Cannabis, or what is more widely known as marijuana and hemp, is a much more complex plant than anyone ever gave it credit for until recent years. It has psychological and medicinal benefits that those from long ago might have known about, but only in modern-day has its make-up been broken down and analyzed so meticulously.
Although Cannabis has been used for thousands of years and longer to aid in many ailments of the body and mind, modern science has finally begun to catch up with what distant ancestry already knew. The plant is valuable for so many different things, it is really hard to name them all.
What is a Cannabinoid?
If you are an old hand at using cannabis for recreational and medicinal purposes, then you likely already know what the cannabinoids in the cannabis plant are. However, if you are new to using cannabis, you might still be in the dark about exactly how the different components of the plant work.
The most commonly known cannabinoids are THC and CBD. The THC in a marijuana plant is what makes you high. It delivers the psychological effects. The CBD cannabinoids in both the marijuana and hemp plant, a cousin to marijuana, deliver the CBD cannabinoids that help with most medicinal effects.
Another of the major cannabinoids of the hemp and marijuana plants that was discovered almost fifty years ago is cannabichromene. It is abbreviated as CBC. It is most known for its medicinal purposes, mostly related to pain. THC, CBD, and CBC all stem from cannabigerolic acid, otherwise known as CBGA.
How Does CBC Work?
In the cannabinoid CBC, you will not get an intoxicating effect as you will with THC. CBC binds poorly to CB1 cannabinoid receptors in the human brain, so it is non-intoxicating. However, it does bind very well with other receptors in the brain such as vanilloid receptor 1 (TRPV1), as well as the transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1). Both of these receptors are linked to the body’s pain perception. The body will release increased levels of endocannabinoids such as anandamide when CBC activates these receptors.
CBC is also a cannabinoid that is thought to interact with other cannabinoids to work synergistically to produce what is referred to as the “entourage effect”. This means that multiple cannabinoids working together will create a more beneficial effect than when they work alone.
Potential Medical Benefits of CBC
Since cannabichromene has a great interaction with the body’s natural endocannabinoid, anandamide, it is thought to perhaps be a powerful cancer fighter. It is thought that CBC appears to inhibit the uptake of anandamide which allows it to remain longer in the bloodstream.
Recent studies in mice involving tumor growth have been shown to have a positive effect on inhibiting both tumor growth and inflammation. Anandamide has been reported to combat breast cancer in vitro and Vivo. This signifies that some cannabinoids along with CBC could one day be an agent that could.
