Who Is Makaira?
Aloha! I’m Makaira, who used to be part-owner of Kona Kava Farm, where the best (I think!) kava in the world was grown. My family comes from a long line of ‘awa growers. Many people ask if the woman on the labels of our products is a real person, and yes, it is me. My father paints pictures in his “off-time” from the farm, and one day he painted me drinking a half shell of ‘awa by the ocean. He made it into our very first commercial labels. I then did a few photo shoots for our website (I think the poses from that photo shoot are a little silly!), and found myself in the family business in a way I hadn’t planned.
So, I was born right here on the farm during the summer of 1966. I have traveled the world extensively in search of unique strains of kava, as well as prized seeds of coffee, cacao, hoodia, maca, and a few other plants that we love to grow on our estate, but I always find myself coming back to this stunningly beautiful island where I have many friends and family.
I believe in diversifying our product line and our crops just a bit, to help spread the word about this safe and effective herbal supplement, that often has mystery and rumor surrounding it. (Click the links on the right for important articles on kava, several of which point to specific studies showing that kava is safe.) But, we are as particular about any product we carry as we are about our kava, so nothing except the absolute best hoodia and maca we can find, as well as the tastiest vegan chocolate that has ever passed any of our lips, is good enough to put our name on.
We then use have those same high quality herbs to carefully crafted into our small batch recipes for our drinks, concentrates, and extracts. Be brave and pick up an instant drink or a concentrate in addition to your kava powdered root purchase!
My own, personal section of the blog, entitled The Mind of Makaira is where I share with all of you events that happen in my fictional life, books and articles I read about kava… basically anything that comes across my mind. You can comment on the blog too, so please fire away! I promise to respond to each and every one of you! There are also news articles about kava interspersed within the blog. You can find them by going to Kava News directly.
There is also a section contained in the blog called Ask Makaira where you can ask me anything you wish; from questions about kava, to our culture, to anything else your heart desires. I adore kava and everything about it, and enjoy finding comments and questions for me to answer. And don’t worry; you won’t have to wait forever for a reply; I promise I will get back to you within a day or two, so check back here often! Please email any questions to me at makaira(at)konakavafarm(dot)com.
Also, feel free to contact the farm with any questions or comments you might have; we want to be sure that your experiences with Kava will be positive ones. You can reach us via e-mail at kavashop(at)konakavafarm(dot)com, or you can call anytime as well, and a knowledgeable and friendly member of our Chicago processing facility will gladly assist you.
Aloha no,
Makaira
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Aloha Lora!
Thank you for your question. As you mentioned, I am not a medical doctor, and I cannot provide advice about how your fiance might treat his condition. Please do get in touch with your doctor concerning the suitability of kava for him, especially in combination with these other medications and painkillers – kava in combination with pharmaceuticals may be much less safe than kava alone.
I can tell you that I have never experienced or heard reports of kava causing constipation. In fact, kava is traditionally used in the South Pacific to treat constipation.
Aloha no,
Makaira
Hello, I came to your site by way of Kava.com. I only learned of Kava’s existence from an article at deliciousliving.com that mention that Kava is a good supplement for reduction of stress. I’m going to try to make this as short and understandable as possible. My fiance has a condition called Gastroparesis which means his stomach does not work normally – fails to empty. Because of this disease he has MANY dietary restrictions as well as an ABSOLUTE NEED to keep his stress levels low. Unfortunately, life doesn’t always work that way, and right now (and for at least the next 6 months) his stress level is thru the roof. He is on many medications including several high dose pain medications, so I am very reluctant to have him put on more medications to help ease his anxiety, thus why I am interested in Kava. I REALIZE you are not a medical doctor, but I hope that you will be able to answer these general questions that I have regarding Kava. Since my fiance’s disease is basically a paralysis of the stomach and Kava has sedative effects, has there been any reports of slowing of the elimination functions of those who have taken Kava? (ie: constipation, etc) My fiance is required to stick to a low fat, low fiber diet, thus eliminating the possibility of consumption of “raw” kava if there is such an item, however a tea form would be something he could handle. Is Kava available in tea form? Thank you for taking the time to read and respond to these questions, at least as far as you are legally able to do so.
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