Kanna and kava come up together because both are plants with a long record of traditional use and a modern supplement market behind them. They are not related, they do not work the same way, and they are not interchangeable.
This is a straight comparison of the botany, the chemistry, and the preparation.
Two Different Plants
Kanna is Sceletium tortuosum, a low succulent from the semi-arid regions of South Africa's Western and Northern Cape. Its use rests on Khoi and San traditional knowledge, recorded in European accounts from the seventeenth century onward.
Kava is Piper methysticum, a shrub in the pepper family, cultivated across the Pacific Islands — Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Hawaii among them. The part used is the root and rootstock.
The Active Compounds
Kanna's actives are alkaloids. Three matter most: mesembrine, mesembrenone, and Delta-7-mesembrenone. A 2022 review catalogued around twenty-five alkaloids in four structural classes, covered in Research Insights: The Chemistry Of Kanna.
Kanna's alkaloids act on serotonin pathways. That is the basis of its most important restriction, below.
Kava's actives are kavalactones — a different class of compound entirely, generally described in the literature as acting on GABA pathways rather than serotonergic ones. At the level of chemistry the two plants have almost nothing in common.
Preparation
Kava is traditionally prepared as a cold-water infusion of the ground root, strained and drunk. It is a beverage.
Kanna was traditionally fermented and chewed. Today it is most often taken as a concentrated extract measured in milligrams: a powder, an oil, or an encapsulated formula. Our standard extracts are concentrated to 5% total alkaloids by weight, with a 25mg serving, onset around 30 minutes, and effects running two to three hours. How that concentration is produced is covered in A Guide To Kanna Extraction.
Taste
Kava has an earthy taste and produces a characteristic numbing of the mouth and tongue. Kanna extract powder is slightly bitter — most people don't mind it and some do.
Legal Status
Neither plant is federally scheduled in the United States as of this writing. State and local law can differ, and rules in other countries differ more. Check the law where you live before ordering either.
Kava has the more complicated regulatory history of the two: several countries restricted its sale in the early 2000s following reports of liver injury, and most of those restrictions were later relaxed. Anyone considering kava should read the current guidance for their own country.
Taking Them Together
Do not. Kanna is serotonergic, and combining it with kava or with any other supplement that acts on the central nervous system is not something to experiment with. The full restriction list is in Kanna Side Effects & Safety.
Choosing Between Them
The practical difference is that a kanna extract can state its strength. A concentration and an alkaloid profile are numbers on a label, and they make one product comparable to another. How To Choose A Kanna Extract covers what those numbers mean.
Our full range is on Our Kanna Extracts.
Kanna is serotonergic. Consult a healthcare provider before use, especially if you take any serotonergic medication or supplement.
†These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
