Kratom is a versatile natural herb with multiple medicinal and recreational uses, but if you get your Kratom dosage wrong, you’re likely to experience a number of unpleasant side-effects instead of the benefits you expected. A plant of the coffee family that is native to Southeastern Asia, Kratom must be taken in the right amount in order to have the desired impact and maintain its effectiveness in time.

In what follows, you’ll find out more about the correct Kratom dosage for pain relief and other purposes. We’ll briefly go over the best ways to ingest Kratom before we move on to specific doses, as well as accurate measurement techniques and several pro tips for making this natural herb work in your favor.

How Should You Take Kratom?

To be able to measure the ideal Kratom dosage for pain relief, stimulation, sedation, and other effects, you must first decide how to ingest the herb. To give you some background on your product, the Kratom powder or capsules you buy from your favorite vendor start out as simple leaves of the Kratom tree. The leaves are dried and then ground into a fine powder, which can be taken as such or introduced into capsules.

However, you don’t have to use either powder or capsules if neither of these methods suits your needs. When it comes to Kratom, every consumer is different, so it might take a couple of tries before you can settle on the best way for you to take the herb. Still, there are a few methods that have been extensively tested in the community and that are currently recommended by experienced consumers. If you’ve never tried Kratom before, it might be a good idea to start with one of the following:

1. Brewing a cup of Kratom tea: Kratom powder tends to have a very poignant, bitter taste, which many beginner and even experienced users find overbearing. If you’re worried that you won’t be able to stomach the powder itself, a good place to start is to order whole leaves instead.

• Fresh leaves are preferable, but the majority of vendors sell them only after they’ve been dried. You can then use these leaves, either fresh or dried, to boil a cup of Kratom tea, which you can sweeten using honey or any other sugar replacement.
• The tea might not be as strong as chewing the leaves themselves, for example, but as a beginner, this shouldn’t be a problem for you.

2. Mixing Kratom powder into a shake: One simple and very quick way to take this herb is to dissolve the powder in water and swallow the mix. However, the bitter taste might make it difficult to keep the powder down, which is why you should consider a mix with fruit juice or chocolate milk.

• Chocolate milk, in particular, is a great way to diminish the naturally bitter taste of Kratom while preventing the powder from sinking to the bottom of your glass.
• Just remember to stir the liquid properly in order to get rid of unsavory lumps.

3. The “toss and wash” method: Most experienced users prefer to take Kratom using this simple method. To try it yourself, simply measure the Kratom dosage you wish to take using the guide below, put it in a spoon, scoop it in your mouth, and wash it down with water or some other liquid.

• Be warned, however: the first couple of times you try this method, you are likely to trigger your gag reflex due to the very bitter taste of the powder. To avoid a terrible experience, start with a very small amount of Kratom and work your way up to a higher dose once you’re more accommodated to the taste.
• Whatever you do, don’t chug the powder as hard as you can because it might stick to the back of your throat, which is unpleasant to say the least.

4. Taking Kratom Capsules: It’s much easier to get your Kratom powder dosage right if you split it neatly into capsules. In addition, if you take this herb in the form of pills, you don’t have to deal with the taste at all. Plus, capsules are very discreet so you can safely take them at work or in any other social situation.

• Experienced Kratom users recommend that you make your own capsules, rather than buying them as such. This is a safety precaution against some vendors who cut Kratom powder with other substances and hide the mix using pills.
• When you make your own capsules, it can take some time to get the Kratom capsule dosage just right, but safety should be your first priority.

Things to consider: Not all of these methods have the same effects. For example, brewing Kratom tea can slightly weaken the impact of the herb, while digesting capsules can take longer. A Kratom shake, on the other hand, will have a quicker impact, but unless you drink it straight away, some of the powder might settle on the bottom of your glass or container and ultimately go to waste.

The “toss and wash” method is, from this point of view, the most effective way to ingest Kratom. None of the powder is wasted and, because you only take it with a relatively small amount of liquid, it tends to have a significantly faster effect. Still, you shouldn’t force yourself to use this method if the taste is unbearable. Taking small steps is the best approach here.

The Ideal Kratom Dosage for Pain Relief and Other Effects

Generally speaking, the impact of Kratom falls somewhere between two distinct effects. At the lower end of the spectrum, which you will usually achieve by taking smaller doses, you’re likely to experience a stimulating effect. For instance, a low Maeng Da Kratom dosage might give you a surge of energy, as well as a significant boost to your mood and motivation. If you find it difficult to navigate social situations, Kratom can help you become more sociable and talkative.

Alternatively, a higher Kratom powder dosage is likely to have a sedative and analgesic effect. You’ll enter a state of calm relaxation where you become less sensitive to both emotional and physical pain. Rather than being active, you might feel like lying down and enjoying the comfortable pleasure that is travelling through your body. Falling asleep will be easier than usual and you might wake up feeling more rested.

To achieve the best effects, you should settle on your dose based on your tolerance, the Kratom strain you are using, and the effects you hope to achieve. You can consult the Kratom powder dosages described below for general guidelines, but always remember to adapt this information to your own, specific needs.

• Taking Kratom as a beginner: If you’ve never tried Kratom before, err on the side of caution. Start with no more than 100mg and wait for up to 10 minutes to make sure that you do not suffer from any related allergies. Then, take another dose of up to 0.5 grams and wait another 20 minutes. If you’ve experienced no unpleasant side-effects, you’re ready for a full beginner dose of 1 gram. If you notice no effects at all, take another 1 gram every 20-30 minutes, up to a maximum of 5 grams. At this point, you should be good to go.
• Kratom for recreational purposes: To obtain a stimulant effect, you should take between 3 and 5 grams of Kratom, although this depends largely on the strain in question. For instance, your White or Green Maeng Da Kratom dosage should fall between 2 and 4 grams for an energizing effect, while other strains might have the desired impact in a dose of up to 6 grams. Any more than this, however, and the sedative effect is likely to kick in.
• Kratom for pain relief: Once again, it’s important to note that different strains have a distinct Kratom dosage for pain relief. The most impactful Red Bali Kratom dosage, for example, falls between 4 and 12 grams, depending on your tolerance and the severity of the pain. Other strains, such as Red Maeng Da or Red Sumatra, can serve as analgesics even when taken in doses of no more than 6 grams.
• Kratom as a sedative: If you’re taking Kratom to deal with anxiety, depression, or insomnia, a sedative dose could work best for you. Depending on the strain, you might have to take between 8 and 18 grams to obtain the desired effect, but it’s particularly important to take precautions when dealing with such high dosages. Always work your way up from smaller amounts and never take more than you need in order to avoid side-effects.

Whether you’re looking to establish the best Kratom dosage for pain relief or you want to use the herb for recreational purposes, you have to be able to measure every amount properly before you ingest it. The easiest way to do this is to purchase a digital scale with an accuracy that goes down to at least 1/10th of a gram.

You can also use tablespoons (volume) to measure your Kratom powder dosage, but this method tends to be less accurate than using a precise scale. Generally speaking, one leveled teaspoon of very finely ground Kratom will weight approximately 2 grams, while a tablespoon will weight 6 grams. Meanwhile, a leveled teaspoon of coarsely ground Kratom will only weight 0.8 grams, while crushed leaf can weigh even less.

Pro Tip 1: When you make Kratom into tea, you can obtain a more potent effect (and more tea) with the same dosage if you boil the tea down for about 20 minutes, then separate the leaves from the liquid and repeat the process.

Pro Tip 2: Some Kratom powder is wasted in shakes because it sinks to the bottom of the glass and becomes difficult to ingest. To make sure that the amount you measure is the amount you actually take, put the powder in the glass first, then pour water, juice, or milk, rather than the other way around. Pour the liquid gradually and keep mixing the entire time to obtain a smooth shake.

Pro Tip 3: Kratom pills are easy to make if you buy a cheap kit from a specialized distributor. You just have to measure your ideal Kratom capsule dosage and insert the powder into the provided tablet.

There are a number of different factors that you should consider before you settle on your Kratom dosage. These include:

• The strain of Kratom: Two distinct types of Kratom can have widely different effects, which is why you should always research the correct dosage for the specific strain you are about to take. The ideal Maeng Da Kratom dosage, for example, tends to be lower than with other strains because Maeng Da is considerably more potent.
• Your degree of experience: If this is your first time taking Kratom, you are likely to experience more potent effects and should start with a smaller dose. The more your body becomes accustomed to the herb, the higher the dose you will need to obtain the desired impact.
• Taking Kratom on an empty stomach: It matters whether you take Kratom shortly after eating or on an empty stomach. The latter is preferable because it allows you to enjoy the same effects while taking a smaller dose. Be careful never to interchange the doses. If you take a higher amount of Kratom on an empty stomach, you might end up having a negative, rather than positive experience.

Keep all of this in mind as you experiment with different amounts of Kratom and remember that, in the case of this particular herb, less is more. In other words, the less Kratom you take, the less likely you are to develop a tolerance and the longer you can enjoy its benefits.

Get Your Kratom Dosage Just Right

Regardless of the reason why you take Kratom, using no more than the required dose is the key to having a good experience and avoiding common side-effects such as nausea, itching, sweating, and anxiety. For instance, if you take this herb for its analgesic impact, sticking to the correct Kratom dosage for pain relief will allow you to use it for extended periods of time without constantly increasing the dose.

Like any other ingestible substance or supplement, Kratom must be consumed responsibly. Especially if you’ve never tried the herb before, it’s important that you start with a beginner’s Kratom dosage and work your way up to an optimal amount.