CBD is all around the place these days – you have it sold in most of its forms in pharmacies, dispensaries, online stores, and head shops. Said forms include capsules, CBD oil, honey sticks, gummies, topical, and vapes. The one common thing in all of these is the high amounts of cannabidiol. Plus the CBD content comes with its own slew of health benefits.
Almost everybody has read up on – and knows sufficiently well – these touted benefits, but there are still a few things not everyone knows about CBD. Let’s take a look at a bunch of those.
It Can Be Extracted From Marijuana As Well As Hemp
Most people think all CBD is sourced from a single species of cannabis, but both marijuana and hemp can produce CBD. The former has higher amounts of THC, and there’s a growing market for that. Hemp, meanwhile, is federally legal, and hemp strains grow faster and in less controlled environments.
There Are Marijuana Strains With High CBD Content
One word: cross-breeding. While most strains of marijuana are low in CBD and high in THC, there are strains with opposite ratios as well. You can find a 2:1, 5:1, 10:1, or even 20:1 ratio. The more CBD a strain contains, the less intoxicating its effects would be. You can even get CBD oil without THC.
CBD Is Just One Among the 115 Cannabinoids Found In Cannabis
CBD is well known as a powerful cannabinoid, but it’s hardly the only one in the cannabis plant. To date, researchers have found 115, and findings hint at more undiscovered ones. CBD simply happens to be the second most abundant one in the bunch. There are several cannabinoids that occur in trace amounts, each with health benefits and the ability to improve THC and CBD efficacy.
CBD From Any Source Is Still CBD
Pure CBD can’t get you high, even if it’s been sourced from marijuana. This is because CBD’s molecular structure is a definite way. You can get it from a selectively-bred marijuana strain, or from hemp processed by dry weight; the moment you isolate it from either, it becomes standard CBD.
CBD Efficacy Is Affected By Other Hemp Compounds
CBD’s efficacy is often found to be less when it’s taken alone, as opposed to alongside phytonutrients present in hemp. This has to do with something called the “entourage effect”, which is a self-explanatory term. The entourage effects basically allow CBD to reach its full potential.