How Mitragaia is Effective in Reducing Anxiety And Weight Loss?

Mitragyna speciosa, popularly known as kratom, is a herbal tree from the coffee family native to Southeast Asia, where the local populations harnessed its purported therapeutic benefits for centuries. Kratom is gaining popularity in the US for purported therapeutic benefits that help consumers self-manage various health conditions, including anxiety and weight loss.

Anxiety and being overweight are prevalent health issues in the US, each with an economic burden estimated at billions of dollars. However, can kratom effectively tackle anxiety and weight loss, or is it a glorified placebo? Keep learning to explore kratom’s mechanism of action and efficacy in managing anxiety and weight loss.

How Does Kratom Work? Kratom’s Mechanism of Action

Like other herbal remedies with proven therapeutic benefits, kratom contains phytochemicals acting as active compounds that modulate specific physiological functions to induce therapeutic effects. Phytochemicals are bioactive or naturally occurring chemicals in plants, offering health benefits beyond a plant’s nutritional value.

Alkaloids are the phytochemicals present in kratom, and one research study established that kratom has approximately 45 identified alkaloids, including mitragynine, 7-hyroxymitragynine, speciogynine, paynanthiene, speciociliantine, mitraciliantine, and isopaynanthiene. However, the herb’s dominant and most studied alkaloids are mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine.

Kratom occurs in diverse strains classified by their leaf venation color and region of origin. Moreover, each kratom strain has a distinct alkaloid profile, contributing to a dominant therapeutic benefit.

Trustworthy kratom vendors, like Mitragaia Kratom, stock many kratom strains. You can contact them for recommendations for the best kratom strains to tackle anxiety and induce weight loss.

Back to kratom’s mechanism of action, all kratom strains utilize a similar pathway to interact with clinically-significant enzymes and induce therapeutic benefits. The herb has an opioid-like effect when consumed and interacts with the body’s opioid system via the system’s receptors.

One study on the endogenous opioid system’s role established that the system has numerous receptors and ligands scattered throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems. Additionally, the endogenous opioid system’s core functions entail regulating pleasure (arousal), reward (motivation), and pain.

The fact that kratom has an opioid-like effect may induce some reservations among consumers, given the ongoing opioid pandemic in the US. However, kratom’s interaction with the endogenous opioid system differs slightly from how typical opioids like oxycodone, codeine, morphine, and heroin interact with the system.

According to one study on kratom’s alkaloids, its dominant alkaloids are partial agonists, meaning they only bind partially to opioid receptors. Therefore, although kratom has similar structural features to typical opioids, its partial binding capacity does not overstimulate the endogenous opioid system, causing the kind of pleasure or motivation that could trigger opioid dependency.

Kratom’s Role In Potential Anxiety Management

As stated earlier, anxiety features prominently among the most prevalent health conditions in the US. According to a report by one American mental health organization, 21% of American adults (42.5 million) have anxiety. Moreover, the report highlighted that anxiety disorders like generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic disorder, and phobias are the most prevalent health conditions.

Anxiety is an emotional state characterized by intense feelings of worry, tension, and dread that manifest physically or in behavioral changes. Although low-level anxiety is constructive, helping individuals to rise to life’s challenges, high-level anxiety morphs into anxiety disorders that limit a person’s economic, social, mental, and physical quality of life.

Stress and anxiety evolved during the pre-historic period as protective mechanisms to protect early man from predators. Consequently, incidences perceived as dangerous trigger the body to produce stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline to prepare the body for a fight-or-flight response. However, like with an overactive immune response, an exaggerated anxiety response triggers stress hormone overproduction, disrupting the body’s homeostasis (state of balance) and endangering physical and mental health.

Psychotherapists may prescribe anxiety medications like benzodiazepines to manage anxiety. Anxiety prescription medications target neurotransmitters that slow the central nervous system down, inducing relaxation.

Besides prescription medications, psychotherapists may recommend various therapy forms like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and psychotherapy to manage anxiety. Additionally, they can recommend ancillary anxiety management tools, including taking herbal remedies like kratom.

Kratom’s Mechanism Of Action On Anxiety

According to one study, kratom’s effect on anxiety may entail alleviating anxiety symptoms, including hyperarousal and rumination. Moreover, the study established that kratom increased sociability among individuals consing the herb to self-manage anxiety.

So, how does kratom alleviate anxiety? As stated earlier, mitragynine is the primary alkaloid in kratom. One study on mitragynine established that the alkaloid may lower anxiety levels by modulating the Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmitter.

GABA is a neurotransmitter that functions as a central nervous system inhibitor. Therefore, its primary role is to limit signal transmission from the nerve endings to the brain, preventing the cells that process anxiety signals from overdrive. Mitragynine binds to the opioid receptors located in the middle brain section; the opioid receptors process fear and anxiety.

Kratom’s Role In Potential Weight Loss

According to one statistical report, 49.1% of American adults under 40 try to lose weight every 12 months. The report further established that most weight loss patients focus primarily on exercise, eating habits, dietary adjustments, or a combination strategy featuring all three avenues.

However, physical activity and diets may not always achieve the desired weight loss goal for some people, even when observed with consistency. Consequently, some individuals incorporate weight loss supplements like kratom into their regime.

Kratom’s Mechanism of Action on Potential Weight Loss

According to one animal model study featuring rats, a dose of kratom leaf extract reduced food and water consumption among the rats. Moreover, the study established a tendency for the test subjects to lose weight; they also experienced zero rebound weight gain after the study. Also, the study concluded that kratom extract consumption for weight loss did not activate the brain’s dopaminergic or reward system.

Research on kratom’s effect on weight loss is in the preliminary stages. Therefore, although animal studies on kratom’s effects on weight loss prove efficacy, the mechanism of action remains under investigation.

Kratom Dosage for Potential Anxiety Management and Weight Loss

Kratom is an individual-specific substance, meaning no standardized dose for any therapeutic benefit exists. However, the drug is biphasic, inducing opposite effects in high doses (unideal for anxiety). Therefore, start low on the dose and adjust it accordingly, depending on your kratom reaction.

Conclusion:

Although doctors cannot legally prescribe kratom for anxiety or weight loss, empirical and observation research supports the herb’s efficacy in self-managing both health conditions. However, consult your doctor before taking kratom for weight loss or anxiety to avoid possible drug interactions.

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Becky

Meet the award-nominated UK lifestyle blogger behind Spirited Puddle Jumper – a mum of three living in South East London! Becky shares the real ups and downs of family life, parenting tips, and lifestyle inspiration, proving that being a mum doesn’t mean you stop being fun or having other interests! Follow along for honest insights into UK family life and opinions on a whole range of topics, from travel and food, to beauty reviews, home and DIY, business and health and wellness.