In conversation with alternative and herbal health enthusiasts, you’re bound to hear CBD and kratom are nearly identical in terms of benefits. While somewhat similar in purpose, the outcomes of kratom and CBD are very different. We’ll explore those differences and how their wide ranges of benefits overlap and contrast.

Read on as Otie’s Botanicals, America’s premium kratom supplier, gives you an overview of how kratom differs from CBD and the unique benefits both have to offer.

What is Kratom?

Kratom is another name for the Mytragina tree, an up to 50-foot-tall relative of coffee and gardenia trees. The kratom leaves have been known about and harvested by Southeast Asian cultures, at the very least since Dutch colonial traders documented it. While kratom’s roots are primarily in local religious practices, today, it’s gained prominence among Western cultures due to various bodily outcomes and benefits, which are largely unique to each type of strain, usually designated by color. These effects range from mild euphoria and relaxation to stimulating mood-elevating sensations.

Of course, according to our customers, the exact effects of a given kratom strain are on a case-by-case basis. We’ll provide a quick shorthand of each type of kratom, including their benefits, but how does this compare to CBD?

What is CBD?

CBD is a single compound produced in the cannabis plant. Certain strains of cannabis contain large amounts of CBD and a variety of other important cannabinoid compounds that researchers are only beginning to understand. Unlike THC, CBD is not psychoactive, per se, but it can have an effect on the mind and body. Also, unlike THC (and kratom), CBD becomes less effective when ingested because liver enzymes reduce the potency of CBD. Rather, CBD-heavy strains are a type of cannabis that consumers ingest sublingually.

Compared with kratom, the effects of CBD are a little more uniform and amount to a moderate sense of calm. It produces little to little-to-no psychoactive effect. However, CBD provides a host of physical benefits, such as a reduction of blood flow to parts of the brain, aiding with pain and feelings of nervousness.

As you can see, the benefits of CBD are both:

  1. Wholly unique to kratom, as it doesn’t provide anywhere near the same range of experiential effects
  2. Very similar in at least some functions, as both CBD and kratom can help with a handful of the same or similar conditions such as nervousness and pain

Kratom and its Benefits

As promised, here is a short primer on the different kratom products on the market – along with several of the most common descriptors given to each strain:

  • White Kratom—Stimulating, euphoric, uplifting
  • Red Kratom—Calming, peaceful, tranquil, sedative
  • Green Kratom—Relaxed yet mildly stimulating and alert
  • Gold Kratom—A blending of our red and green strains; more relaxed than green, but not fully sedate, like a red
  • Yellow Kratom—The best of both green and white kratom, i.e., a more euphoric yet grounded energy

To learn which type of kratom is right for you, it’s helpful to have a portion of each on hand so you can experience the unique benefits of each on your own terms. That’s why Otie’s has a sampler pack pre-filled with some of our favorite strains of each category, helping you become acquainted with the wonderful world of kratom easily and with minimal guesswork.

See What Kratom We Have in Stock Today!

Both kratom and CBD have a host of benefits, and it’s true each can help with some of the same things. However, to equate the two or consider one as good as the other is to miss out on the wider range of excellent qualities unique to each kratom strain that have yet to be fully explored.

Otie’s Botanicals provides full oversight of our products’ journey, along with lab testing to confirm the purity and safety of each batch. You can continue your herbal exploration right here at our premium online kratom shop and compare every option that we source straight from reputable kratom farms. See what Otie’s Botanicals has in inventory today!

IMG Credit: Wassana Panapute