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May 14, 2009 01:09PM
I’ve discovered a “medicine” that really helps my fibromyalgia pain – Kava kava. Piper methysicum is a member of the pepper plant family that grows on the islands of Vanuatu. I believe Vanuatu is a part of the New Hebrides Islands in Oceania. It’s very important when ordering kava kava that the ingredients say “root powder only”. The plant’s stem and leaves are poisonous but the root is safe to consume. There was a scare many years ago, when a lady consumed kava and had liver failure. She wound up dying and many countries had since banned the import of Kava kava. The investigators found out that the manufacturer had added kava stems and leaves to the powder, making it very poisonous. People in Oceana have been drinking Kava root for hundreds of years without any adverse effects. It’s a shame some countries still ban its import. Luckily America doesn’t and I’m able to have this “medicine” to help my pain.
The first brand of Kava kava I experienced was produced by a company called “Kava King”. It was very earthy and peppery, with a rather nasty after taste. I had to chase it with a glass of water just to get the grittiness out of my mouth and throat. I did notice the calming buzz it gave almost immediately. It was well worth drinking, for the pain I felt was gone for several hours! Aspirin and Tylenol do not help fibromyalgia pain in the least. For some reason kava does. Unfortunately, Kava King went out of business in the late 90’s. I didn’t realize that until this year when I visited my favorite Health Food shop and they no longer carried it. The Kava King powder I bough previously had to have been rather old, sitting on their shelf for a couple of years. As long as it’s kept dry and out of the sun, it should remain viable. Its age definitely didn’t affect the relaxing effect it gave! No real surprise that Kava powder doesn’t move fast around here. Ohioans generally don’t drink Kava Kava, they prefer beer to relax with – LOL! Since I don’t do beer anymore (which is not very agreeable after having a gallbladder removed, and doesn’t help fibromyalgia) I had to find another source to acquire Kava kava.
It’s hard to find Kava powder in central Ohio. Most grocery stores and Health food shops only carry the gel caps in the herbal supplements aisle. It takes about five or six gel caps to equal one cup of kava beverage. Most bottles only have 30 pills – equaling about six servings for oh, $8.00 or more – geesh! That’s too expensive for me! The pills give a much weaker relaxed feeling than the root powder. So, to the internet I went on my quest for good Kava Kava…
First I found a company called Vanuatu Kava Store (vanuatukavastore.com) They are on the island of Vanuatu and have many varieties to choose from. Some sounded too strong and harsh for me to drink (my stomach was still very touchy, trying to recover from lactose intolerance and gall bladder infection) So, I ordered the milder stuff - ground root powder as well as some instant kava beverage powder. It took two weeks to arrive. After trying each beverage, I was sorely disappointed. They weren’t kidding about it being “smooth”. It was way too weak, no matter how much I put in the cup. It was worthless to drink, hardly giving any relaxing feeling at all. A big waste of my money, that’s for sure!
(continued on next entry)
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May 14, 2009 01:08PM
So, back to the internet I go. Found another company in Hawaii this time (Real Kava or realkava.com) They are several thousand miles closer than Vanuatu, and a member of the United Sates! That definitely saves on postage! They have almost the same selections to choose from. This time I ordered a little stronger Kava powder and some of their Instant kava drink as well. When it arrived (after only one week via USP) I was very pleased! The quality was much better, even though they get their supply from Vanuatu! Got to wonder if Vanuatuans have a preference to sell their better stuff to fellow islanders and not to other foreigners? Anyway, I will be ordering my Kava exclusively from RealKava.com in the future!
In order to make the beverage, kava root powder has to be placed inside a mesh bag or a short section of unused panty hose as a filter. Cold water is added to the cup. One must squeeze the bag over and over again to extract the essence into the water. I hate using my fingers, so I squish the filter bag against the side of the cup with my spoon. It may take about three to five minutes to do this, until the kava looks light brown - like coffee with cream. I find that one heaping teaspoon (the kind of spoon you use for tea, not the measuring kind) is enough to make two 8 oz. cups of Kava beverage. The art is to drink it all down without stopping. Like I’ve mentioned before, the flavor isn’t something one really wants to savor, that’s for sure! Gotta chug that stuff! Cold water or fruit juice is to be used, not hot water or hot beverages. Heat makes Kava incredibly bitter and undrinkable. I found that out the hard way by adding it to my hot chocolate once. Yuck! The first “pressing” will be stronger than the second one. Boy, it sure is messy to clean out the mesh bag afterwards! It is a pain to do, so I think I’ll be only ordering the instant powder next time. With that, I use about ½ a tablespoon (the measuring kind) per 8 oz of water. Just mix and drink, no filtering or messy clean-up!
Unlike traditional kava culture, I usually drink my kava in the morning because that is when I have the most fibromyalgia pain. I take Gabapentin at night, right before bed time and it does help tremendously. But on certain days, when it’s rainy or a high atmospheric pressure system moves in, I get very sore and achy. Kava cuts that pain for at least a few hours. I am grateful for it!
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May 14, 2009 01:04PM
I have an interest in cloud formations and anything atmospheric. In the past I’ve posted quite a few photos on the subject (too bad we can’t have an index on the side like sailor’s journal) This morning, as I walked my son down to his school bus stop, I noticed a strange cloud formation. Last night there had been a very strong storm front moving from Texas into the Midwest. I was afraid we were going to have tornadoes in the middle of the night while we were asleep (one of my worst fears) Luckily, the storm front had dissipated into rain showers by the time it hit Ohio – wheew!
Funny, I had just Googled “rarest cloud formations” this past weekend. Low and behold! Here this morning was one that was listed on the website: listverse.com/science/10-rare-cloud-formations/
They called it “Stratocumulus Clouds”. Well, normal stratocumulus clouds are very common. This formation is rare only because the stratocumulus clouds are formed into rows or ribbons by air currents during storm fronts. I have seen these clouds before but never realized they were considered rare! Got to love Midwestern weather!
Well, after putting my son on the school bus, I ran home to get my camera. Oh, wouldn’t you know the batteries were dead! So, I had to go upstairs to get new ones, wasting valuable time. I knew the clouds were traveling fast and that rare formation would be gone in no time! By the time I made it back outside they were almost gone but not completely.
In this photo one can see some very dark, ominous clouds formed into ribbons. The ones I first saw are near the horizon. I know this photograph doesn’t do much justice by being portrayed so small on this website (one of my complaints!) Anyway, I was so glad to capture them on camera! The photo shown on the listverse website shows them looking down the ribbons in a parallel angle. That’s a much cooler photo, I must say! Oh well, my view is looking at it horizontally or at the broadside of the formation. I certainly believe this is the same type of cloud formation listverse mention.
Cool!
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