Hemp is a powerful plant and one of the wellness features it is most well known for is the CBD that it contains, but CBD is only one of the compounds that it contains. CBD is great but by itself the effect doesn’t have the same power, using the whole hemp plant is where you find the most benefits, this is known as the entourage effect. For years people have been using whole plant medicine to get the most benefits out of the plants that they use. Today we are going to discuss another part of the hemp plant known as CBG or cannabigerol and we are going to look at what it has to offer.
What Are Cannabinoids and Phytocannabinoids?
The hemp plant (and all cannabis plants) contain compounds in their chemical structure known as cannabinoids that are part of the plant’s system, each cannabinoid plays a different role. For humans, these cannabinoids interact with receptors in the body that make up the endocannabinoid system, which is a regulatory part of the body that is responsible for balancing the systems in the body.
Phytocannabinoids are cannabinoids that are produced in the trichomes of the cannabis plant as opposed to being naturally produced within a human or animal body, so while hemp plants contain cannabinoids, they more specifically contain phytocannabinoids. The ones produced by the human body are cold endocannabinoids.
What is Cannabigerol or CBG?
Cannabigerol is one of the phytocannabinoids that are found in the trichomes of the hemp plant and is only found in small amounts in many strains of cannabis plants. Because cannabigerol makes up less than 1% in many strains it is considered one of the minor cannabinoids and is often overlooked due to this.
What Does Cannabigerol Do?
Cannabigerol may be considered a minor cannabinoid when it comes to the percentage that it makes up in cannabis plants but it plays an important role in the plant, CBG is the parent cannabinoid, helping to form many (if not all) other cannabinoids. CBGa is present in the hemp plant in its very early stages and as it grows the CBGa turns into the other cannabinoids in the plant’s system. In other words, it starts the process of the cannabinoids developing in the system, as the hemp plant continues to grow the compounds that CBG forms will continue to grow with the plant, eventually losing the acid that gives the compounds the “a” designator.
The role that CBG plays in the development of the other cannabinoids is a great example of how no one cannabinoid is more important than others, no matter what levels it is present in the body or the plant.
Scientists are still trying to find the exact roles that every cannabinoid plays in the body but we do know that CBG interacts with the endocannabinoid system in the body to help regulate the functions of the body in a positive way. It is also believed that CBG is responsible for some of the following effects: anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, anti-tumor, and other skin benefits. Similar to the way that the cannabinoids that our body produces interact with the body.
How Do We Use CBG?
It is important to recognize the importance that all cannabinoids play in the body and many people already have and are interested in using CBG as well as other cannabinoids, not just CBD. The good news is that some CBD oil already contains CBG, this oil is known as full-spectrum CBD or broad-spectrum CBD. The full or broad spectrum designator notes that the CBD has not had most or any of the compounds filtered out so that you get the entourage effect, or whole plant effect, from the CBD oil.
Something to keep in mind is that broad-spectrum will have the THC removed to ensure there is no psychoactive effect and that the products are legal to sell in the United States. Another thing to keep in mind is that because CBG is present in such low concentrations in the hemp plant that you need to have high-quality CBD oil to ensure that the CBG is extracted.
What Benefits Does Broad Spectrum CBD Oil Provide?
Research into CBD, CBG, and other cannabinoids still needs a fair amount of research as much of the research into the benefits is in initial stages or needs backing but even in its early stages, the research has shown a lot of benefits. Today we are going to look at some of the benefits that CBD oil can provide when it includes CBG and other cannabinoids.
Pain Relief
CBD oil and CBD creams have been used to help with pain for years now by people from around the world. CBD and CBG work with the endocannabinoid system to help the receptors in the body receive signals, one of the signals it helps to send is pain-relieving to help manage pain. Further, it acts as an anti-inflammatory which means that it helps to cut back on the inflammation that can often cause pain, especially inflammation from chronic conditions such as arthritis.
Finding alternatives for chronic pain is essential as many of the current treatments involve narcotics that you can easily get addicted to and CBD oil, including broad-spectrum CBD, is non-addictive and non-psychoactive, making it a great alternative.
Skin Benefits
Broad spectrum CBD oil and creams can provide benefits to your skin in a variety of ways. As we have already mentioned, CBD and CBG are both anti-inflammatories providing your skin the chance to return to a natural state. Some CBD products are even specifically marketed as CBD oil for inflammation. It is also believed that CBD and CBG can provide you with acne-fighting benefits. Another way that cannabinoids affect your skin is by boosting the immune system through working with the endocannabinoid system to help your body stop fighting itself, which helps to stop auto-immune-related skin disorders such as psoriasis and eczema.
Fighting Depression
One common use of CBD is CBD oil for depression that helps you to work against the symptoms of depression. Studies have shown that CBD oil can help to reduce depression by interacting with receptors in the body and by working with the neurological system. Cannabinoids also fight anxiety by interacting with the body and helping to calm the mind and by fighting anxiety you are also fighting depression. CBG also brings with it the potential to act as an antidepressant.
Reducing Epilepsy
Two types of epilepsy, Dravet Syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome are rare but serious conditions that affect children and are resistant to medication but both types respond well to cannabinoids. With this research in mind, the FDA approved the use of CBD for treating these two forms of epilepsy but so far only one company has been approved to create that CBD, and it is known as Epidiolex. This approval and this research is a start though and is promising, with one approval we are paving the road to having CBD recognized by the FDA for many of its benefits. In studies CBG has been found to block activity in certain parts of the brain which are related to seizures, thus potentially backing up the anti-convulsive effects of CBD. At this time though there is no direct evidence that CBG by itself will have any effect on seizures as far less research has gone into CBG as has gone into CBD.
A Great CBD Option
A great option for CBD products is Botanima Organics. Botanima Organics provides a variety of CBD tinctures that are broad-spectrum, harvesting many parts of the hemp plant to help our clients. Our broad-spectrum CBD includes CBG and other cannabinoids to help give you the most benefits possible.
CBD is often the only cannabinoid talked about when you hear the term CBD oil but quality CBD oil includes a variety of different cannabinoids, many of them bringing benefits to the table like those brought by CBG. When looking to get CBD oil make sure that you search for broad-spectrum CBD oil that brings with it all of the benefits of the whole plant. A great way to ensure that you are getting quality CBD oil that includes CBG and other cannabinoids is to make sure that the company has their product tested by an outside source that verifies the quality of the CBD.
