This excellent stimulant, used daily by millions of people around the world, is probably more popular than coffee.

Betel nuts can be ground and brewed like coffee, rolled into cigarettes, or mixed with acacia gum, lime, and a dash of nutmeg as a sweet as is done in Malaysia.

Betel nut are psychoactive, but there's a trick: the nuts need to be chewed or brewed with a small amount of agricultural lime. The lime makes the compound active as it does with coca leaves. Mix 1/2 g burnt lime (hydrated calcium oxide) with one Betel Nut.

Lime can be purchased at garden stores, but you want to be sure to use pure lime and not fertilizer. The lime and Betel Nut mix is placed in the side of the mouth for a two hour period, and the saliva is spat out occasionally. It acts as a stimulant, nice though it can jangle the nerves a bit.

Some people chew the nuts without lime simply for the taste.

Betel chew has a reputation as a panacea and tonic throughout Asia. On some Pacific Islands it is traditional for the men to also add tobacco into the package.

The active alkaloid in Areca catechu is arecoline, a very potent alkaloid. The alkaloid content ranges between 0.3 and 0.6%. Nicotine has a synergistic effect with arecoline, which explains the popular combination of betel nuts with tobacco.

Betel Nut is also used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat headaches, stomach pains, venereal disease, fever, rheumatism and a number of other complaints. Theophrastus made references to the betel nut which also appears in early Sanskrit texts under the name 'guvka' or 'pinlang'. In India it has also been integrated within the social and religious system, the gods are said to lack betel in heaven and that humans should offer them betel to keep them in a beneficial mood.

Also used as a magical charm and amulet thought to protect against the evil eye and ward off demons. Indian cultures hold the knowledge of traditional preperation methods for betel nut as an art, and specific variations of recipes are often passed on through generations as revered knowledge.

Regular use stains the mouth, gums and teeth a deep red. Excessive use can cause inebriation and dizziness. Long-term use may damage the teeth and soft tissue of the mouth.