At the moment scientific research is showing great interest in the CBN or cannabidiol, a molecule that has demonstrated extraordinary CBN effects antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, painkillers, anticonvulsants and moreover it is a friend of relaxation! And in all this it does not have the psychotropic effects normally associated with THC, although it has beneficial effects if associated with it and with CBD. Cannabis is a plant that never ceases to amaze! Could CBN be the next ally for a cure based on legal therapeutic cannabis?
Cannabinoids what are they?
Cannabis is a plant very rich in cannabinoids, compounds that share the ability to interact with receptors naturally present in our body where cannabinoids work causing the well-known recreational, therapeutic and relaxing effects. The most well-known and most present natural cannabinoids in hemp buds are:
- Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which is the main one
- The cannabidiol CBD, which is also very present
- hexahydrocannabinol (HHC)
- Cannabinol CBN
There are then many others that are present in smaller quantities or are not yet particularly considered by science. It must be said that while THC and CBD are present in cannabis in large quantities and can be used naturally (even by selecting full CBD strains to grow) HHC and CBN are present in marijuana in very, very small quantities and usually have to be chemically extracted. Hence the potential and possible problems. The main difference between CBD and CBN what still leads us today to favor the first is that there is no need for any abstruse intervention to obtain it.
Cannabinol: How to Use and Extract It
What is CBN? and where does it come from? CBN is formed when THC is heated and exposed to oxygen, so to make our buds richer in CBN we would have to let them age in the heat for a long time. However, this would not be enough to give a visible effect. So the CBN that can be used is extracted in laboratory. It can also be extracted from cannabis resin or oil using solvent or CO2 extraction methods. Some people try to increase the amount of CBN in their smoke by using, for example, vaporizers which heat the THC.
cannabinol how it works
CBN goes haywire? No, but it has a number of positive effects on health. Let's see what is cannabinol used for according to recent scientific findings:
- Sedative against insomnia and anxiety, especially when combined with THC
- Anti-inflammatory, particularly useful in chronic conditions such as arthritis, colitis and multiple sclerosis
- Analgesic to relieve chronic and non-chronic pain and recover after training
- Neuroprotective: possible effects are being studied to counteract the neurodegeneration typical of dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
- Ally against glaucoma because it helps reduce intraocular pressure
- Anti-anorexigenic, useful for restoring appetite to those who suffer from stomach pain and loss of appetite
In short, for a single molecule, this is an extraordinary variety of therapeutic properties! This is why we must continue to study and understand What is CBN used for? It's so important to scientists.
What effect does CBN have when combined with CBD?
A question arises spontaneously at this point: if the extraordinary properties of CBN are so similar to those of CBD, why don't you just use CBD and that's it, which by the way can be obtained in a much simpler way?
In addition to the love of knowledge there is also a practical purpose. In the case of cannabis, researchers speak of entourage effect: in practice all the components naturally present in marijuana would interact with each other, strengthening each other. Nature often has more answers than we can have and sometimes science only serves to confirm the treasures that are already present in plants. We believe that the debated THC question is the main obstacle that still prevents the use of pure and simple cannabis for therapies.
In any case, the field of interaction between CBD and CBN is still all to be investigated and we are sure that the future will give us interesting results. For example, the CBN is more sedative and CBD more anxiolytic, so combining the two molecules could be interesting for the development of new drugs for relaxation and sleep.
