CBD has become the buzzword of the natural
health world as this cannabis-derived compound has been shown by researchers to
be capable of helping with all kinds of symptoms such as headaches and chronic
stress. We know that CBD is a
cannabinoid of which the hemp plant has many.
We also know that CBD is the leading cannabinoid found in the hemp
plant, meaning that it’s the most abundant.
There’s another cannabinoid found in
cannabis that many of us are familiar with, and it’s THC. Most of us know THC as the cannabinoid that
makes marijuana illegal. This is because
THC has psychoactive properties, which means that it makes people high when
they consume it. However, THC is so much
more than that, as you’ll soon find out.
As it turns out, this psychoactive compound also has its own potential
healing properties, and it’s possible that people can reap its benefits when
they take it in small doses.
Today, we’ll be talking about THC as it’s
a widely misunderstood plant compound.
As you’ll see, there is definitely a case for adding THC to your daily
regimen. And, by the end of this
article, you’ll know exactly how to use this cannabinoid to your advantage.
THC Basics
Tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly known
as THC, is a cannabinoid that exists in the cannabis plant. Only the cannabis plant has this
compound. In fact, all cannabinoids are
unique to the cannabis plant.
Cannabinoids are fascinating because they feed the endocannabinoid
system that is found in the body of every mammal. This can provide unique health benefits to
the body, and we will be discussing that more later.
We know that marijuana is illegal on a
federal level because of its high level of THC.
As a psychoactive compound, THC can make a person high. Marijuana is a different plant from hemp,
however, despite the fact that they both belong to the cannabis family. While the marijuana plant contains a lot of
THC, the hemp plant only has 0.3 percent, and this amount is far too low to
produce psychoactive effects.
Is THC Considered Safe?
Scientists believe that THC is not
dangerous. This has to do with the way
in which cannabinoids interact with the human body. It’s believed that cannabinoids are nontoxic
to humans, and so taking a high dose of any cannabinoid will not actually put a
person’s life at risk. There is no
evidence that a person can overdose on THC in the traditional sense, although
taking too high of an amount can cause a person to become unpleasantly intoxicated. In large doses, THC can interfere with
cognitive function and motor skills, although this is very temporary. THC can also make some people feel
uncomfortably drowsy.
The thing is that, as we said, there’s
only about 0.3 percent THC in the hemp plant.
This means that taking a hemp extract will not give you nearly enough
THC to produce the potentially unpleasant side effects of taking a high dose of
the cannabinoid. And, it’s believed that
even 0.3 percent THC can be enough to provide a user with the potential
benefits of THC.
Isn’t It Illegal to Take CBD?
The government’s relationship with THC is
a bit complicated. Marijuana, as we
said, is illegal federally. However,
many states have legalized recreational marijuana use, and even more have
allowed for the use of medical marijuana.
Hemp, unlike marijuana, is legal on a federal level, and that’s because
hemp contains such a small amount of THC.
How THC is Made
If you have been taking full spectrum CBD
for a while, you’ve been consuming THC without knowing it. Full spectrum CBD is simply a hemp
concentrate that was produced via running the hemp plant material through an
extraction process. CBD manufacturers
carefully extract the compounds out of the plant material using special methods
that don’t damage the unique properties of the compounds.
Interestingly, THC can be isolated from
the other compounds, as can all compounds in the hemp plant. So, in theory, it is possible to produce a
highly concentrated extract containing just THC.
Potential Benefits of THC
THC has gotten a bad rap over the years
because of the fact that it can make people high. Only recently have scientists begun to study
the compound for its potential benefits to a person’s health. Fascinatingly, we now know that THC has the
unique potential to help with a lot of different common symptoms. This is why medical marijuana can be so
useful.
See, we now know that each cannabinoid
that naturally exists in the cannabis plant has its own potential
benefits. While CBD is renowned for its
many potential benefits, THC may be able to provide some help in ways that CBD
cannot, which is why many people prefer to take the two cannabinoids together
in the form of a whole plant extract.
Researchers are
currently studying the many different potential benefits of consuming THC. Currently, THC is being studied for its
potential effects on epilepsy, a condition that causes chronic, potentially
dangerous seizures. And, some
researchers are even testing the potential benefits that THC can offer to HIV
patients. Even more fascinatingly, a
recent study showed that THC may be able to slow down the growth of cancer
cells when combined with the other cannabinoids that naturally exist in the
cannabis plant. The study found that
when mice that had cancer were given cannabis, the plant offered anti-cancer
properties.
Another possible benefit of THC that seems to be unique to this
compound is that it may improve one’s appetite. There are many conditions that can cause a
person to lose their appetite, and a complete loss of appetite can be dangerous
as it can lead to clinical anorexia.
Other studies show that THC may be able to boost CBD’s potential pain-relieving
properties.
THC and How It Works with Your Body’s
Endocannabinoid System
Maybe you’ve read about the
endocannabinoid system when learning about CBD.
As we said earlier, the endocannabinoid system takes cannabinoids and
sends them to cannabinoid receptors that are found throughout the body. The endocannabinoid system’s job is to help
the body maintain homeostasis, and so it uses cannabinoids to regulate bodily
systems and processes including immune function, mood and pain levels. These cannabinoid receptors exist in the
skin, the brain, the digestive tract and more.
CBD, THC and every other cannabinoid is therefore utilized by the
endocannabinoid system to provide potential relief to someone who is dealing
with a unique set of symptoms.
The body is capable of producing its own
cannabinoids, but many of us are naturally deficient. Plant-derived cannabinoids are referred to as
phytocannabinoids, and when we consume them, the endocannabinoid system perceives
them as cannabinoids produced by the body, and so it uses them accordingly.
Full Spectrum CBD and the Entourage Effect
CBD and THC are only two of the many
compounds that are found in the cannabis plant.
There are many, many compounds, including additional cannabinoids as
well as terpenes, which are potentially beneficial compounds that exist in the
essential oils of all plants. Now, we
talk a lot about CBD, but we have to bear in mind that there may be benefits to
consuming all of the cannabis compounds at one time.
The entourage effect refers to the
fascinating way in which every cannabis compound seems to boost the
effectiveness of the other compounds when they are all consumed together at the
same time. This is why full spectrum
hemp extracts are so popular. Full
spectrum hemp extracts, also known as full spectrum CBD, is a concentrate that
contains every compound that exists in the hemp plant. While there’s only 0.3 percent THC in a hemp
extract, it seems that taking that THC combined with every other plant compound
activates the unique, potent benefits of the cannabinoid.
How to Reap the Potential Benefits of THC
Essentially, there are two ways to take
THC: full spectrum, hemp-derived CBD, and marijuana. Now, if you have a medical marijuana
prescription or you live in a state in which recreational marijuana has been
legalized, you can consume THC using either type of product. But, if marijuana is illegal where you are,
you can still reap the potential benefits of CBD by taking a full spectrum CBD
product.
Like we said, full spectrum CBD contains a
small amount of THC, but researchers believe that even that small amount can
provide potential benefits thanks to the entourage effect.
THC is More than a Psychoactive Compound
that Makes People High
This plant compound is actually capable of
providing powerful benefits when consumed in the right manner. If you want to add THC to your daily regimen,
we recommend searching for a full spectrum CBD product as this will contain THC
and other cannabinoids that are unique to the hemp plant. Now that the hemp plant has become so
popular, we anticipate seeing many more illuminating studies regarding the
potentially positive effects of THC in the near future.
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