can vary from 30 to 70 percent. The dosage used in most clinical studies for anxiety is three daily 100-mg doses of kava extract standardized to 70 percent kavalactone content, which research has shown can be as effective as the benzodiazepine drug Serax (oxazepam), 15 mg daily. A 70-percent kava extract in not yet commercially available in the United States.

Enzymatic Therapy has a 150-mg capsule of a 55-percent kava extract, which would contain 82.5 mg of kavalactones. A 100-mg of 70-percent kava extract would equal 70 mg of kavalactones (.70 X 100). A 250-mg capsule of 30-percent extract would contain 75 mg of kavalactones (.30 X 250). It is best to begin with a total daily dosage of 70 to 85 mg of kavalactones, taken in the evening. Stay on one capsule if it effectively reduces anxiety. If it is not enough, you can add a second pill in the morning. Remain on the twice daily dosage for at least a week. If you still feel tense or fearful after that, you can add a third capsule in the middle of the day. When you consistently feel more relaxed, you can gradually decrease your dosage by one pill every few days.

Consuming kava on a daily basis is not recommended for longer than twenty-five weeks (four to six months). When used in small amounts on an occasional basis, it can be used longer, if necessary. If 70 to 85 mg of kavalactones three times a day is not effective for your anxiety, see your doctor for a reevaluation to see if taking more kava is indicated or if you may require a prescription drug."

Tradition Uses of Kava
Andrew Chevallier The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants
1st American ed. New York : Boston : DK Pub. ; Dist. Houghton Mifflin,
c1996. (p. 119)

• Traditional aphrodisiac Kava kava is valued in the South Sea Islands as a calming and stimulating intoxicant. Taken in large quantities it produces a euphoric state, which is why it has long been considered an aphrodisiac.
• Narcotic Experience in the Pacific Islands and among the Aborigines in Australia has shown that if taken to excess kava kava has a narcotic effect, inducing stupor.
• Antiseptic Kava kava has an antiseptic action and in the past it was used specifically to treat venereal disease, especially gonorrhea. Although kava kava is no longer generally employed in this way, it is a valuable urinary antiseptic, helping to counter urinary infections and to settle an irritable bladder.
• Pain relief With its tonic, strengthening, and mildly analgesic properties, kava kava is a good remedy for chronic pain, helping to reduce sensitivity and to relax muscles that are tensed in response to pain.
• Arthritic conditions Kava kava's analgesic and cleansing diuretic effect often makes it beneficial for treating rheumatic and arthritic problems such as gout. The herb helps to bring relief from pain and to remove waste products from the affected joint.
• Relaxing remedy Kava kava is a safe and proven remedy for anxiety that does not cause drowsiness or effect the user's ability to operate machinery. It may be taken long term to help relieve chronic stress, and it combination of anxiety-relieving and muscle-relaxant properties makes it of value for treating muscle tension as well as emotional stress.
• External uses The herb makes a useful analgesic mouthwash for toothache and canker sores.

Methods of Preparation, Kava Root
Mayell, Mark    Natural energy : a consumer's guide to legal, mind-altering,
and mood-brightening herbs and supplements.
New York : Three Rivers Press, c1998. (p.198)

"Nowadays mechanical grinding of either the fresh or dried root mixed with a liquid, along with squeezing of the liquefied mass through some sort of filter, has supplanted chewing. One method is to loosely enclose a half-cup of fine kava powder in a piece of cloth. This "kava ball" is then dunked in two quarts of water and repeatedly squeezed and mashed about. After five or ten minutes, the dunking and mashing creates a milky kava emulsion, enough for about four people to drink.

The use of electric grinders and blenders has further updated these traditional preparation techniques. You can make a version of the traditional kava beverage by starting with a quarter-cup of finely ground kava. Mix the powder with one or two cups of water. You can also add two tablespoons of olive or other vegetable oil, or a similar amount of liquid lecithin. Blend the powder and liquids at high speed in a blender for five minutes or so into a milky froth. Strain this liquid through a filter or fine sieve and drink. The pulp can be reprocessed to make a weaker drink by adding more water, blending, and straining."

Kava Cultivation
Lebot, Vincent. Kava--the Pacific elixir : the definitive guide to its
ethnobotany, history, and chemistry.  Mark Merlin, and Lamont Lindstrom.
Rochester, Vt : Healing Arts Press, 1997, c1992. ISBN 0892817267

This is from the beginning of chapter 4., (p. 82)

"Most traditional Pacific crops are propagated asexually; their cultivars are all cloned. Cloning of a single selected individual normally results in a population of genetically identical progeny. Kava cultivars, too, are reproduced by vegetative propagation-by stem cuttings. In this chapter, we provide an ethnobotanical overview of the traditional and contemporary ways in which islanders cultivate, classify, and consume kava. We also note traditional medicinal uses of the plant and review, in conclusion, the state of kava's ethnobotanical heritage.

Cultivation Techniques
Kava is well suited to Pacific farming systems because it is flexible in its cultivation requirements and thrives in shade. It grows well in traditional multicrop Melanesian gardens, which are cut from the forest and partly shaded by taller crops such as banana and manioc. Newly planted stem cuttings must be protected from direct sunlight and from wind, which increases the rate of evapotranspiration. Choosing -a site sheltered from the prevailing southeasterly tradewinds is particularly important, for the buffeting effects of these air currents can damage kava stems and rootstock, making them susceptible to disease. In intensive field cultivation of kava, shade must be provided during the first 30 months of growth. Kava is now often grown commercially in association with shade-providing cash crops (figure 4.1). It is potentially profitable when harvested after three to four years, the time needed for most small tree cash crops, such as coffee or cocoa, to reach maturity (see chapter 6)."

Copyright 1999, 2000
Updated March 15, 2000
Formerly on the web
as Lee Kagan's Kava Page