Kavalactone
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Kavalactone is the active ingredient found in kava. Effects of the drug include mild sedation, a slight numbing of the gums and mouth, and vivid dreams.
The amount of kavalactones consumed is not the same as the amout of kava consumed. Potencies vary dramatically and are highest in liquid extractions.
The United States FDA has warned that liver damage is possible.
Kavalactones, as the name suggests, are lactones that cause the psychoactive effects from a drink made of the roots of the kava, a shrub common on some Pacific Ocean islands. The rhizome and roots of the shurb are ground, grated and steeped in water to produce a non-alcoholic drink whose consumption is part of ceremonial occasions on places like Fiji and Hawaii. The drink is said to have psychosomatic effects of sociability, mental clarity, reduction of anxiety (anxiolytic).