A deep red or purple smile is a common sight in many parts of Asia and the Pacific. But what’s behind it? This red residue is the telltale sign of the betel nut, which is chewed by millions of people ...

Betel nut prices fluctuate frequently. In this stall in Port Moresby they sell for one kina per nut (20 pence) - Torbjörn Wester/The Telegraph David Taim, a civil servant in Port Moresby, the capital ...

Ancient rituals and customs often leave behind obvious archaeological evidence. From the impeccably preserved mummies of Egypt to psychoactive substance residue that remained at the bottom of a clay ...

Betel nut is very popular in India. It is called Kwai in Meghalaya, tamul in Assam and Nagaland, kua in Manipur and kuhva in Mizoram. There are several other names given to betel nut in different ...

Betel nut is chewed by roughly 600 million people worldwide, making it one of the most widely used psychoactive substances […] ...

For centuries, hundreds of millions of people across Asia, from Pakistan to Palau, have chewed the spicy date-like fruit of the betel palm for a quick buzz. Then four years ago, a World Health ...

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Lee sits on a bar stool in a plexiglass box near a highway offramp in central Taiwan. It’s late afternoon and the 29-year-old is dressed in a red negligee, a fake rose planted firmly ...

Traces of a psychoactive compound has been detected in the dental plaque of a Bronze Age woman buried in Thailand some 4,000 years ago, making it the earliest direct chemical evidence of humans ...

Betel nuts, or areca nuts, have been classified as a human carcinogen, meaning that there’s sufficient evidence that they cause cancer, says Yvette Paulino, associate professor at the University of ...

If you have ever got the chance to travel across Hunan Province in China, there is one local specialty that you will find it hard to ignore: the areca nut, or binlang in Chinese. The areca nut is ...

Betel nut, the seed of the areca palm fruit, is often chewed inside a betel leaf with lime. The practice has been known for its psychoactive effects, including heightened alertness and euphoria.