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Difference between revisions of "Kava"
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==News About Kava== | ==News About Kava== | ||
'''New York’s first kava bar, Kavasutra, opens in the East Village serving sedative beverages''' | |||
*Source:http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/kavasutra-new-york-kava-bar-opens-east-village-article-1.2302268 | |||
: BY Jeanette Settembre (NEW YORK DAILY NEWS) | |||
This is your brain on kava. | |||
Take a sip of the mind-altering beverages at Kavasutra in the East Village and you’ll get a brew made from a root with sedative and anesthetic properties to promote mind and body relaxation. | |||
“I’m dazed, but not confused,” said Tyler Blue McPerson, 29, of East Williamsburg, who downed two cups at the city’s first kava bar. “It’s interesting to be at a bar without alcohol. With wine or beer there’s a desire for another, but with kava you’re content.” | |||
His friend Dane Graham said his body went to a state that was “strangely mellow for New York.” | |||
“I feel chill,” said the 29-year-old Greenpoint resident, reacting to the effect of kavalactones, the root’s active ingredients. | |||
Kavasutra is a bar like most others in the neighborhood, a dimly lit hangout with a 10-seat counter and an after-work mix of 20-something hipsters, couples and loners. | |||
The difference? As the sign outside reads, “Alcohol is so 2014.” So in lieu of booze, bartenders offer up bowls of murky water garnished with a slice of pineapple. The sweet fruit helps get the bitter brown muck down the rabbit hole. | |||
If you can stomach it, you will relax, thanks to kava’s influence on the part of the brain that control emotions. Better news? Kava doesn’t affect motor skills or judgment like alcohol. | |||
The first sensation is a tingling in the lips and some numbness in the throat. What follows is a light euphoria and a feeling of calm and clarity. A second cup really boosts the muscle-relaxing effect. | |||
The trick is getting the brew of emulsified kava roots down the gullet. Go ask Alice. | |||
“You’re going to want to chug it,” a bartender replied. | |||
Some do, but novices make the mistake of sipping it slowly with a straw, but that just makes it taste like dirty water. | |||
Tipplers will also want to avoid overindulging in the new fad feelgood, especially over the long term. | |||
The Food and Drug Administration has tracked periodic outbreaks of kava-related toxicity, most recently in 2002 when dozens of Americans suffered liver damage — and three died — from pill versions of kava. | |||
As a result, Canada and several countries in Europe and Asia banned kava products, and U.S. authorities issued a warning. However, more recently, the root bounced back. Last year, Germany overturned its own ban, citing kava’s low risk. But nutritionists are not convinced. The herb metabolizes through the liver like alcohol, so combining the two is not recommended. | |||
“It has drug-like properties. That’s really where the scary situation lies,” says Dr. Lisa Young, who recommends camomile tea instead of kava, for anxiety and stress relief. “Everyone is going to get a different reaction. My worry is that if someone has several cups and they drive and fall asleep.” | |||
The kava plant is found in the South Pacific and is regularly consumed in Fiji, Hawaii and Polynesia. The drink goes back about 3,000 years, when it was traditionally prepared by cutting the root into small pieces, chewed by several people and spat into a bowl before it's mixed with coconut milk. It was believed that saliva promoted the extraction of the active ingredients and provided a tastier drink. | |||
Today, the root is ground or grated. Before receiving the drink, Polynesians would clap their hands once, then drink it like a shot and, after finishing, clap three more times. Patrons at Kavasutra engaged in a similar ritual before cheers-ing the concoction with strangers. | |||
Kava bars started opening in the U.S. in the early 2000s in Hawaii, California and Florida. There are five other Kavasutras nationwide: four in Florida and one in Denver. | |||
“It’s not my favorite cup of tea,” says Pure Green juice bar founder Ross Franklin of the herb’s bitter taste. | |||
“It needs to be mixed with sweeter ingredients for it to be palatable for most people,” he adds. | |||
If you don’t like the earthy taste of kava tea, Kavasutra also offers fruity shots made with powdered kava, coconut water, coconut syrup, lemon and served with lime. | |||
You won’t find any alcohol at this bar, but there is a happy hour. Half-off cups of kava (normally priced at $6 per cup) are served every day from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. | |||
Sip responsibly. | |||
Kavasutra, 261 E. 10th St. between First Ave. and Ave. A. Open 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. | |||
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'''Is Kava the Cure for Anxiety?''' | '''Is Kava the Cure for Anxiety?''' | ||
*Source:http://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/kava-cure#2 | *Source:http://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/kava-cure#2 | ||