Cannabinoids form the building blocks of the cannabis plant and over the past few years, an increasing number of studies have been carried out into the positive effects they can have on our health and wellbeing. Understanding cannabinoids can help you use CBD more effectively – here are four things you should know about cannabinoids, from what they are to why they are important.
What are cannabinoids?
Cannabinoids are chemicals which bind to receptors in the body. Our bodies have a natural endocannabinoids system which maintains homeostasis in our internal systems such as psychological processes, memory and appetite. There are different types of cannabinoids, some of which are psychoactive and some which are not. The most common types of cannabinoids are THC, CBD, CBN and CBG.
- CBD won’t get you high
CBD is a non-psychoactive compound so regardless of how you take it, from topical treatments to taking CBD isolate sublingually, you won’t get high from it. This is because it can’t trigger certain cannabinoid receptors in the body, so it’s safe to consume for a wide variety of conditions.
- THC caused ‘cannaphobia’
People still have a fear of cannabis and treat it as a harmful drug. It has been demonised as a danger to the health of people who use it, and its negative stigma has stuck around for decades. The reason is that THC is a psychoactive compound, so it induces a high. The media surrounding cannabis and THC is slowly starting to shift though, and studies are showing that there could be benefits to this particular cannabinoid as a medical prescription for certain ailments and conditions.
- CBN could be stronger than traditional antibiotics
There has been research into the powerful effects of CBN which point to positive research into its antibacterial effects. In certain studies, it was tested on strains of MRSA, which is notoriously difficult to treat. The CBN performed better than traditional antibiotics, providing hope that in the future it could be a useful tool in treating other conditions too, when more studies have been carried out into the effects it provides.
- CBG is one of the most expensive cannabinoids to source
Of all the cannabinoids known to be present in the cannabis plant, CBG is the most expensive and difficult to produce. The reason for this is because it is found in such small quantities that sourcing it is incredibly hard to do. It’s been dubbed the Rolls Royce of cannabinoids, because of the price it costs to produce. In fact, you’d need to extract 20 times the amount of biomass compared to CBD to get the same output.
Final thoughts
Understanding more about cannabinoids can help you to use them safely, from CBD to experimenting with other types of cannabinoids as further studies are carried out. If you’re new to the world of CBD, it’s a good idea to start off with a small dose and build your way up, as it affects people differently depending on how your body reacts and the way in which you take it.
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