Kratom has been used traditionally for centuries in regions of the world where the Mitragynia speciosa plant grows naturally. The effects of kratom have gained a lot of attention outside of Southeast Asia recently due to its mood-enhancing and stimulating effects that can help support a healthier lifestyle.
One aspect of a healthy lifestyle where kratom seems to hold a lot of potential is in supporting weight loss. There are many factors involved in weight gain and, in turn, losing weight, but the potent alkaloid compounds found in kratom are proving to be a valuable tool concerning weight loss.
First-time kratom users and seasoned fans of the plant alike can consider kratom as an alternative or addition to other weight loss supplements they may be exploring. With obesity rates around the world at an all-time high due to poor eating habits and easy access to unhealthy foods, kratom may be able to provide some assistance to anyone looking for a little help in the weight loss department.
Is it Safe to Use Kratom to Help Support Weight Loss?
Weight loss is a broad term used to cover a lot of ground regarding maintaining a healthy weight that supports your long-term health. There isn’t one magic trick to losing weight, and the best plan to shed extra pounds and burn stubborn fat should be well rounded. Weight loss supplements of any kind, kratom included, need to be used in addition to healthy eating habits, physical activity, and other considerations that can help you remain healthy in the long term.
That said, kratom is generally safe to use to help support weight loss. Kratom has been used for hundreds of years for various benefits, ranging from promoting a sense of well-being to pain relief to providing stimulating effects. It also has been used in more modern medical situations to help with the effects of opiate withdrawals and weight loss. The results that kratom users experience upon consumption have to do with the kratom strain and dosage that they choose.
The FDA doesn’t recommend kratom use and this is mainly due to overdoses that have occurred and resulted in adverse reactions, including death. But these instances nearly all occur when users have had other substances in their systems that are a definite contributing factor in these documented overdoses. There aren’t many side effects to using kratom for any intended purpose in small doses, including weight loss. The FDA warning is good to know about but doesn’t mean that kratom is unsafe in every situation.
When taking any herbal or weight-loss supplement, there are potential health risks that depend on multiple lifestyle and physiological factors. You should always seek proper medical or professional advice before taking any of these supplements for the first time. Obesity also comes with additional health concerns such as high blood pressure (hypertension), poor cardiovascular health, and Type 2 diabetes risk. These factors can complicate your health whether or not you choose to take kratom for weight loss. Kratom is safe to help support weight loss, but shouldn’t be seen as a one-size-fits-all solution to help with obesity or losing weight.
How Kratom Can Assist Someone on Their Weight Loss Journey
Weight loss is a journey and not an overnight fix. You really need to adopt good eating habits alongside regular physical activity and exercise to keep those extra pounds away and improve your overall health. Kratom can definitely assist anyone who wants to get started on this journey, and its appetite-suppressing properties and energizing effects are key in this regard.
The alkaloids found within kratom leaves and the many kratom products you can now find are the essential compounds that help with weight loss and provide all of the other effects kratom users seek. 7-hydroxymitragynine is the most abundant and common alkaloid found within all of the kratom strains. But let’s take a closer look at how these compounds help with other aspects of a weight loss journey.
More Energy
The stimulating and energizing effects of kratom are a big factor in how the plant can help anyone trying to lose weight. An abundance of energy has a direct effect on increasing the level of physical activity you have in your life. Increased energy levels can help you exercise longer and harder while also providing you with the motivation to get out there and get after it. Exercise and physical activity are two of the most significant factors in losing weight, and having the energy and motivation to get moving is crucial to weight loss.
Smaller doses of kratom have an energizing and uplifting effect. The boost of energy kratom can provide will help assist you with any type of exercise program. The increase in blood circulation that exercise provides can help burn stubborn fat, leading to losing extra pounds. Increased exercise levels can also help boost serotonin levels, which can profoundly affect your sense of well-being when they react with opioid receptors in the brain. In this way, kratom can create a snowball of stimulating effects that can benefit you as you lose weight.
More Focus
Let’s face it, not all of us have the motivation and desire to exercise every day. And staying disciplined enough to avoid the unhealthy foods that cause weight gain is another task altogether. But the ability of kratom to provide extra focus and mental clarity can help in this regard. The mood-enhancing effects of kratom can help give you just a little additional focus and desire to stay consistent with a weight loss program.
Better Sleep
One thing that is key to any exercise and weight loss program is ample amounts of rest. You can exercise at very high levels, but if you don’t give your body the time it needs to recover, you can increase stress hormones that can cause inflammation. This can make it even more difficult to burn fat reserves and lose extra pounds.
The sedative and relaxing effects of some strains of kratom can go a long way towards helping encourage better sleep. If you have just started an exercise program to help with your weight loss efforts, solid sleep is going to help further enhance the process. Red vein strains are typically better for sleep than green vein and white vein varieties.
Pain Relief
The pain-relieving properties of kratom are another way in which the plant can assist with weight loss. These properties again go hand-in-hand with the exercise and physical activity needed to lose weight. A lot of exercise can leave you very sore for a day or two afterward. If you are tired and sore, you won’t have the desire or motivation to exercise. By providing pain relief to sore and achy muscles, kratom can help you exercise more often and lose weight faster.
Injuries are an unfortunate but sometimes unavoidable part of regular exercise. While you should never push through a severe injury, a little pain relief from kratom can help you overcome small injuries and keep you on track while losing weight.
Fat Loss Aid
There are plenty of weight loss supplements out there that claim to assist in fat loss. The reality is, the key to losing fat is burning more calories than you consume. This means you need to keep up with physical activity and exercise while avoiding unhealthy foods that are high in calories. But kratom can help you do this.
The three factors already discussed above all work together to make kratom an effective fat loss aid when used as part of a healthy lifestyle. The increased blood circulation that kratom can encourage through its stimulating effects can also play a role in fat loss, leading to weight loss.
Appetite Suppressing Effects
As mentioned above, the key to effective weight loss is burning more calories than you consume. And where do most of the calories we all consume come from? Food. So, an effective appetite suppressant can go a long way towards helping you with weight loss. Kratom has the potential to be an effective appetite suppressant, but not all strains provide this effect.
We will take a look at some recommended strains for weight loss below, but just know that the appetite suppressing effects of kratom can vary from person to person and strain to strain. When you find a strain that offers this effect, it can be another great tool to assist in weight loss.
Anti-Anxiety Effects
Another lesser-known cause of weight gain is anxiety. Anxious people tend to experience high levels of stress, causing them to make unhealthy eating choices. Stress and anxiety can cause you to crave sugar, fat, and other unhealthy foods that can quickly add extra pounds.
Kratom can provide anti-anxiety effects that can help combat feelings of stress. The alkaloids found in kratom can interact with the opioid receptors in your brain and give you a feeling of well-being. This results in fewer unhealthy food cravings and can help you maintain a healthy weight or continue to lose weight.
The Best Kratom Strains for Weight Loss
There are many different kratom strains, and each has a different alkaloid profile that results in varying effects between the strains. The unique characteristics of each strain mean that some strains are better for weight loss than others. Here’s a look at some of the best strains of kratom with weight loss in mind. Remember that green vein and white vein varieties are usually better for weight loss than red vein strains.
Maeng Da Kratom
Maeng Da kratom is a great strain to use in support of weight loss. This strain of kratom has very uplifting and energizing effects that can help you find the energy and motivation needed to exercise. Green Maeng Da is a good choice for anyone looking to lose weight as it provides mildly stimulating effects in smaller doses that won’t give you jitters or feelings of uneasiness. A key to these effects is the high levels of alkaloids found with Maeng Da varieties.
Thai Kratom
Thai kratom is another good option to explore, and it can provide energizing effects alongside the ability to be an effective appetite suppressant. Thai kratom originates in Thailand’s ideal growing conditions and has an alkaloid profile that provides longer-lasting effects than some other varieties. This makes it suitable for weight loss as it can give you a boost to push through a hard workout while keeping cravings for unhealthy foods at bay.
There are also some strains you might want to avoid if your primary use of kratom is for weight loss. Red vein strains of the Indo and Borneo variety are excellent for their pain-relieving and sedative properties, but these might not be ideal effects if you want the energizing effects of the strains mentioned above.
Final Thoughts
Kratom can indeed be used to help with weight loss. The strains of the plant that offer energizing and mood-boosting effects are better suited for this purpose. But always remember that kratom alone will not magically make the weight disappear. A healthy lifestyle and plenty of exercise is the foundation from which to build and maintain a healthy weight. The best kratom strains for weight loss mentioned here can provide you with a little much-needed help along the way.
