A Real In-Depth Look at THC

CBD has become the buzzword of the natural health world as this cannabis-derived compound has been shown by researchers to be capable of helping with all kinds of symptoms such as headaches and chronic stress. We know that CBD is a cannabinoid of which the hemp plant has many. We also know that CBD is the leading cannabinoid found in the hemp plant, meaning that it’s the most abundant.

There’s another cannabinoid found in cannabis that many of us are familiar with, and it’s THC. Most of us know THC as the cannabinoid that makes marijuana illegal. This is because THC has psychoactive properties, which means that it makes people high when they consume it. However, THC is so much more than that, as you’ll soon find out. As it turns out, this psychoactive compound also has its own potential healing properties, and it’s possible that people can reap its benefits when they take it in small doses.

Today, we’ll be talking about THC as it’s a widely misunderstood plant compound. As you’ll see, there is definitely a case for adding THC to your daily regimen. And, by the end of this article, you’ll know exactly how to use this cannabinoid to your advantage.

THC Basics

Tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly known as THC, is a cannabinoid that exists in the cannabis plant. Only the cannabis plant has this compound. In fact, all cannabinoids are unique to the cannabis plant. Cannabinoids are fascinating because they feed the endocannabinoid system that is found in the body of every mammal. This can provide unique health benefits to the body, and we will be discussing that more later.

We know that marijuana is illegal on a federal level because of its high level of THC. As a psychoactive compound, THC can make a person high. Marijuana is a different plant from hemp, however, despite the fact that they both belong to the cannabis family. While the marijuana plant contains a lot of THC, the hemp plant only has 0.3 percent, and this amount is far too low to produce psychoactive effects.

Is THC Considered Safe?

Scientists believe that THC is not dangerous. This has to do with the way in which cannabinoids interact with the human body. It’s believed that cannabinoids are nontoxic to humans, and so taking a high dose of any cannabinoid will not actually put a person’s life at risk. There is no evidence that a person can overdose on THC in the traditional sense, although taking too high of an amount can cause a person to become unpleasantly intoxicated. In large doses, THC can interfere with cognitive function and motor skills, although this is very temporary. THC can also make some people feel uncomfortably drowsy.

The thing is that, as we said, there’s only about 0.3 percent THC in the hemp plant. This means that taking a hemp extract will not give you nearly enough THC to produce the potentially unpleasant side effects of taking a high dose of the cannabinoid. And, it’s believed that even 0.3 percent THC can be enough to provide a user with the potential benefits of THC.

Isn’t It Illegal to Take CBD?

The government’s relationship with THC is a bit complicated. Marijuana, as we said, is illegal federally. However, many states have legalized recreational marijuana use, and even more have allowed for the use of medical marijuana. Hemp, unlike marijuana, is legal on a federal level, and that’s because hemp contains such a small amount of THC.

How THC is Made

If you have been taking full spectrum CBD for a while, you’ve been consuming THC without knowing it. Full spectrum CBD is simply a hemp concentrate that was produced via running the hemp plant material through an extraction process. CBD manufacturers carefully extract the compounds out of the plant material using special methods that don’t damage the unique properties of the compounds.

Interestingly, THC can be isolated from the other compounds, as can all compounds in the hemp plant. So, in theory, it is possible to produce a highly concentrated extract containing just THC.

Potential Benefits of THC

THC has gotten a bad rap over the years because of the fact that it can make people high. Only recently have scientists begun to study the compound for its potential benefits to a person’s health. Fascinatingly, we now know that THC has the unique potential to help with a lot of different common symptoms. This is why medical marijuana can be so useful.

See, we now know that each cannabinoid that naturally exists in the cannabis plant has its own potential benefits. While CBD is renowned for its many potential benefits, THC may be able to provide some help in ways that CBD cannot, which is why many people prefer to take the two cannabinoids together in the form of a whole plant extract.

Researchers are currently studying the many different potential benefits of consuming THC. Currently, THC is being studied for its potential effects on epilepsy, a condition that causes chronic, potentially dangerous seizures. And, some researchers are even testing the potential benefits that THC can offer to HIV patients. Even more fascinatingly, a recent study showed that THC may be able to slow down the growth of cancer cells when combined with the other cannabinoids that naturally exist in the cannabis plant. The study found that when mice that had cancer were given cannabis, the plant offered anti-cancer properties.

Another possible benefit of THC that seems to be unique to this compound is that it may improve one’s appetite. There are many conditions that can cause a person to lose their appetite, and a complete loss of appetite can be dangerous as it can lead to clinical anorexia. Other studies show that THC may be able to boost CBD’s potential pain-relieving properties.

THC and How It Works with Your Body’s Endocannabinoid System

Maybe you’ve read about the endocannabinoid system when learning about CBD. As we said earlier, the endocannabinoid system takes cannabinoids and sends them to cannabinoid receptors that are found throughout the body. The endocannabinoid system’s job is to help the body maintain homeostasis, and so it uses cannabinoids to regulate bodily systems and processes including immune function, mood and pain levels. These cannabinoid receptors exist in the skin, the brain, the digestive tract and more. CBD, THC and every other cannabinoid is therefore utilized by the endocannabinoid system to provide potential relief to someone who is dealing with a unique set of symptoms.

The body is capable of producing its own cannabinoids, but many of us are naturally deficient. Plant-derived cannabinoids are referred to as phytocannabinoids, and when we consume them, the endocannabinoid system perceives them as cannabinoids produced by the body, and so it uses them accordingly.

Full Spectrum CBD and the Entourage Effect

CBD and THC are only two of the many compounds that are found in the cannabis plant. There are many, many compounds, including additional cannabinoids as well as terpenes, which are potentially beneficial compounds that exist in the essential oils of all plants. Now, we talk a lot about CBD, but we have to bear in mind that there may be benefits to consuming all of the cannabis compounds at one time.

The entourage effect refers to the fascinating way in which every cannabis compound seems to boost the effectiveness of the other compounds when they are all consumed together at the same time. This is why full spectrum hemp extracts are so popular. Full spectrum hemp extracts, also known as full spectrum CBD, is a concentrate that contains every compound that exists in the hemp plant. While there’s only 0.3 percent THC in a hemp extract, it seems that taking that THC combined with every other plant compound activates the unique, potent benefits of the cannabinoid.

How to Reap the Potential Benefits of THC

Essentially, there are two ways to take THC: full spectrum, hemp-derived CBD, and marijuana. Now, if you have a medical marijuana prescription or you live in a state in which recreational marijuana has been legalized, you can consume THC using either type of product. But, if marijuana is illegal where you are, you can still reap the potential benefits of CBD by taking a full spectrum CBD product.

Like we said, full spectrum CBD contains a small amount of THC, but researchers believe that even that small amount can provide potential benefits thanks to the entourage effect.

THC is More than a Psychoactive Compound that Makes People High

This plant compound is actually capable of providing powerful benefits when consumed in the right manner. If you want to add THC to your daily regimen, we recommend searching for a full spectrum CBD product as this will contain THC and other cannabinoids that are unique to the hemp plant. Now that the hemp plant has become so popular, we anticipate seeing many more illuminating studies regarding the potentially positive effects of THC in the near future.