Summary of the research paper: Examining the psychoactive differences between kratom strains
The research paper are a survey of 644 current kratom users (Anonymous) for the self-reported effects and motivations for using red, green and white strains kratom powder. Most of the survey respondents were
customers of the same kratom vendor, the products of which had been assessed for their alkaloid content by an independent laboratory.
The survey respondents reported distinct subjective experiences for different kratom strains, in a manner congruent with common marketing descriptions. However, the product analyses revealed no significant cross‐strain differences in alkaloid content, suggesting that the reported effect differences might be disproportionally
influenced by marketing narratives and anecdotal reports.
In the current survey, motivations for using either red, green, or white kratom strains were investigated by asking survey respondents to rank 13 pre‐written motivational statements in the order most applicable to their use of the respective strains.
Red kratom users ranking the motivation ʺto help you relax or sleepʺ at the highest position is consistent with product descriptions claiming that red strains are calming, anxiolytic and beneficial in treating insomnia. Likewise, the motivation ʺto improve your mood or to feel less sadness/depressionʺ being ranked highest by green kratom users, is in line with marketing claims that green strains are the best for promoting overall well‐being. As for white strain users, the finding that ʺto help you concentrate on work or study” was ranked highest, is congruent with descriptions of white strains being nootropic, stimulating and energizing.
For all items, the results indicated that white strains were experienced to be the most stimulating and energizing, while green strains were experienced to be less stimulating and energizing than white strains, but more stimulating and energizing than red strains.