Wendie Trubow, MD, MBA, IFMCPPresident at Five Journeys, Functional Medicine & Wellness Provider, Best Selling Author, Passionate Champion for Health

Discover Kanna and Its Wellness Benefits

23 Dec 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:18

A short YouTube interview segment (created/uploaded by Wendie Trubow, MD, MBA, IFMCP) introducing Kanna, a low-growing succulent native to southern Africa. The speaker describes Kanna as a natural serotonin reuptake inhibitor that also inhibits PDE4 and activates multiple receptors (GABA, opioid, cholecystokinin, melatonin). Reported benefits in this segment include mood-lifting, stress relief, nootropic effects (improved focus, memory, problem-solving), and a grounded increase in energy without caffeine.

Chapters

Pretend you're talking to me, the novice and all the listeners. What is Kanna? Absolutely. So Kanna is a beautiful little succulent plant that grows close to the ground, that's native to southern Africa. And it is a plant that is a natural serotonin reuptake inhibitor. So this is where its properties of lifting mood and relieving stress, all of that comes in. What's also really interesting is that it doesn't just act on the serotonergic system in our bodies, it also inhibits. It's an enzyme called PDE4. It also activates receptors for GABA, for opioids, for cholecystokinin, for melatonin, just to name a few. Because it has so many active alkaloids that's part of this plant. So, for example, besides the heart opening aspect, it also is a cognitive answer. So helping you with problem solving, memory, and all of this actually is documented in scientific studies. Another aspect, besides the nootropic aspect, helping you with focus and memory and problem Sol, it is also very helpful. Besides calming stress, it is also helpful for energy as well. Because it's a PDE4 inhibitor, it actually helps the body resource more energy, but in a very grounded way. So there's no caffeine at all in it.