Cannabinoids: More Than a Buzzword

Becoming a confident cannabis consumer means understanding how and why the plant affects you the way it does. The intoxicating and medicinal aspects to pot can be attributed to cannabinoids: molecular compounds found within many plants and produced naturally in the body.

Just over a hundred (that we know of) are found exclusively in the marijuana plant, most famously THC and CBD, and so far it has the highest abundance of cannabinoids. Phytocannabinoids (those specifically found in plants) are also found in other botanicals like clove and echinacea.

Plants and botanicals (such as our girl, Mary Jane) are rich in these cannabinoids. Within every human body lives what’s called an Endocannabinoid System (or ECS for short). Cannabinoids engage with our ECS, which regulates how our body relaxes, eats, sleeps, forgets, and protect itself. Essentially, our bodies own system to harmonize. Depending on your body’s unique predisposition or physiological state, different cannabinoids (and doses) may have varying influences from person to person.

So what does this all mean? How can we apply this knowledge to build, and ultimately regulate our personal cannabis experience? Let’s bring it back to the self-audit tools from last week. Now that you’re getting used to tuning into your own rhythm, let’s have some fun.

First, it’s important you know what cannabinoids you’re putting in your body. CBD? THC? THCV? When purchasing, be on the lookout for ingredients, their source, and ideally testing information. If you know the strain name, put it into google and see what you learn. That said, while the internet can provide general parameters of strains and their effects, the sad truth is that the Blue Dream you get from one grower could have very different genetic makeup than a Blue Dream from another producer. Because when has the internet ever mislead us, right…?

Quality brands in a regulated market will be happy, excited even, to share with you all their testing information. Beware of those who aren’t, or ghost your request. Feeling good about what you’re putting in your body is a great place to start. Most test results will outline prominent terpenes (more on these later), which are the best indication of the effects you can expect from any given strain.

Calling back on the self audit we did last week, before you consume, run a scan to check in with yourself before getting started. For the Journalers out there, track the cannabinoids you're consuming, the dosage, and how you feel before and after. If you’re not a Journaler, no stress. You don’t need to record this info, but it’s really a prelude to finding ways cannabis can work for you, to be mindful of your consumption experiences.