Ava

• Botanical Name(s): Piper Methysticum

• Popular Name(s): Kava Kava, Kava, Ava, Awa, Ava Pepper, Intoxicating Pepper, Kawa, Kew, Tonga.

• Parts Used: The rhizomes and roots are used.

• Habitat: The plant has been cultivated in many parts of the Pacific islands.

Description: It is a robust, erect evergreen shrub with stout rhizomes, fleshy stems and round, heart-shaped leaves. Small flowers are produced in spikes.

Uses: Kava Kava is also used externally to treat joint pains, toothache and mouth ulcers. This herb has sedative, muscle relaxing, anti-convulsive, tranquilizing and analgesic properties. Consumption of kava can bring about a state of well being or mood elevation. It is said to produce a sense of contentment and a feeling of relaxation and it doesn’t have a narcotic effect. However, when used in excessive quantities, kava can cause photophobia and diplopia. The result can sometimes be oculomotor paralysis where muscles don’t respond to normal movement, ultimately ending up in prostration and unconsciousness. Heavy use of kava over long periods of time, over weeks and months, can result in drying up of the skin epidermis which in turn causes lesions and yellowing of the skin. Loss of appetite, redness of the eyes, urticarial patches with intense itching are some of the other symptoms seen when kava is used excessively. These symptoms are seen to subside when you stop using kava.

It was in the 1860s that herb products made from kava made its appearance in Europe. Germany was in the forefront in using kava extracts and they were available in pharmacies by the end of the 19th century. By the 1920s, pharmaceutical preparations mainly in the form of tinctures were being offered as mild sedatives and as hypotensive agents in Germany. Germany is also in the forefront in therapeutic studies being conducted on the kava rootstock. The possible use of the rootstock and its preparations for relieving tension, nervous anxiety and agitated conditions is presently the subject of a German therapeutic phytomedicine monograph.

According to the German treatise, use of the herb during pregnancy, lactation or in the case of depression is not advisable. In Europe there is this tradition of using kava extracts in combination with pumpkin seed for the treatment of irritable bladder syndrome. As noted earlier, kava has a few side effects including yellow discoloration of the skin, nails and hair; but all these are temporary. Kava can also cause rare allergic skin reactions. It is suggested that the herb is better avoided with the operation of vehicles or machinery because of its apparent sedative effect. For this reason its consumption with alcohol is also ill advised. There have been cases of prosecution in the US for driving under the influence of kava. For all these reasons, the best time to consume the herb is during bedtime.