I think nausea is a near-universal experience for kava drinkers. It doesn't always hit, but when it does, and it leaves you bent over the toilet hurling your guts out, it always leaves me feeling a bit disillusioned about my kava drinking. I was recently having a session for myself on a free evening where I was working through about 60 grams of traditional prep. At about 2/3 -3/4 the way through the kava, with a nice buzz going, I took one gulp too many and was subsequently reacquainted with my old friend the toilet again. I've been experimenting with altering my prep to help to reduce nausea. With my new method I was able to drink 60 grams easy with no stomach problems and polished off the entire batch with my stomach none the wiser.

I will write what I did below and then write my personal theory as to why it might work after. Feel free to give insights and debate the method as much as you wish.

My method:

It's quite simple. I went to the shop and picked up some enzyme tablets. These tablets contain a mix of Amylase, Betaine Hydrochloride, Bromelain, Cellulase, Lipase, Pancreatin, and Papain. My main interest is Amylase, which helps to break down starch.

I whip up a batch of kava (60 grams in my case) in the traditional way. I then place this into a pot and heat it over a low setting on the stovetop. I then grind up one of the enzyme tablets in a mortar and pestle, mix it with a bit of water and then add it to the pot. I don't want it to boil because Amylase is supposed to work best between 35-70 Celcius. I leave this for about 15-20 mins to let the Amylase work its magic and convert all the starch.

Then I just transfer back to the bowl, serve and enjoy. The kava consistency and colour changes. it's darker, and the taste has changed too. However, I could easily finish 60g of this kava without throwing up. I need to try it a few more times to be sure but considering how the same amount of the same kava had me hurling. Getting a strong-rooted buzz going without clutching my stomach is a win. As well, I didn't get that full stomach feeling kava gives. I could easily have eaten a big meal after my session too.

optional part to get your kava moneys worth.

I am also a big fan of boiling my kava to ensure I get as many kavalactones out of my root as possible. (As an Irish kava drinker, I need to import my kava every time, and customs can be eyewatering when added to an expensive product). If you are still worried about heat destroying kavalactones, have a read on Reddit or kavaforums. Heat destroying kavalactones seems to be more of a myth than anything, and boiling kava extracts way more kavalactones than not. I'll add sources later if I remember. Anyone who has tried this knows boiling from scratch leads to a gelatinous mess. Usually, I got around this by needing my kava and replacing the water until the water remained clear despite Kneading. I could then assume that the starch had all been washed out of the root, and it was safe to boil. Of course, this would need a lot of extra water and work.

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Instead, this time after my traditional prep (one normal kneed and two second washes), I just added the kava root to a pot with some warm water. I left it on low heat for 10-15 to let the amylase convert the remaining starch into the root before bringing it to a boil. I let that then simmer for 15 minutes. I think the cellulase may have also come in handy, breaking down the kava root to release kavalactones. This might take a bit of extra time, but you can watch tv or scroll Reddit while doing it. I then just strain this when done and add it to the rest of the traditional prep kava.

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My theory behind why this helps. Please feel free to dismiss and debate this this is all purely based on my own speculation, and I can back up much of what I say.

I think kava is quite harsh on the stomach due to its drying and numbing effects. My theory has always been that this irritates and confuses the stomach, which helps contribute to nausea. What I then think potentiates this is the starch. Starch can be lipophilic, and I remember reading somewhere that kava starches have some affinity for kavalactones. While liquids usually are cleared from the stomach in 15 minutes, foods take up to 2-4 hours to be cleared from the stomach into the small intestine. My theory is that because of the high starch content of kava, much of this starch ends up sitting in our stomach with kavalactones bound to it, causing that constantly full feeling from kava while also prolonging the irritation of the stomach. I think this causes nausea rather than the psycho-physiological effects of kavalactones once they are in our system because after I throw up, I feel instantly better. Once my stomach has been cleared, the irritation is gone, which I feel like wouldn't be the case if it was from the kavas effects once it reaches your bloodstream (a counter-example would be alcohol if you've ever gotten to the point of hurling from alcohol you don't get up feeling fresh as a daisy after, the alcohol in your system keeps you feeling like shit).

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So I think adding amylase to break down the starch and leave you with a much lighter, starch-free kava lets the kava be cleared away by the stomach much faster than when you also have to deal with processing all of the starch in your stomach.

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But also, where does my potential potentiator come in? I think there may be potential for the lipase to act as a potentiator. Again this is purely speculative, but lipase has been shown to increase the bio-availability of cannabinoids in cannabis research. So maybe there is the potential for the same here. https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.elib.tcd.ie/pmc/articles/PMC8230802/

My enzyme tablets also had lipase and this batch felt like a strong one.

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Anyways if any of you are desperate to enjoy kava without the stomach problems feel free to give this a try.