Word: kava
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...Most of the products are teas and juices mixed with a variety of herbal, mineral and vitamin supplements. SoBe Wisdom, for instance, contains ginkgo biloba, St. John's wort and gotu kola, which, the label says, promote "focused thought" and "sharpen the mind." Hansen's "d stress" (kava kava, St. John's wort and tyrosine) is supposed to help you "chill out naturally." Fresh Samantha's Super Juice is spiked with echinacea, believed to bolster the immune system. Says SoBe CEO John Bellows: "Coke had cocaine when it started. What we have in our product are legal highs, things that...
...aloe for regularity to valerian for restful sleep--are the hottest of all, with some 60 million Americans now swallowing doses regularly. And for those who crave a tastier fix, there are new so-called functional foods--concoctions such as fruit juice laced with ginseng, or corn chips with kava, the one claiming to perk you up and the other to calm you down...
...Recent scientific research--and fresh attention to practical evidence that sometimes stretches back millenniums--is beginning to give guidance. In Germany, where the government has supervised studies of 279 herbs approved for sale in the country's strictly regulated pharmacies, remedies that enjoy the greatest popularity (including ginkgo, kava and St. John's wort) are generally those that have been the most thoroughly investigated...
...page tome called The Complete German Commission E Monographs, which the American Botanical Council in Austin, Texas, recently published in English. It tells which herbs have proved safe and beneficial but warns against side effects and other risks. It advises pregnant and nursing women not to take kava, for example, and notes that some people may become sensitive to sunlight when using St. John's wort. It approves standardized doses of ginkgo extract but rejects nonstandard preparations made from whole leaves as untested and potentially hazardous. At the same time, it turns thumbs down on folk remedies like nutmeg...
...will allow kava manufacturers to promote their product only in a general way, advertising it as a supplement without citing any specific medical benefits. Until formal studies are conducted, those restrictions will stand. Even without a government green light, however, kava will probably remain popular, sold as an antianxiety herb that dare not call itself that. "People like the idea of feeling mellow but staying alert," says Blumenthal. "That's what kava does." The question is, At what cost...