WHOLE-PLANT MEDICINE

Greetings Ganja Yogis! In today’s blog, we’re talking about using whole-plant extraction methods for dabs and tinctures, versus extractions and isolates.

Greetings Ganja Yogis! In today’s blog, we’re talking about using whole-plant extraction methods for dabs and tinctures, versus extractions and isolates. We’ll learn what makes a product “whole plant,” and why these products are better.  So, grab your dab rig and let’s get into it!

To Begin, Let’s Do A Brief Tutorial On Whole-Plant Medicines And How They Are Created.

For dabbing, hash and rosin would be considered “whole plant,” and other extracts (shatter, budder, honey oil, etc), - would not.

Rosin Is Made By Compressing Cannabis Flowers Under Heat.

The glorious concentrated oil that gets squeezed out (the rosin) has the same ratios of terpenes and cannabinoids as the flower did. The only thing discarded is the (non-medicinal) plant matter, - the chlorophyll and cellulose.

Hash Is Also A Whole-Plant Product.

It’s made in a variety of ways, a common one is to freeze the cannabis flower, and then shake the plant, so the trichomes (the medicine-rich molecules from the flowers) fall off.

These concentrated oils are, like rosin, “whole plant,” - meaning, the ratios of terpenes, cannabinoids, and other elements, are the same. (Like with rosin, the only thing taken away was the cellulose and chlorophyll, which are not therapeutically helpful).

Extracts, On The Other Hand, Use Technology To “Pull Out” The Thc (Or Cbd) From The Plant. Oftentimes, Terpenes Are Added Back In. Not Whole-Plant.

In fact, most of the ratios are gone, even with the reintroduced terps.

This is not the cannabis our ancestors evolved with.

To Begin To Understand Why Whole-Plant Products Like Rosin And Hash Offer More Advantages Than An Isolated Product, We Can See Similar To The Benefits Observed In Nutrition.

In the past, our bodies were not accustomed to encountering isolated substances like ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Instead, we would obtain this vitamin from consuming fruits that were rich in Vitamin C, along with numerous secondary nutrients such as phytonutrients, flavonoids, and terpenes.

These additional compounds played a vital role in enhancing the absorption of vitamin C by our bodies, and we evolved to receive Vitamin C this way.

Modern Science Is Showing That Eating An Orange (“Whole Plant Medicine”) Allows Our Bodies To Absorb Vitamin C Far Better Than Taking A Vitamin C Supplement, Even If The Dose Of Vitamin C Was Higher In The Pill-Form.

This is because the other players (secondary nutrients) increase the bioavailability, or absorption rate. In the same way, increased bioavailability of cannabis medicine (and fewer adverse effects) comes not from extracting THC or CBD, but using the THC or CBD along with the other compounds that are found naturally in cannabis, - a benefit known as the entourage effect. 

More Than The Lead Guitarist

THC is indeed the most abundant cannabinoid in most strains of cannabis available today. 

For this reason, THC has mistakenly been called “the active ingredient” in cannabis.

This is a misconception. 

Just like the Vitamin C analogy above, it takes the whole band to make a song (or, to get the medicine).

We need CBD, other cannabinoids (even if in very small amounts), the terpenes, and the other elements. Being obsessed with THC for so long means we are only now learning the value of the other, equally “active,” molecules, and how they play a role in 
Increasing the positive aspect of the plant while reducing potential negatives. 

When the other cannabinoids are selectively bred out cannabis so the THC  “high” is stronger (which is what most cultivators have done until recently), we unwittingly open ourselves up potential for increased anxiety, the very thing we already have too much of in our world, - and (possibly) the very thing we’re using cannabis to treat.

Yikes!

So, How Do We Ensure The Concentrate We’re Dabbing (Or The Tincture We’re Using), Isn’t From An Isolated Cannabinoid, But A Whole-Band Performance?

Look for rosin and hash for dabbing, and hemp-based CBD tincture (versus an isolated CBD product).

And, (just so we’re clear, since we have done a lot of dabs today), - using whole plant medicine does not mean using the whole plant. Like, the stems, roots, seeds, - that’s not what we mean. Rather, it’s taking the molecule ratios and keeping them as they were when they existed in the plant, with nothing extracted or added back in.

I’m sure that was clear, but who knows? Better to be safe than sorry, haha. Ok, that’s all for today folks. Enjoy the day, the miracle of being alive, and the best organic rosin you can get your hands on! Until next time…

APPRECIATE YOU!
XO D.