Kava Kava,EFFECTS,Root effects

<p><strong>What's in kava root?</strong><strong >

As with any herbal medicine, a number of compounds contribute to its medical effects. The active compounds are concentrated in the root of the plant. Kava contains a variety of chemicals known as pyrones or kavalactones. Specific names of the six major kavalactones include </strong>kawain, dihydrokawain, methysticin, dihydromethysticin, yangonin, and desmethoxyyangonin.&nbsp;

<strong >

&nbsp;&nbsp; The water-soluble extract contains different compounds than the fat-soluble extract. The central nervous activity of the water-soluble extract was determined in mice to have mild pain-killing ability, but did not induce sleep.&nbsp;</strong></p>

<p>

<strong >The fat-soluble extract had sleep inducing and marked pain-killing properties. The pharmacological effects appear to be due to the activity of the compounds present in the fat-soluble fraction.</strong>

<strong >

&nbsp;&nbsp; Many of the studies used a standardized extract, called WS 1490, from a German manufacturer. The kava products you find over the counter are likely to contain the active ingredients. Kavalactones are not measured in routine drug tests. &nbsp;I'm not sure exactly what the half-life of kavalactones are, but the clinical effects, i.e., what a person will notice, only last a few hours.</strong></p>

<p>

<strong >I just bought a bottle of 30 capsules of kava from GNC. On the back of the GNC bottle it says per serving 250 mg of kava root extract 4:1. What is that mean?

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It should also say on the bottle what percent kavalactones it contains. For instance, it has 250 mg of kava root extract, and most products are about 30 percent kavalactones (the active constituents), hence you would be getting about 75 mg of kavalactones.&nbsp;</strong>

<strong >&nbsp;</strong>

<strong >A range between 50 and 100 mg per pill is usually adequate to help induce relaxation.</strong></p>