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I'm a little suspicious about the potential potency of kava tea. I have nothing against herbal stuff, it's just that generally when it's branded/marketed as tea, supplements etc they put tiny amounts of active ingredient. It generally takes ~1/4 cup of the actual plant material for kava to have any effect, and I doubt there's that much in the tea-bag, though I suppose they could use some sort of an extract. Does it make your lips numb? If so, it's probably working, if not, the relaxing sensation you feel is probably more from drinking a nice cup of tea than from the ingredients therein.
I was initially skeptical as well. I first purchased the tea after a friend in Fiji recommended I try kava; I doubt it is as potent as what she's drinking there. However, as I said, it's a distinct sensation. I drink a wide variety of teas and have never experienced the same effect through simply having "a nice cup of tea." I do typically use more than one tea bag when preparing the kava tea, which I suppose might increase the potency somewhat.
I've had the real stuff in fiji. If you have a whole lot of bowls of the crap, it feels like you took an aspirin. Nothing more. And you have to drink a LOT of it. We are talking giant bowls here with the gross root constantly crushed in. So I am willing to bet you are experiencing a placebo effect.
I suppose it's possible, although I really don't think that's the case. How do you account for its widespread use among Fijians and other Pacific Islanders if its effects are essentially non-existent?
Well you know alcohol is mostly placebo too. There were some great experiments where they made alcoholic-tasting non-alcoholic drinks and alcoholic non-alcoholic-tasting drinks. The people who were drunk but thought they were sober just got bored and depressed while the sober people got pretty wasted. Not that alcohol doesn't have a physiological effect, but psychologically speaking, it's all about expectations. The same goes for kava. Just because the effects are in part due to placebo doesn't mean they're not "real."
Well you know alcohol is mostly placebo too. There were some great experiments where they made alcoholic-tasting non-alcoholic drinks and alcoholic non-alcoholic-tasting drinks. The people who were drunk but thought they were sober just got bored and depressed while the sober people got pretty wasted. Not that alcohol doesn't have a physiological effect, but psychologically speaking, it's all about expectations. The same goes for kava. Just because the effects are in part due to placebo doesn't mean they're not "real."