Medicine/Healing

Kratom vs. Opiates

“Kratom a legally obtainable herbal medicine, is getting bad rep by the media. It is not uncommon for it to be described as the latest “street drug“ – addictive, destructive and dangerous. Sometimes it is compared to opiates like heroine or morphine – yet they are nothing alike, and all such claims are completely unfounded.”

The origins of Kratom’s liaison with opium stems from the fact that the active compounds in Kratom interact with some of the same receptors in our bodies as certain opiates. However, Kratom doesn’t contain any opiates – that’s a big difference right there. Kratom does not produce any of the problems associated with opiate-use like addiction, withdrawal, and physical harm. The alkaloids found in Kratom are much more selective in their mechanism of action, primarily acting as an M-opioid receptor agonist, similar to morphine. Yet, Kratom doesn’t create the bonding and craving that opiates do, which is the reason it is often used as a low-risk pain killer. There is one major key difference between kratom and opiates. This is the fact that the active compounds of kratom are alkaloids, of which only interact with a specific set of opiate receptors within the body. The alkaloids in Kratom do not fuse themselves to the receptors and thus do not create a long-term or damaging relationship with the body’s cells. This allows kratom to have relieving effects for real health issues without the risk of addiction or damage. There is only a negligible risk of addiction.

Original Article (Speciosa):
Kratom vs. Opiates
Artwork Fair Use: American Kratom Association

The whole fungus : good

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