Posted by Daily consumption of Kratom isn’t anything new, nor does it necessarily have to be something that comes at the cost of one’s personal health, but like all things, this isn’t a universal truth without its own asterisks next to it. Daily consumption of Kratom can be traced back as a human behavior hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
In southeast Asia, where Kratom remains as popular as ever, the herb was used somewhat famously by laborers, who would chew on Kratom leaves to get a dose of energy throughout the day. In some cases, employers would actually provide the Kratom leaves to their employees as a cheap means to boost productivity.
In 2021, Thailand removed Kratom from it’s position on its illegal narcotics list, and Indonesia remains a powerhouse in the legal-but-regulated state of Kratom production. Befitting the title of this article, one might come to wonder what the country-wide effects of legalizing the herb are. In truth, the usage of Kratom is hard to rate in terms of safety and health because the dosage and strain (and the lab-created Kratom products) all make a canyon of difference in terms of what Kratom does and how it functions with the body.
“You Can Consume Kratom Daily…”
Speaking from a very, very green perspective, Kratom isn’t a dangerous herb to consume daily. In dosages between 50milligrams to 500milligrams, youthful Kratom leaves, whether chewed on or taken in powdered or capsule form, are going to give its user a great boost of energy. Green Kratom, which has more age than White Kratom, will have its effects last longer, but will pose a greater health risk than its White sister strain due to its alkaloid makeup (we’ll talk more on that later.)
In general, consuming youthful Kratom strains daily isn’t going to pose an immediate health risk, although one should always be weary of encroaching dependencies and alter or stop their consumption of the herb for a time to avoid any spiraling behavior towards higher dosages.
There isn’t strong evidence for the benefits of Kratom yet, and it’s worth remembering that it isn’t anything close to a miracle drug, nor should it be used in place of established medicine to self-medicate: it cannot solve lasting depressive episodes, it cannot make users kick their drug addictions, and it cannot be used daily to solve energy problems that have a more influential cause, such as sleep deprivation or poor diet.
Kratom’s place in one’s life should be akin to strong coffee: it can be taken daily for a boost in energy with relatively low risk, but not zero risk altogether.
“You can Consume Kratom Daily, But…”
And now the other half of this coin rears its ugly head: Kratom can pose some serious health risks under certain conditions, and this is because of its alkaloid profile. The most readily available alkaloid within Kratom is MTG (Mitragynine) and is responsible for the rush of energy the herb can provide it’s users. In general, MTG can be thought of as a stronger caffeine that is can be safe with daily intake in the amount we recommended above (500mg or below).
The kicker is that Kratom also contains 7-OH, another alkaloid that has the exact opposite effect that MTG has. It can give its user a strong sense of calm, pain relief, and generally uplift their mood. It is also, poignantly, highly addicting and has horrible withdrawal effects. It also, in youthful Kratom leaves, very weak in presence. That is to say, White Kratom strains, which are youthful, have very, very low amounts of 7-OH in their alkaloid profile. You could consume 500milligrams of White Kratom every day for a year and not experience the positive effects of 7-OH at all. Despite this, you might experience its dependency effects, which would become apparent to users with a history of drug abuse rather quickly, and would mark an obvious point in which the consumption would need to cease.
Inverse to White Kratom, Red Kratom strains are aged, and aged Kratom strains have a higher concentration of 7-OH than their youthful counter-parts. This is why, sometimes, you’ll see some Kratom users state that they like to consume upwards of 5 to 10 grams of Red Kratom in a single sitting: those users aren’t trying to get the effects of MTG, they are trying to get the effects of 7-OH. It is arguable that this sort of consumption practice is never healthy, but it is an absolute fact that consuming high amounts of aged Kratom for maximum 7-OH intake daily is a great way to make sure that you have a mountain of health problems that include tolerance issues and a crippling addiction. So, in short, don’t consume large amounts of aged Kratom leaves.
To reiterate, you can consume reasonable amounts of youthful Kratom leaves (500milligrams or below, roughly speaking) daily and experience no significant health issues. You CANNOT do the same with aged Kratom, nor any Kratom at higher dosages.
You might be intereste in “Can you Consume 7-OH Daily?“