How Kava Works in the Body: The Role of Kavalactones Explained Simply

When I started drinking kava, I wanted something to relax, and kava fit the bill perfectly. Drinking kava offers multiple benefits like reducing anxiety, improving sleep, protecting neurons from damage, and reducing pain sensations. You can take kava as a drink, supplement, or extract, but traditionally, in South Pacific cultures like Fiji and Vanuatu, they would crush the root of the plant Piper methysticum, grind it down into powder, and drink it as a tea. 

How Kava Works in the Body

You may be wondering as I was when I first came across this drink, “How does kava work in the body?” The active ingredients in kava are kavalactones, and they account for 3% to 20% of the dry weight in the plant’s roots, according to Healthline. Getting 3% to 20% is a milder dose than what you’d receive with a supplement, which is anywhere from 30% to 70%.

Kavalactones work when they cross the blood-brain barrier, and you start to experience the effects within an hour after they accumulate in the brain. Once they accumulate enough, they will influence the GABA-A receptors. GABA-A receptors are an inhibitory neurotransmitter, meaning that it will reduce excitement from your neurons, leading to a calmer and more relaxed state of mind. It even has a reputation as helping with mild to moderate cases of anxiety, according to PubMed. 

Kava is different in that it binds to a different GABA receptor than what typical benzodiazepines like Valium, Xanax, and Ativan do. Because it binds to a different GABA receptor, it is less addictive. Sometimes people will choose to take kava as an alternative to other more addictive choices.

Because kava inhibits multiple enzymes and it has psychoactive properties, you should take kava with antidepressant medication. 

Kava’s Effect on the Brain and Central Nervous System

Kavalactones are a sticky and insoluble substance, and although it has sedative properties, it doesn’t classify as an actual sedative because it doesn’t work directly in the brain or directly on the central nervous system. When you experience a mild sense of euphoria, it comes from desmethoxyyangonin. This is one of the six main kavalactones, and it helps with boosting your dopamine levels. Kava has six major kavalactones but 18 kavalactones in total. 

Another one of the most important ones is called kavaine. This kavalactone lowers your anxiety and has psychoactive properties. In Europe, kavain has been used as an antidepressant and muscle relaxer, according to Science Direct. 

Does Kava Effect You Like Alcohol?

Kava—like alcohol—is a depressant because of its effects on the central nervous system. It will slow your brain activity like alcohol and lead to a calming effect. Despite it having many effects like alcohol, kava contains no alcohol. Kavalactones create a numbing, painkiller effect that relaxes the muscles. 

The effects of kava and alcohol are so similar that we’re seeing a rise in kava bars across the United States. A growing number of people now see it as a healthier alternative to alcohol. You still experience the sense of camaraderie without the many known negative effects of alcohol.

Different Strains of Kava: Know the Difference

One thing that I’d like to point out is that kava has different strains best used for different purposes—in fact, there are over 100 different strains. 

Tongan kava is higher in kavaine, one of the most important kavalactones. It has a good numbing effect, making it good for those who want to recover from injuries. Athletes may want to take advantage of this or it would work well for those who are injured and would rather not use opioids. 

Let’s say that you want more of an uplifting and energizing effect. For those cases, I would recommend that you try the Fijian kava. You might want to try this one during the daytime, rather than right before bed. 

The Hawaiian and Ni-Vanuatu strains of kava have a reputation for giving more of a sedative effect, making them great to relax around a table with your buddies and connect with each other. It would also make sense for those who have sleeping problems. 

Micronesia’s main strain of kava—Rahmwanger—accounts for 90% of kava production in the country, and has a reputation as giving drinkers a very strong physical relaxation. This is a good social kava. 

There are over 100 strains of kava, but they all have eight points of origin. The points of origin include:

• French Polynesia 
• Papua New Guinea
• Samoa
• Fiji
• Tonga
• Micronesia
• Vanuatu
• Hawaii

They each produce slightly different body effects because the kavalactones will differ from one to the next. 

What Does Kava Do to the Body in Different Dosages?

When you take kava in small doses, the effects include feeling happy, having relaxed muscles, feeling sleepy, and a mild loss of feeling in the throat and mouth. For larger doses, you may experience drowsiness, reduced muscle control, feeling unsteady on your feet, feeling deafness, and feeling sick to your stomach. 

Maybe you heard about kava being damaging to the liver. Admittedly, this was one of the things that kept me from drinking it too frequently, but according to UCLA Health most of the dosages that caused liver damage were the higher doses of kava, and many of the cases with liver damage were seen in people with prior liver disease who used alcohol along with kava.

General Information: Kavalactones and the Plant

Kava is also known as the asava pepper or the intoxicating pepper. It can grow up to 6 feet, and has heart-shaped leaves that can reach 10 inches wide. Kava is an asexual plant meaning that it produces no seeds. The secondary roots, also known as the lateral roots, have the most kavalactones in them, and they account for about 20% of the plant. If you buy “Waka” grade kava, it means that you bought a grade of kava that only contains lateral roots. 

Waka grade kava has a higher amount of kavalactones in it, giving you a more potent effect from the kava. These are the types you want if you want a more powerful relaxing effect. One thing you need to know is that waka grade kava has an even more bitter flavor. The flavor tastes similar to green peppers or black pepper. 

Most people don’t drink kava for the flavor but for the effects. I would recommend trying kava mixed with chocolate in a tea since it tastes delicious, and I would drink that even if not for the effects. That’s what got me hooked on kava.  

Kava’s Use for Athletes

Kava has become popular among athletes as an alternative to opioids after an injury. Athletes often use it because it helps with muscle soreness, inflammation, and acute muscle aches. Kavalactones are anti-inflammatory and can reduce muscle soreness or help from after an injury. Matthew Masifilio, a former Stanford University defensive lineman, said that he has always used it after a long and stressful day or during recovery from an injury. He praised it as a natural alternative over opioids. 

Masfilio is of Hawaiian and Tongan descent and like other Polynesian athletes familiar with kava, he began sharing its benefits with some of the players, leading to its growing popularity. 

Thomas Keiser is another professional athlete who plays for the Carolina Panthers and began to use kava after Masifilio introduced it to him. He truly embraced it as his form of pain management from injuries during his second year in the NFL, according to ESPN. He suffered a series of injuries, including when he tore his UCL in his left elbow due to a collision that pushed his arm backwards. He spoke of kava as an absolute better alternative to painkillers. 

Understanding the Chemistry of Kava

I’ve already touched on the kavalactones in kava, but I’d like to go into a little greater depth to help you understand how this works in the body. Kava has 18 total kavalactones in its chemical makeup. Of the total, six of them would make up about 95% of the extract that they derived from the rootstock. The ingredients in it are mildly psychoactive, meaning that it mildly influences perception and behavior. The six main kavalactones in kava include:

• Demethoxy-yangonin
• Dihydrokavain
• Yangonin
• Kavain
• Dihydromethysticin
• Methysticin 

The Hawaiian and Fiji strains contain more Dihydromethysticin, whereas the Vanuatu strains have more Kavain in them. 

Kava produces no seeds, which means that the 100 strains developed over the last couple thousand years based on what made the cultivators feel the best. They didn’t continue growing the others that had lesser effects. 

Conclusion

Drinking kava can be a lot of fun, and if you don’t know of a good brand, you might try Kava Krave. This is a great brand for health-conscious people looking for healthy alternative drinks, and it is plant-based. It can be a great introduction into drinking kava. In doing this, you will experience the calming and soothing properties of the kava in what has been a social beverage for centuries. One of the great things about kava, too, is that you can use it for many different purposes. Give it try and see how you like it.