Natural Benefits
Serotonin increase and enzyme inhibition sounds all well and good, but you’re ultimately interested in how this benefits you, if at all. So, taking all the science and physiological explanations above and distilling it into poignant benefits for you the average lifter gives us the following list of benefits.
- Improved Mood
- Reduced Stress & Anxiety
- Improved Sleep
- Elevated Cognitive Function
- Combat Depression
- Relieve Pain
Some less defined benefits of kanna also include improved reaction time, performance and memory recall; however, these particular benefits are still being studied. Furthermore, you may also notice a little more definition in your abs and biceps thanks to the elevated cAMP levels.
How Much Sceletium Tortuosum?
Human trials using sceletium tortuosum have primarily been completed using a 2:1 Kanna extract. Clinical trials administered single doses of 8mg or 25mg daily for three months in “otherwise healthy adult subjects” did not appear to have any negative ramifications in cardiovascular parameters (blood pressure, pulse or breathing rate).
Side Effects
No life threatening side effects or toxicity concerns were observed during the human trials when using the upper range dose of 25mg per day. However, a few “adverse events” were observed by researchers during the various trials. The most common ones associated with Kanna supplementation included loss of appetite, headaches, abdominal pain, and upper respiratory tract infections.
Lastly, no toxicological concerns were observed in rats when given doses of 5,000mg/kg body weight, roughly 1,800x greater than the recommended human intake, for over two weeks. Now, rat physiology is vastly different from that of humans, but this is just to drive the point home that the 25mg dose you may consume per day shouldn’t pose any immediate life-threatening consequences.
