Kava Kava
Drink Concentrate
HEALTH BENEFITS
WHAT IS KAVA KAVA?
By many accounts Kava Kava, or simply Kava is an herb on the brink of
western stardom. Manufacturers of herbal products report strong public
interest in kava preparations. Articles in popular press have described
kava use and it's effects. While many Americans are becoming
increasingly aware of Kava's ability to relax tension, increase
sociability, and promote sleep, their discovery of Kava's tranquilizing
effects comes relatively late, given that kava has been a part of
cultural tradition in the South Pacific for thousands of years. From
Hawaii to New Guinea , natives of the South Pacific island serve Kava as
a special drink to visiting heads of state that have indulged in kava
during welcoming ceremonies. Considered an important part of the
islander's social and religious lives, kava's cultural role in the
Pacific has been compared to wine in southern Europe. Islanders (as
well as many new kava drinkers) take moderate amounts of the beverage to
achieve a state of tranquility, happiness, and contentment (some
describe it as a holistic sense of "being" but without the unpleasant
side effects of alcohol, such as hangovers or boisterous behavior). Kava
first piqued scientific interest during the mid 1800's, when researchers
traced kava's relaxing properties to kalvactones, which are found in the
root and relax muscles without blocking nerve signals that keep the
muscles tense. This may explain how Kava can relax muscles without
numbing the thinking process. But kava's mind-altering action has
largely been ignored in modern times due to the development of synthetic
psychopharmaceauyticals, including anti-depressants.
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