Kresser Institute

Tools, Training & Community for Functional Health Professionals

  1. Home
  2. Knowledge Base
  3. Looks like NeuroScience discontinued making Kavinace in 2019. Kavinace OS, [which] they now make, has no GABA, but has magnesium, zinc, selenium, melatonin 5 mg, and a blend of L-theanine and resveratrol.

Looks like NeuroScience discontinued making Kavinace in 2019. Kavinace OS, [which] they now make, has no GABA, but has magnesium, zinc, selenium, melatonin 5 mg, and a blend of L-theanine and resveratrol.

Chris Kresser: Carol asked, “Looks like NeuroScience discontinued making Kavinace in 2019. Kavinace OS, [which] they now make, has no GABA, but has magnesium, zinc, selenium, melatonin 5 mg, and a blend of L-theanine and resveratrol.”

Yes, that was unfortunate. I understand why they did it. There is a form of GABA called phenibut, which, unfortunately, people were abusing. At high doses, it has almost a narcotic effect, and people were taking it in really large amounts and ending up in the ER, so the FDA [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] decided to bring it under their umbrella as a regulated substance and make it illegal to obtain over the counter, so any product that had phenibut (including Kavinace) was taken off the market. It’s a bummer because it worked really well and I never had a case in my practice where a patient was abusing it, at least that I know of, but we don’t have access to that anymore. Some people do okay with the Kavinace OS formula that they use as a replacement, but I have to say, to be frank, I haven’t found anything that works quite as well as Kavinace did for a greater number of people. A lot of the other things that we talk about and some of the nutrients that are in this formula itself like L-theanine [and] higher doses of glycine 3 to 4 g a night can work pretty well, but the actual form of GABA is no longer available. Other forms of GABA I also have not found to be as effective. There is a form called Pharma GABA, which Natural Factors uses. There are a couple of other brands that use it. That can be helpful in some cases, too, but not quite as effective as the phenibut.

Was this article helpful?

Need Support?

Can't find the answer you're looking for?
Contact Support
Kresser Institute Icon ADAPT Health Coach Training Program Icon ADAPT Practitioner Training Program Icon ADAPT Courses Icon