HERB - Kava kava

Katherine Blackthorne kblackthorne at midtown.net
Sat Sep 18 19:36:07 PDT 1999


Thank you for your caution.  Although Kava Kava is "popular" right now, and
treated as "safe", I have at least one (modern, scientific) source that says it
was used as a halucinogenic -- something I find most people are surprised to
learn -- and that it acts first as a stimulant, then as a depressant.  (My boss
wanted to take it to help her sleep.  I recommended against it and gave her some
chamomile.)

The same source says it is diuretic, urinary antiseptic & anti-inflammatory, and
an external analgesic.

--Katherine Blackthorne

Rauthulfr wrote:

> Damiana [Tuneria diffusa] is something of a stimulant  and has a long
> reputation as an aphrodisiac.   This is not particularly the best herb to
> take along with Kava-kava [Piper methysticum], but it happened to be the
> one which crossed my mind when I posted.  Kava-kava also has a reputation
> as an aphrodisiac.
>
> Damiana tends to act on the urinary tract, and also serves as something of
> a "brain tonic".  Taken in concert with Kava-kava the two can provide
> relaxation and mile euphoria, or it too much is taken it can provide
> something of a marijuana like high.  Prolonged use of Damiana can cause
> liver problems.  Either herb tends not to be a problem in small doses, but
> can be very potent in large doses.  And as with anything which can have
> mind altering effects, they deserve to be treated with respect and some
> degree of caution.
>
> A somewhat more common blend would be Damiana and Saw Palmetto [Serona
> repens] which also works on the urinary tract, but lacks the hypnotic side
> effects of Kava-kava.



============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.



More information about the Herbalist mailing list