Posted by Many people have at least one online vendor and one or two local spots to buy botanicals in a pinch. But when it comes to botanical categories, there are many. It’s no longer just about weed or finding a tiny shop with barely a selection of products, much less reliable brands.
Today, you can find vendors or shops that sell multiple botanicals at once. They’re more versatile and appeal to more people, but if you have no idea what you’re looking at, you’ll have a hard time deciding on anything.
Following are the categories you should know before stepping foot into a local shop or seriously shopping online.
What Are Botanicals?
“Botanicals” refer to products that occupy a special niche of unregulated products. It refers to bioactive compounds made from plants, or are semi-synthetic or synthetic from a lab with a basis that mirrors a certain plant. They are not recognized by the FDA for having therapeutic value, although there are a few promising studies.
Instead, botanicals are classified as dietary supplements or new dietary ingredients. In layman’s terms, they are wellness and lifestyle supplements.
5 Botanical Categories You Should Know
Cannabis
Weed, usually known in terms of strains as some kind of Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica species, or possibly a hybrid. Particular strains have names like Blue Dream, Purple Unicorn, Cherry AK, Key Lime Pie, Girl Scout Cookies, or Sour Diesel, for example. While sativa strains are stimulating and creativity-inducing, indica strains are for unwinding.
These days, there are 4 main options for legal cannabis:
- Medicinal marijuana with a doctor’s prescription
- Recreational marijuana with delta-8 THC
- Recreational marijuana with delta-9 THC
- Recreational marijuana with delta-10 THC
All types of THC are psychoactive, meaning they make you intoxicated, or high. Delta-9 THC is predominant in whole leaf cannabis, with delta-8 and delta-10 occurring in trace amounts. Either of these on their own or a combination of the two are less potent than delta-9, making them feel less overwhelming and with fewer side effects, like panic attacks and tremors.
Kratom and Kratom Specialty Products
Kratom products derive in some way from the leaves of the Mitragyna speciosa plant. For you, that means two main extracts. MIT, which stands for mitragynine, is the predominant alkaloid in kratom and has targeted effects. Then there is full-spectrum kratom, which contains up to 40 alkaloids, including many secondary or minor ones for nuanced, holistic effects. You can also find specific red, green, yellow/gold, or white veins and strains, which are all said to contain the same alkaloids, but a different profile with varying proportions, or kratom blends with multiple strains.
There are also combinations with kratom. These may be a related bioactive compound or a botanical that’s synergistic, meaning it enhances kratom’s effects. You’re likely to see them labeled as kratom specialty products, or simply under the kratom category:
- Kratom + kava, which comes in shots
- Kratom + turmeric, often in the form of capsules
7-OH and 7-OH Specialty Products
If you isolate the alkaloid 7-hydroxymitragynine from whole-leaf kratom, and a bunch of it, you get a highly concentrated botanical for pain relief, mood support, and energy or relaxation. Several times more potent than kratom, it leans towards sedative effects, and users must maintain careful use with cycling to avoid tolerance and dependence. Although sometimes kratom vendors also sell 7-OH, not all locations have the same legality for 7-OH as they do for kratom. Capsules are most common, with shots available for experienced users.
Another possibility are 7-OH combinations, also known as 7-OH specialty products, or simply under the 7-OH category. They either contain a synergistic botanical or a 7-OH-related compound for even more potent effects, usually as chewable tablets or shots:
- 7-OH + MIT
- 7-OH + kana (or kanna)
- 7-OH + Pseudo
- 7-OH + MIT + Pseudo
7-OH Alternatives
A relatively new category, 7-OH alternatives can constitute a whole product line onto themselves with unique products that often offer fewer side effects, less risk, and greater legal acceptance:
You might also just see each of these listed under their own product category.
Mushrooms
“Mushrooms” is a broad category that can refer to either one of three types, or possibly both depending on the vendor or shop:
- Nootropic or “smart” mushroom products for cognitive enhancement that contain real mushrooms like Reishi, Chaga, Cordyceps, Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail, Maitake, Shiitake, and Oyster, which can also be eaten as food.
- Microdosing mushrooms for nootropic and even psychedelic or magic (psychoactive) effects for productivity and mental expansion; can be a combination of nootropic mushrooms and a proprietary formula or a synthetic formula altogether
- Psychedelic mushrooms with a lab-made psychoactive formula or magic mushrooms from Amanita muscaria with ibotenic acid and muscimol being the psychoactive compounds.
Real Botanicals Has Much Of What You’re Looking For
Whether you seek holistic or targeted effects that fit into your lifestyle and routine, there’s a botanical for you. Remember, each of these botanical categories stand alone and should not be mixed with each other. If you’re on a rotation cycle with different botanicals or just want to try something new, Real Botanicals offers products in most of these categories.
Further reading: “Navigating Botanicals: A Guide” and “How Botanical Products Are Labeled”