There are many people today that have specific ailments and conditions that have decided to turn to cannabis as a medicinal aid. While some choose to make use of the entire cannabis plant and smoke it or vape it, others have chosen to only use the CBD.
CBD, or cannabidiol, is one of at least 144 different cannabinoids from the marijuana and hemp plant. There are many forms of this product available for people to try that are said to help with pain, inflammation, and for its antioxidant effects.
Another reason some choose CBD products instead of smoking or vaping marijuana is that they don’t want the tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC, because it makes you high. Even though CBD is the most commonly known cannabinoid that is non-intoxicating, another cannabinoid, cannabigerol (CBG) has recently begun to gain attention as a possible therapeutic product.
How Does CBGA Work Within Cannabis?
The chemistry of cannabis can be confusing if you are not scientifically minded. All of the cannabinoids within the cannabis plant are derived from cannabigerolic acid (CBGA). During the time the cannabis plant is maturing, the acidic form of CBG, (CBGA) is being converted into some amount of major cannabinoid precursors, THCA, CBDA, and CBCA. Any of the CBGA that is not used to convert into these precursors forms CBG through decarboxylation.
Due to the process of CBGA being used to form other cannabinoid precursors, in the end, actual CBG is found in small amounts. Since it has been discovered how valuable CBG can be as a medicinal product, specialists that breed cannabis have begun experimenting with crossbreeding and genetic manipulation of the plant to produce higher yields of CBG.
What Are The Benefits Of CBG?
Even though CBG is found in much smaller amounts in cannabis, it does provide some of the same benefits. Like CBD, CBG can also help with inflammation and pain. CBG is also thought to help slow the proliferation of various cancer cells. While these two cannabinoids have some similar benefits, they also have differences.
CBD has a fairly low affinity for cannabinoid receptors. It acts mostly with indirect interactions with the human endocannabinoid system. On the other hand, CBG is thought to provide its therapeutic effects by directly interacting with the CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors in the human brain.
The cannabinoid THC in cannabis provides its psychoactive effects, or high, by interacting with these cannabinoid receptors as well, but it can also produce a feeling of paranoia that many people dislike. CBG is thought to help alleviate the paranoid feelings that can come with consuming high levels of THC.
While there have not yet been nearly as many studies on CBG as there has been with other cannabinoids like THC and CBD, there have been some early studies that suggest CBG may be helpful with conditions like glaucoma, Huntingdon’s disease, and killing drug resisting bacteria like MRSA, besides just helping with inflammation and tumor growth.
With further studies, these benefits could be vitally important to anyone that suffer from these conditions. Every new medicine that combats disease safely is a good thing for the patient.
