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What is it?

The dried, peeled roots of Kava, a shrub that is native to the Pacific Islands and is still grown prolifically today in places such as Fiji and Tonga. In its raw form the aroma of Kava is mild and the taste is initially slight and sweet but it carries a lingering and intense after-taste which gets steadily stronger until at some point you can feel your mouth go quite numb.

How has it been used?

Kava has been and still is extensively used in the Pacific islands as both a ritual and social experience. It could fairly be described as a mind-altering herb when taken in sufficient quantity. The general affect being a sedative one, but mild enough to be felt as pleasant by most. It has been described as being mentally stimulating in small doses and a central nervous system depressant in larger ones.

One of my favourite herbal writers, Thomas Bartram says “Kava is a powerful soporific for chronic insomnia, ensuring dreamless sleep with no known ill effects on rising”.

This potent benefit to insomnia, plus its strong relaxing effects in general, saw Kava become increasingly popular in many parts of the world over the 1990s and into the beginning of the 21st century. Then, as always seems the case when greed goes too far, some essential corners were cut and parts of the Kava plant that should not have been put up for sale were cashed in to the market. Several people developed serious liver disorders with the result that, now, in most parts of the world, it is illegal to source or supply Kava, and the previous market for it has almost completely crashed.  New Zealand is an exception to that, largely because of the vigorous and well-researched lobbying of a group of New Zealand herbalists to prevent it being scheduled out of reach.

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Personal experiences

Kava can be superb at reducing tension and improving sleep.

The regular use of small amounts of Kava helps people to unwind their habitual tension and learn how to be more relaxed overall. Kava works best when you don’t bludgeon it into the body with all the eventual side effects of excess but are rather use small and sustainable doses. Kava's relaxing effects go directly to the neck and shoulders and people with habitual headaches from too much tension in these parts of their bodies can markedly improve from using it.

Kava combines perfectly with Cramp bark for excess physical tension and Valerian for anxiety and sleeplessness.

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Excerpt from Felter & Lloyd's Kings Dispensatory from 1898

The root of Piper methysticum has a pleasant, somewhat lilac odor, and a slightly pungent, bitter and astringent taste, which augments the salivary discharge. It has marked general and local anaesthetic properties. It has been employed as a pleasant remedy in bronchitis, rheumatism, gout and gonorrhoea and has also been recommended as a powerful sudorific. The action of the root varies, according to the amount taken; in small doses, it is tonic and calming; while in large doses it produces an intoxication, which, unlike that from alcohol, is of a reserved, drowsy character. The natives who use its infusion as an intoxicating beverage for a considerable length of time, are said to become affected with a dry, scaly, cracked, and ulcerated skin, and vision becomes more or less obscured.

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