Kratom, aka the alkaloid-rich leaves of the Southeast Asian Mitragyna speciosa tree, has been used for centuries to provide people with relief from all kinds of daily complaints. But only recently has kratom become a staple of the natural wellness market here in the United States. One thing we can say is that it clearly works, when it comes to providing people with natural compounds to combat issues like fatigue, physical discomfort, and mood complaints. But, just how bioavailable is kratom, exactly, and is there anything you can do to make it absorb even more readily into the body, for maximum effectiveness?
What is Bioavailability?
Basically, bioavailability refers to how much a particular substance actually absorbs into the blood stream to provide its effects to the bodily system, vs. how much of it gets metabolized and leaves the body. When we ingest kratom in any product form, it first gets broken down by the acids in our stomach. Then, the digestive system decides how much of the compounds in the product make their way into the bloodstream, and how much of it continues getting fully digested and eliminated.
What this means is that how much we feel the effects of a kratom product highly depends on the product’s bioavailability. And, bioavailability is a complex, non-quantifiable concept that has a ton of variables that all determine whether or not a kratom product will have maximum bioavailability for you.
What Determines the Bioavailability of a Kratom Product?
If you’re trying a kratom product and you’re not getting the results you want, it may be because the product isn’t bioavailable, either because of the product itself or how the body is absorbing it. Let’s go over the key factors to consider.
Type of Kratom Product and Its Overall Potency
Some product types are more bioavailable than others. Liquid products are more bioavailable because the water-solubility allows them to absorb through the cells of the body more readily. Products that are more concentrated are also going to be more bioavailable, since there’s a higher serving of kratom working its way into the system, and thus a higher percentage of that kratom will end up in the circulatory system.
How Recently You’ve Eaten
It’s not too surprising that kratom will be more bioavailable on an empty stomach, so the time of your last meal can make a big difference when it comes to how much you feel those effects, and how quickly they set in. The reason why is that the kratom can get absorbed into the food that’s still in your stomach, where stomach acids are working extra hard to break down that food quickly and digest it before discarding it.
Your Physiology
Yes, some factors inherent to your body can determine the bioavailability of kratom on an individual level. For instance, gut health plays a major role, as the microflora in your stomach has a lot to do with how quickly food gets broken down and processed. Poor gut health can cause the kratom to digest too quickly, bypassing important digestive processes and getting metabolized and eliminated before it’s absorbed into the bloodstream. Metabolism works in a similar way, as how quickly your metabolism processes compounds can have a lot to do with how long you can feel the effects of kratom. A faster metabolism can mean less bioavailability.
Other Substances in Your Body
We know that other substances can potentiate or negate the effects of kratom. For instance, alcohol may enhance how strongly you feel kratom in the system, bringing out heavier sedating effects. Certain medications can also cause your kratom experience to be stronger, by interfering with the body’s ability to metabolize so many individual compounds at one time, resulting in a higher concentration of both substances in the blood. That’s actually why it’s important to talk to your doctor about taking kratom if you are on any medications.
Can You Make Your Kratom Sessions More Bioavailable?
The good news is that if you’re struggling to get the full effects of kratom, there are some things you can do to enhance its bioavailability. Certain types of foods, for instance, can be taken with kratom to break down the actual plant compounds of kratom faster, so that the alkaloids – in other words, the therapeutic compounds – absorb more readily into the bloodstream.
These foods include:
- Grapefruit
- Turmeric
- Valerian root
- Chamomile
- Cayenne pepper
- Coffee (and caffeinated teas)
- Apple cider vinegar
- Magnesium (mostly in the form of supplements)
Another thing that can enhance kratom’s bioavailability is freezing it, according to many users. It’s believed that by freezing it in an airtight container, you force the cell walls of the kratom to burst open, which makes them absorb more easily into the cells of the body.
Now, with that being said, you need to be careful. While making kratom’s effects more potent sounds like a good thing, and can be super helpful if you’re not getting any kind of desired results, there is such a thing as taking too much kratom, and ending up with side effects.
We believe, therefore, that the best way to enhance kratom’s bioavailability is to go with an incrementally higher dosage each day until you find the results you’re looking for. Again, dosage plays a major role in bioavailability, because the more kratom that’s available in the stomach, the more of it is likely to absorb into the bloodstream.
Topps Kratom: Formulated Kratom Products for Maximum Bioavailability
To an extent, bioavailability has to do with physiological factors that may or may not be within our control. But, the good news is that choosing a product formulated specifically to maximize bioavailability can play a huge role in how effective a product is. And, at Topps Kratom, we’ve really worked hard to develop highly bioavailable products through careful formulations that rely on high potency and purity levels, and ingredients that don’t interfere with how easily kratom’s alkaloids absorb into the blood. Because of that, our products can give you the real results you’re looking for.