Stay away from Benadryl, folks.
Kratom is cool if you’re trying to quit opiates or alcohol.
I can’t recommend kava if you don’t live in a place where it’s cheap, but if that isn’t an issue it has reverse tolerance and actually gets more fun the more you use it.
Kava is very relaxing but some of the concerns about liver toxicity worry me too much.
I’ll stick with good old weed.
I think maybe these concerns were unfounded/a myth? Been a long time since I was “researching” it but I think it was like one study where the kava extraction had solvent or something in it. Don’t quote me.
There are lower quality strains that grow faster and can cause liver toxicity. The high quality stuff doesn’t, which is part of why I have a hard time recommending it due to the cost not really being worth it in my area.
Oh nuts, good to know. Wonder how it compares to how bad alcohol is for your liver. I always liked the effect but it tastes sooo bad to me. I tried it again a few years ago after not having it for a decade and the smell was almost enough to make me gag
Oh interesting. From my last deep dive into this subject (admittedly from quite a long time ago) they had only established that significant kava usage showed elevated liver enzymes that they inferred to be an indication that kava causes liver damage but no solid proof was established that directly implicated kava consumption as causing liver damage.
From memory the study was providing people with whole powdered kava in capsules (for obvious reasons) and it was speculated that this may have been the cause for the elevated enzymes whereas the traditional water extraction does not as regular kava users, especially in cultures that consume kava, have not reported showing elevated liver enzymes.
Whether that’s true or simply a product of the fact that some Pacific Islands populations are quite poor and lack access to high quality healthcare where they’d notice this phenomenon, or whether it’s simply a known thing in their hospitals that most people in the region show elevated liver enzymes upon testing so they disregard it is a matter up for debate.
