Organic Kanna from The Root of the Matter (Review)

Like most herbs, Kanna has a lot of health benefits, including positive effects on mental health, mood and energy, which makes Kanna a staple in my herb collection.

Kanna's health benefits are impressive, so let's start this off with a list of those:

• Kanna is a mood-uplifter, can help with irritability, and has a therapeutic-like effect.

Kanna can also produce  narcotic and sedative-like effects.

Provides energy 

•  Kanna is also a relaxant (and muscle relaxant) and it decreases anxiety, tension and stress and improves mental health, in general.

•  It's helpful for conditions such as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and social phobia. It's even said to be helpful for social phobias. It can increase sociability (big plus for me!)

• Something I find interesting enough to note is that some people report having empathic feelings/emotions/whatever from using Kanna.

Improves cognitive health, promotes mental clarity.

Kanna has been called "the greatest clearer of spirits, and the noblest restorative in the world.”

It can be helpful in the treatment of drug addiction (and I can see this as being truly useful.) 

Has been used as an appetite-suppressant

Kanna is an analgesic 

A natural anti-depressant -- used to rebalance the brain and nervous system and thereby relieve symptoms of depression.

Improves libido

Has been used to treat colic

Decreases high blood pressure

Note: Kanna is said to be "far more effective and rapidly acting than the European plant Hypericum (St Johns Wort)." 10 times more effective, as per The Root of The Matter's Kanna label! Now that's impressive.

Did you read that? It's real important, especially to anyone who, like me, has used St. Johns (and almost every other mood-enhancing herb on earth without a major change).

In case you missed it, let me say that again: Kanna is said to be far more effective than St. John's Wort!!!

St. John's is like the mother of all herbs when it comes to mood problems. That is why it was one of my first go-to's for my severe mood problems. And while it did seem that it was perking things up for me, after the first month, there was little reason for me to bother taking it anymore, and it was quality herb. I figured it must've been that my problems were stemming from somewhere else, and therefore needed a different approach.

So, when I read that Kanna was a mood-enhancer, I was excited, but knowing that I didn't exactly get a lot better after using St. John's, or SAM-e or any of the other widely known herbs for depression and mood disorders, I didn't expect much help from Kanna there, either.

Learning that it was "far more effective" than St. John's restored an entirely new hope in me that there was something that could help my ugly moods.

And this is why I felt so compelled to go into so much detail here with my own story -- because I'm sure someone else is out there like me. Who's tried all the promising meds and herbs for their crappy moods, and didn't get fully better. Then, you begin believing that it's something so deeply inside you that it can never change. 

Believe me, this is how I've felt on and off for the last 4 months. I'd try something, I'd see the tiniest improvement and keep taking it, only to realize a month later that that tiny improvement was as good as it would get for me and my downing moods.

Here's How Kanna Enhances Your Mood:

 Alkaloids are to thank for the mood-enhancing action of Kanna. Some of these alkaloids are named
"mesembrine," "mesembrenol" and "tortuosamin."

They work by interacting with serotonin and dopamine receptors. Serotonin and dopamine are basically the major good-mood chemicals, so that's why we respond to herbs/drugs that cause a release of these two chemicals.

In hopes of being as informative and helpful to my readers as possible, I always try to explain some of the reasons I take any supplement/herb. I like to make it known what issues I might be trying to improve on so that it gives readers a better understanding of the results, although results and issues vary in everyone. 

With that in mind, I'll brief you on what my reasons for using Kanna were:

The mental and mood health, mostly. 

More info on that:

I have struggled with severe mood issues, not depression really, but a strong up/down of moods on a daily basis, including intense frustration at times. For instance, frustration that feels impossible to get relief from and at times, almost like I'm going to break, if that makes sense. Another major problem was irritability (part of my irritability comes from having Misophonia or "Sound Sensitivity," and other times from PMS).

These things  became unbearable, and so I've been on a journey to try and improve that area. 

Aside from that, I used to have severe anxiety after I developed some health problems (they came combined with each other, and anxiety was a tag-a-long of those.) Over the last 2 years, after being prescribed anxiety meds and completely quitting them after taking them for 6-9 months, and starting using herbs, I made amazing progress and the anxiety was gone, for the most part. What I was left with, however, after years of these debilitating conditions, was nervousness, especially with people.

 So, discovering Kanna and its abilities to help in all these areas (including social phobia, which I figured would be helpful for my nervousness with people) has been a blessing to me.

Now that you know this, it may be helpful to know that my results after using Kanna has included a  major decrease in all the symptoms/issues I described. In fact, it's been over a month of using Kanna on a virtually regular basis, and I feel what I would call "balanced," if that makes sense. I actually feel like I'm not battling so hard with myself and my negative or less than happy thoughts. I've experienced an even bigger decrease in stress, and I feel so much more at ease these days. I've not been taking it on a strict basis for the last 2 weeks since I think I've actually reached some kind of balance, and am doing really well, even when I skip days of taking the Kanna.

My Results:

Kanna has been extremely helpful for me in nerve-racking situations, or stressful times, or times when I was dealing with overwhelming changes that brought on anxiety.

To sum it up briefly, Kanna has made the tough rides in life much smoother.

Basically, Kanna gives you what's described as an overall sense of well-being in general, and this is why it's so handy during bad, stressful or otherwise just crappy times. It calms, and kind of gives me the sense of everything being restored and gives me the feeling that there's nothing to worry about. I find it easy to let those worries in the back of my mind just pass through. 

I can usually expect a mild energy for an hour or so, and nice relief from stress, anxieties, worries and nervousness for up to a few hours. This is taking one capsule the entire day. Usually, the rest of the day remains stress and worry-free for me, even when the energy seems to have left me. 

Some people say the effects stay with them for days!  

As a side note, I can see Kanna being used for what people might call spiritual practices, if that's the right way of putting it. I say this because my first time trying it, I noticed that I was in the most perfect mix of relax, but focused and awake, which struck me as a great time to meditate. My mind was quiet-ish, but I felt kind of just more "in-tuned," if that makes sense?

So, now, when I happen to have used Kanna and the mood strikes, I set aside a few minutes for meditation, and actually find it to go far better than usual. I tend to meditate near the beginning of my day and at the end, and I feel like I get a better "session" in when I've taken some Kanna. Strange and I could very well be mistaken about this, but it does feel right for me, so I thought it'd be worth noting. 

I feel a little more inspired and creative, too when Kanna kicks in.

I have also found that if I'm tired from a long day, but not fully exhausted, I can take a capsule of the Kanna and be right back up to speed for several hours throughout the evening and night! This is one thing I really love about Kanna. It'll just remove the mental and physical fatigue and make me feel new and refreshed again, which is something no supplement or energy product has ever done for me when I'm real tired.

I also want to note that I've been doing some soul-searching, I guess you'd call it. I've spent a lot of my time as of the last 3 months using meditation (sometimes multiple times a day, even) and doing some studying on techniques for positive thinking and positive living. I've even read a dozen books on the topic (some of which have been truly life-changing for me!) and I've taken up what folks call "positive affirmations," which I use on a daily basis. I go through a series of positive affirmations as soon as I wake up, as I'm falling asleep and as much throughout my day as possible. I also downloaded some positive recordings (2 of them are positive affirmations to repeat) that I listen to almost daily. I also try and listen to a couple of short guided meditation recordings every couple of days.

These things combined with Kanna have helped me immensely! I feel like Kanna has really helped me further my journey with this since it relieved so much of my struggling and just negative stresses I couldn't seem to shake. I am probably more impressed with Kanna than any "happy-herb" I've used. St. John's truly has nothing on this stuff, for me anyways. Everyone's different!

Here is a close-up of the Kanna supplement. Apologies for the quality of these photos. Tough lighting!

Side Effects of Kanna

Like similar herbs, and despite being able to give us energy, Kanna can also have a sedative effect. For most people, it seems that when taken in small doses, it's energizing, while higher doses cause the sedative effects. Everyone's different, though!

What to Know Before Buying/Taking Kanna

As with all supplements, you have to be certain about quality. You know the whole spiel -- herbs aren't really regulated and it's common for manufacturers to slap a label on grass and tell you it's an herb that'll change your life. So, obviously, I done research first, and I'll share what I learned with you:

Firstly, the Kanna I take (the only kind I use), from The Root of The Matter is premium, 100% organic, and traditionally fermented  Kanna.

You know why the word "organic" is in italics, but what about "traditionally fermented?" Why does that matter in a Kanna supplement?

From what I've gathered,  traditionally fermented Kanna is said to have maximized effects, particularly its psychoactive effects. A lot of folks do believe it's important that Kanna is "traditionally fermented," though, as this was Southern Africa folks prepared it (fermented inside sheep skins). One study suggests that it might not be fully accurate, but most do believe it to be true. (

Source: Patnala, S., Kanfer, I. (2009) Investigations of the phytochemical content of Sceletium tortuosum following the preparation of “Kougoed” by fermentation of plant material. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 121, 86–91)

The Root of The Matter Kanna is  "certified organic (the genuine thing), grown in South Africa, and has high mesembrine content. It is traditionally and naturally fermented according to South African tradition."

Dosing/Directions:

The Root of The Matter's Organic Kanna comes with 100 capsules, which are 50 milligrams each. 50 mg is usually the recommended starting dose.

The bottle suggests taking one capsule once or twice daily with water on empty stomach.  

P.S. Kanna is not to be mixed with other things such as prescription drugs, anything for anxiety, any kind of psychiatric drug, heart medications, other sedatives, hypnotics, anti-depressants!

Obviously, if you take Kanna, an anti-anxiety herb, with other anti-anxiety meds/herbs, they can potentiate each other.  You must be careful! You can risk something called "serotonin syndrome," which has been discussed in my other posts.

Re-cap. Last Thoughts About Kanna and Who I Think it Could Benefit

If you couldn't already tell, yes, I absolutely recommend Kanna to my friends and family members! I actually find this herb to be more helpful than most I've ever taken, in several areas including worry, stress, anxiety, frustration, mood issues. Also sleep problems, feeling drained and lack of motivation. I've seen amazing improvements in these areas. I don't have severe sleep problems, but my sleep is even better if I've taken Kanna that day. During phases when I can't sleep at all, I take an herbal sleep aid that kicks my butt, but as for needing some good quality sleep, Kanna does the trick and I wake up feeling good. 

I have a lot of love for Kanna due to its ability to calm my crazy mood issues, but I also love that it gave me relief when I was beyond desperation. I didn't have to wait a month to get relief, like you do with other things. So, this is one reason I tend to recommend Kanna -- it works quick! 

I got relief the very first time I took it, and I'd only taken less than half of a 50 mg capsule! It only got better after that, and I feel like my thoughts and mood stuff  is really "fixing," not just being masked by good feelings when I take Kanna. It seems almost like things are re-balancing, even when I don't take it on a daily basis! I never thought Kanna would have such an effect on me, and I regret how much suffering I've done in the meantime while using other herbs that simply weren't cutting it for me. 

So, for folks in similar situations as me, who've tried the other popular herbal (or prescription) methods and feel hopeless, Kanna might be the one. I hope that other people get relief from these troubles because I totally know how ugly it can get.

Disclaimer (I know, I hate them, too, but these days you kind of can't afford to note post them.):

I am not a specialist or any other kind of doctor or expert. Content on this blog is not intended to be taken as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment or advice of any sort. I'm simply sharing information about my own experiences and results from use of a product or activity in hopes of providing useful information/suggestions to readers, not to be taken as a patient/medical adviser relationship. I am not responsible for what readers choose to do after viewing the content here. Furthermore, I do not hold an "exceptional" or other special relationship with the company mentioned. I'm simply a consumer who worked with the company on a review that is in compliance with FTTC's guidelines. That means, everything you read here is my own words, not anything of the company's. I was not provided with monetary compensation for my review. All information posted has been done so with complete honesty. No action should be taken based solely on the content of this publication ( I'm not responsible.) Readers who rely on the information in this blog to replace the advise of an appropriate health care provider assume all risks of such behavior.