Kava: Psychedelic Benefits in an Alcohol Alternative – Cameron George with Dave Asprey : 859
The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance
Dave Asprey
4.6 • 7.4K Ratings
🗓️ 16 September 2021
⏱️ 76 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode of Bulletproof Radio revisits one of my favorite varieties of plant medicine, called kava. It’s a plant-based drink from the South Pacific Islands that relieves anxiety, boosts mood and enhances cognitive abilities. It has a pretty impressive resume:
- Kava is a safe, natural alternative to drugs and alcohol
- Kava offers effects similar to micro dosing psychedelics
- When humans consume kava, it helps protect the body from all forms of stress (physical, chemical, emotional)
I’m talking with Cameron George, a researcher, writer, entrepreneur and the founder of TRU KAVA. He’s been on the show before, Kava Just May Be The Next CBD – #731, so don’t miss that one for a great starter resource! This time, we get into kava’s growing use in the United States, its links to community and social connection, and how it makes an amazing alternative to alcohol.
Cameron likes kava as an alcohol replacement, he says because [for the most part] “people who are migrating towards kava are looking for healthier alternatives that are non-addictive, that don't interfere with their faculties and kind of keep them sober, but bring kind of that enhanced sobriety.”
Kava lowers the emotional stress system in the brain that is overactive and easily triggered. It increases GABA, an amino acid which is a building block for proteins, and in the brain, kava acts as a neurotransmitter and activates serotonin.
“Whenever you talk to the indigenous people of the South Pacific,” Cameron says, “they don't speak of kava in the same context. In the U.S., we just see it as an anxiety relieving herb that helps with sleep and stress and things like that. They speak of it as a spiritual entheogenic medicine that improves the quality of your thoughts, your perspective, induces introspective thinking and allows people to connect with one another.”
TRU KAVA sets the industry quality standard by providing the safest and most effective kava on the market. The company offers kava oil and shots, and a new drink that you consume like you would an alcoholic beverage. I’m really excited for you to listen to this conversation, hear us break down some misconceptions and learn how you can experience the benefits of kava.
Enjoy! And get more resources at Dave.Asprey/podcasts.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to Bulletproof Radio with Dave Asprey. |
| 0:10.3 | As usual, today we have a live studio audience, at least a live virtual one from the Upgrade |
| 0:15.2 | Collective, which is my membership and mentorship group, where every week we get together, |
| 0:21.1 | there's structured courses based on all my books. |
| 0:24.0 | And well, I teach you all the stuff you need to know to have control of your own biology, |
| 0:28.2 | and it is going strong, and people have been a great time, including me. |
| 0:31.6 | So thank you Upgrade Collective for being part of the audience today. |
| 0:36.5 | Today we're going to talk about plant medicine, but not the kind of plant medicine that you |
| 0:41.4 | probably just thought of, which was either ayahuasca or mushrooms, and there's actually hundreds |
| 0:48.0 | of other psychedelic ones. |
| 0:49.5 | But it turns out there's a couple of plant medicines that you don't think of as being |
| 0:54.4 | plant medicines. |
| 0:58.1 | Coffee is plant medicine, tobacco is plant medicine, and they've actually both been used |
| 1:04.2 | in sacred ceremony. |
| 1:05.8 | Chocolate is plant medicine. |
| 1:08.0 | So it goes a lot deeper than that, and alcohol is plant medicine. |
| 1:13.4 | In fact, alcohol has been used throughout every culture, but we all know there's a big |
| 1:17.5 | downside to alcohol. |
| 1:19.4 | And some of it is from toxin contamination, and some of it is from metabolic problems |
| 1:25.2 | that causes Dr. Aiman, a dear friend who's been on the show many times, talks about holes |
| 1:30.0 | in the brain and things like that. |
| 1:33.1 | So the plant medicine that we're going to talk about today is something called Kava. |
... |
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