Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I was happy to find this on Amazon, as my local health food store charges 50% more for the same product. Overall, this is a great product, and has been my first Kava experience. A great way to fade away stress. A short while after taking a few of these, and racing thoughts slow down and feelings of anxiety melt away. At first, I experienced nausea as a side effect, which is common for Kava and is actually a sign of a potent product. If you've ever placed Kava on your tongue and felt it go numb, you can probably understand how nausea would be induced once this same effect happens to the inside of your stomach. Now, I take 1 ginger root extract with my Kava and all nausea is alleviated. I highly recommend trying this to anyone who feels stomach discomfort. It would be handy if some manufacturer would include a bit of ginger extract inside the Kava capsule since this is a common issue, but really not a big deal. A few notes. Many people try to compare Kava to traditional anxiolytic agents such as barbiturates and benzodiazepines (Xanax, Valium, Ativan, Klonopin, etc.) and will say that they "felt nothing" upon taking Kava. You have to understand that Kava is a bit different. I do disagree with the concept of feeling nothing, however. Many do experience euphoria and intense relaxation, although this won't happen until the dose is escalated far beyond what is listed on the box. The recommended dosage is more for the melting away of anxiety, not catching a buzz (although it's quite safe to increase the dosage for this purpose -- more on that later). Focus more on what you don't feel (which is the stress and worry that many of us experience on a daily basis), and you'll appreciate this product. Back to the comparison with prescription anxiolytics -- Xanax and other drugs make you feel great because they are raping your GABA(a) receptors. They are GABA(a) receptor agonists (well, technically they are positive allosteric modulators) that potentiate those receptors in such a way that it destroys them. From a neuroscience perspective, this is called down-regulation. This is what happens when people develop tolerance to benzodiazepines and seek dose escalation. After a while, you're hooked on the drug, and it can easily reach the point where if you stop taking them cold-turkey, you experience panic attacks, tremors, and even seizures. This is why everyone talks about doing a slow taper over many months -- and even once they are off the drug, many people experience long term symptoms of benzodiazepine withdrawal. They are left with less GABA(a) receptors in their brain, and are worse off than they were before. Kava is pretty interesting in this aspect, as it does the opposite. It has a reverse tolerance profile. It causes receptor UP-regulation (in other words, you grow more GABA(a) receptors and are less prone to anxiety, even when the Kava isn't in your system). This has been proven through clinical studies (check out PubMed ID 7701051 for one example). If you don't feel benefit right away, take Kava for a couple of weeks before making a decision. Many people don't feel an effect from the Kava itself, but as their brain grows new GABA(a) receptors, they experience the reverse tolerance effect kick in. Long-term users find they can take less and less Kava and experience the same effect. Finally, in regards to safety, this is where I like products such as this one -- which are made from Kava root only. Kava has shown to be somewhat hepatotoxic (damaging to the liver) -- but this has only been linked to substances contained within Kava leaves and stems. The root has never shown anything other than a perfect safety profile. The reverse tolerance effect mentioned before is synergistic with this -- as the longer you take it, the lower your dose can be, and the less your chances of side effects would be (not that you should worry about this anyway). The only reason I even mention this is that the FDA blindly requires the manufacture to put a warning about liver damage on this product, even though Kava ROOT has never shown anything but perfect safety. It's a blanket statement with no research backing it, that shows how little the FDA thinks of effective herbs. With that said, Kava may or may not be safe to consume with alcohol. It does inhibit the CYP450 class of liver enzyme, which breaks down a number of substances (including alcohol and benzodiazepine drugs). Research hasn't been conclusive in this area. It probably won't be a huge deal, but personally, I avoid mixing the two within 24 hours or greater -- just to be safe. All in all, a great plant and a great product. I was debating between 4 or 5 stars, simply because I'd like to see it a bit cheaper and it would be nice if they would package a bit of ginger root (or something else to alleviate stomach irritation). Still gets 5 stars from me, though!