Kava Benefits

So you are considering kava to enhance or improve your lifestyle. Why not? Kava has been used for centuries in the Pacific and is now available in western countries. Kava is 100% safe despite outdated inaccurate research stating that kava may cause liver damage. This is totally untrue.

Kava has many benefits and some of the main uses can include:

  • a safe social alternative to alcohol
  • wind down at the end of a long day.
  • improve your mood 
  • improve your sleep 
  • relax and destress

If you are a daily kava drinker it is essential that you supplement with electrolytes and pleanty of water. Kava makes you pee a lot so its important that you replace these salts in your body to avoid/minimise dry skin. 

Here are a few of the ways you can use kava to benefit your lifstyle:

Alternative to Alcohol for Socialising

social kava

For this scanerio we would go with the Tongan kava as it is mild, buzzy and won't put you to sleep. You can enjoy quite a bit of kava either with friends or simply by yourself while others drink alcohol. 

Its safe to drink up to 3-4 liters in a night without issue. However be sure to have a good sleep in if you are consuming a lot of kava because not enough rest can make you grumpy. 

Helpful tips: keep a steady consumption in 100ml shots every 10-15min and let your body tell you when you've had enough. 

 

End of Day Wind Down

This is my favourite time of the day, and during the week its best to keep this moderate in consumption if you want to wake up early the following day. We recommend using kava 3-5hrs before you sleep and before dinner. Either Tongan or Fijian kava will do for this scenario provided you have it before dinner..

Start early and mix 2-4 tablespoons of kava in 600ml water. this will take you about 45min to 1hr to finish in approximately 6 cups. You can always double this by mixing 2 batches if you feel you need more. 

Improve Your Mood 

In this scenario "less is more" we don't recommend drinking for that buzzy feeling but just enough so you feel calm and mellow. 500ml/5 shells is usually enough to take the edge of and reduse the stress of the day. 

Improve Your Sleep

Be sure to consume kava approximately 3-4hrs before bed and before dinner. Especially during the week where you need to get up early the next day. 

We recommend having 600ml-1lt (6-10 shells/cups) over a period of 45min - 1hr. Have dinner straight after your last shell and leave 3-4hrs before bed for going to the toilet and chilling out. 

Kava & Caffeine

Kava has the ability to reduce the body's ability to metabolise caffeine. If you are having trouble sleeping after drinking kava this could be the reason. 

A final reminder to stay hydrated when consuming kava as it does make you pee. Stay hydrated with pleanty of water and electrolytes like watermelon, mangoes, cucumber and pineapples.