WHAT IS CBD?

I attended Natural Products Expo in early March and the hot product was definitely CBD. Even outside the expo, everyone seems to be talking about it. So what is CBD?

CBD is cannabidiol, a non-intoxicating cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant (both hemp and marijuana). CBD is one of the two major cannabinoids found in cannabis. The other major cannabinoid is THC.

 

 

CBD is found in more concentrated quantities in hemp than in marijuana. Conversely, marijuana contains high concentrations of THC, the intoxicating compound in cannabis.

Beyond CBD and THC, the cannabis plant produces 100+ other minor cannabinoids. Some of these cannabinoids include: CBC (cannabichromene), CBG (cannabigerol), CBN (cannabinol), THCV (tetrahyrdrocannabivarin), among others. There is less published research about the health benefits of these minor cannabinoids, but a lot of research has been done on CBD and THC.

WHAT IS FULL SPECTRUM CBD?

Full Spectrum CBD is a combination of CBD, other minor cannabinoids and usually terpenes. Full Spectrum CBD processing uses the whole plant to extract CBD and smaller ratios of cannabinoids like CBC, CBG, THC and THCV. These other cannabinoids may play a role in binding to our body’s endocannabinoid receptors, creating an entourage effect; however, research is still needed to determine the full effects of each cannabinoid’s role.

Full Spectrum CBD differs from CBD isolate. CBD isolate is solely pure CBD. Research indicates that the health benefits of isolated CBD are not as great as the health benefits of full spectrum CBD. But isolated CBD is beneficial for individuals who may be drug tested, because isolated CBD contains zero THC.

 

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF CBD?

 Everyone is talking about it, so what is the catch? What are the health benefits of CBD and what are the side-effects of CBD?

CBD interacts with our body’s endocannabinoid system. This endocannabinoid system is responsible for regulating homeostatic action in the body like mood, memory, appetite, thermoregulation and much more.

According to the World Health Organization, CBD is a non-addictive compound with therapeutic and medical benefit. Companies must be very careful to not make medical claims for CBD, so you will find that many companies are vague in their responses to the benefits.

However, the World Health Organization reported that CBD has medical benefit for epilepsy for drugs like Epidiolex. The World Health Organization also reported therapeutic benefits of CBD for 18 diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, Hypoxia-ischemia injury, Pain, Psychosis, Anxiety, Depression, Cancer, Nausea, Inflammatory diseases, Rheumatoid arthritis, Infection, Inflammatory bowl and Crohn’s disease, Cardiovascular diseases, and Diabetic complications. WHO also reported benefits for opioid, cocaine, psychostimulant, tobacco and marijuana addiction.

 

In addition, in 2003 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services became an assignee to patent 6,630,507 which states “cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants.” This patent specifically mentions “nonpsychoactive cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol, are particularly advantageous to use,” because there is no associated toxicity because it is non-intoxicating.

So what are the health benefits of CBD? There seem to be a multitude of health benefits; but more research is needed to fully understand the interactions with CBD and other cannabinoids within our body’s endocannabinoid system. We welcome you to visit our research library and visit PubMed to research the subject as well!

The side-effects can include fatigue and nausea.