CBD Isolate vs Full-Spectrum (Part 1) - Impact on effects you experience
Part 1: How Do Full Spectrum CBD Products Impact Your Health?
While CBD does show promising medical applications in isolation, science suggests that many of the medical effects from hemp CBD products might come from the combined action of CBD, THC, other minor cannabinoids, and terpenes all working together to reach new targets and amplify the effects of one another.
Dr. Ethan Russo, one of the foremost cannabinoid researchers of the era, describes what’s known as the “Entourage Effect” of cannabis and hemp in the following widely-cited studies:
“Taming THC: Potential Cannabis Synergy and Phytocannabinoid-Terpenoid Entourage Effects”
“Cannabis Pharmacology: The Usual Suspects and a Few Promising Leads”
The Entourage Effect is a proposed theory that the combined effects of the cannabinoids, terpenes, and other active ingredients may produce greater therapeutic effects + benefits from full spectrum CBD at similar or even lower doses of full spectrum products than isolated cannabinoids would be capable of producing on their own.
There might even be other active compounds in hemp beyond cannabinoids and terpenes that science has not yet identified!
Therefore, consuming a CBD product or hemp edible that is as close to the full chemical makeup of the original plant material as possible is more likely to provide the chance for additional benefits from this range of active compounds.
Reference 1: Similarity of Endocannabinoids & Phytocannabinoids
What The Science Says
As you can see in Reference Image 1 & 2 at right, the cannabinoids of hemp very closely mimic the shapes not only of one another, but of natural chemicals produced inside our own bodies called Endocannabinoids.
Reference 2: Similarity of THC & CBD Structure
The body’s natural Endocannabinoids (called Anandamide & 2-AG) and the similarly-shaped hemp Phytocannabinoids THC and CBD respectively are able to bind and interact with our body’s Endocannabinoid System, or ECS receptors.
These receptors are located throughout the body on a wide range of tissues (as seen below in reference image 3) allowing the ECS to help maintain healthy balance of vital body functions.
Stimulation & balance of the ECS has been identified by the studies cited above and below as a target for relieving a wide range of symptoms shared by common ailments.
Reference 3: Distribution of ECS receptors in the body tissues
Image Credit: Osher Center for Integrative Medicine
Dr. Russo and his colleagues in cannabinoid research even suggest that chronic deficiency of the body’s Endocannabinoid levels might be responsible for many treatment-resistant illnesses for which cannabinoids have been identified as possible effective medicines.
Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency’s role in common illnesses is explored at length in Dr. Russo’s two-part scientific review of the topic:
“Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency”, published 2008
“Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency Reconsidered”, published 2016
As cannabinoid and hemp research expands exponentially in the 2020s, we are discovering more about how full spectrum cannabinoid preparations might have a role in reducing the effective dose needed for not only cannabinoids, but even for more traditional pharmaceutical drugs like opioids and analgesic pain medications.
These two cannabinoid studies from 2020 & 2021 provide current insights into the possibility of Entourage Effect synergies in hemp & cannabis providing more therapeutic benefits from lower medication doses, and often with fewer side effects:
“Cannabis-based medicines and pain: a review of potential synergistic and entourage effects”, Anand et al., Pain Management
“Antiseizure effects of the cannabinoids in the amygdala-kindling model”, Fallah et al., Epilepsia
Scientific research into the Entourage Effects of cannabinoids and terpenes is expected to grow in popularity now that the DEA has opened up access for scientists to use research material with more Full Spectrum chemical diversity, so stay tuned for updates in this arena!
Now that you know the difference between CBD Isolate vs Full Spectrum CBD products + the benefits of Full Spectrum hemp product Entourage Effects, the last piece of the CBD product infusion puzzle is learning how to tell CBD products apart before you try them!
Check out the last part of this series for tips on how to tell Full-Spectrum CBD products from CBD Isolate.
Read on for more…
(Part 2) CBD Isolate vs Full-Spectrum - How to verify a product
Sources Cited
Russo EB. Taming THC: potential cannabis synergy and phytocannabinoid-terpenoid entourage effects. Br J Pharmacol. 2011 Aug; 163(7): 1344–1364.
Russo EB, Marcu J. Cannabis Pharmacology: The Usual Suspects and a Few Promising Leads. Adv Pharmacol. 2017;80:67-134.
Russo EB. Cannabis Therapeutics and the Future of Neurology. Front Integr Neurosci. 2018; 12: 51. ePub 2018 Oct 18.
Russo EB. Clinical endocannabinoid deficiency (CECD): can this concept explain therapeutic benefits of cannabis in migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and other treatment-resistant conditions? Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2008 Apr;29(2):192-200.
Russo EB. Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency Reconsidered: Current Research Supports the Theory in Migraine, Fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowel, and Other Treatment-Resistant Syndromes. Cannabis Cannabinoid Res. 2016 Jul 1;1(1):154-165. doi: 10.1089/can.2016.0009. eCollection 2016.
Anand et al. Cannabis-based medicines and pain: a review of potential synergistic and entourage effects. Pain Management. 11 Mar 2021 https://doi.org/10.2217/pmt-2020-0110
Fallah MS. et al. Antiseizure effects of the cannabinoids in the amygdala-kindling model. Epilepsia. 2021 Jul 12. doi: 10.1111/epi.16973.Online ahead of print.