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A Comprehensive Guide to Kratom
Everything You Need To Know About Mitragyna speciosa
Mitragyna speciosa, informally known as kratom, is a leafy shrub native to Southeast Asia and related to the coffee plant. It has long been used medicinally and recreationally in Indonesia, where leaves are plucked fresh off the small trees and chewed for an energy boost while working. While fresh kratom can be hard to find in the United States, crushed dry leaves, powders, and extracts can easily be found online and at smoke shops. Read on to see if kratom is legal where you live, and for tips on how to get the most out of it while avoiding drawbacks and side effects.
How Kratom Works: Kratom contains two primary alkaloids which act as partial mu-opioid receptor (MOR) agonists. Mitragynine is the primary alkaloid in kratom, making up about 66% of the dozens of alkaloids in the plant. 7-hydroxy-mitragynine is a more potent alkaloid with slightly higher affinity for MORs, but only makes up about 2% of the total alkaloid content. Unlike full agonists which are known to be highly addictive and carry overdose risks, the selective binding of its alkaloids make plain leaf kratom far less addictive; more important, kratom does not appear to depress central nervous system function to dangerous levels. Even more fascinating, mitragynine appears to function as an antagonist of other…
