Feels like we’re living on the edge of the edge these days. With all the craziness continuing to seemingly escalate in most parts of our world, shifting life like never before, stress levels are escalating to high levels. It seems we have no sense of what’s real, solid or even simi ‘normal’ anymore, all lines have been crossed and our world has been turned inside out, and upside down, to say the least..
Even my stress levels are being challenged and I run and meditate everyday. However, I noticed still, over this Covid Virus time, while we’ve had to stay indoors everyday, our immune systems became more compromised from the lack of sunshine and freedoms from our outdoorand life connections. What’s compromised and overwhelmed most of us even more is the constant bombardment of so much mis-information, fear and hate…As if CV wasn’t enough to cripple our country. And then came part 2 of this insanity ‘The intentional death of George Floyd, a human, murdered intentionally in our face. How can we take anymore inhumane treatment from those who are ruling our lives… No More Human Abuse, No More Lies, No more Insane control…,Now we stand and fight collectively for our human rights..
With Game on – we want to be ready! We know if we want to step our game up, we need to be and stay healthy. Now, I am not one who turns to meds when or if I have the flu, or anything that might seem not normal with my body. I’m a precautionary person when it comes to my health. I’m just saying I’ve been a healthy hemp girl for many moons now and in today’s world, health is wealth! So, I now turn to grandma’s life restoring remedies that seem to work every time, Organic Chicken for the Soul, with Herbal Sufi’s!.
ORGANIC Chicken stuffed with Herbs & Cannabis – YUMMMM for the SOUL!
The Recipe
HerbalSufi Cannabis & Organic Chicken recipe is sure to melt your taste buds and soothe your soul. Anyone can do this with a crock pot, organic chicken, a few veggies, herbs and some fresh cannabis leaves… And if you like, a side of brown rice makes this meal twice as delicious…First the savory taste of succulent baked chicken and herbs mixed with a few of your favorite veggies, served with rice and a green leafy salad with cannabis leaves as well, refreshingly delish. Day two, this becomes Herbal Chicken & Rice soup – best soup ever! The Cannabis leaves give this blend a rich savory flavor of the wild with the nutrients of the plant which is good for us and our wellbeing.
Cannabis is essential to our endocrine system, which balances our immune system – We each have cannabinoid receptors throughout our body’s organs and immune system. When fed cannabinoids our body begins to restore itself back to homeostasis of balance, naturally!
Not sure if you’ve been keeping current on how essential cannabinoids are for our endocrine systems which regulates our immune system, but our Government actually deemed it Essential in many states over this CV time. (it seems there are still a few brain cells still firing in that Gov. system)…anyway. Cannabis is Essential by Chris Kilham, a Notable in the Plant Wellness industry, explains why!
Personally we have deemed Cannabis / Hemp essential in our homes. Knowing ‘whole plant cannabis’ is full spectrum, containing whole plant nutrients, including CBD, THC, CBN and all the other terpenes, consuming the entire cannabis plant is where restoration begins.
Herbal Sufi Organic Chicken for the Soul
You’ll need a Crockpot and a few other things you probably have in your fridge or garden! If not there’s always Trader Joe’s or a Farmers Market near by.
1 Whole Fresh Organic Chicken
Veggie Options
Mushrooms
Garlic – minced or whole (pealed)
Onion
And whatever else you may desire, everything cooks easy in the crockpot!
Herbs
Cannabis leaves – between 10 and 15 leaves or a few tops
Use the fresh leaves or Herbal tops intuitively!
Basil – 10 leaves
Rosmery – handful
Thyme – to taste – I use a few fresh
Ginger – a small piece – but not to small – use your intuition about a ½ piece
Lemon – squeeze 1 whole lemon onto the chicken before you cover it
Creation Instructions:
15 to 20 minutes to prepare
4 to 5 hours in the Crock’er on high
I recommend you do this in the AM – at least by 11is – it’ll be good to go by 5 – it could be a little sooner and the purpose of the crock is, how slow can we go! haha
In the Beginning
Wash your organic chicken well in cold water
You’ll want organic because you’re worth the non-chemical feeding of our body, soul, experience.
Dripdry the checkin out over the sink while rubbing some good hymilain salt over its full body, including inside.
Chop and mix all herbs – add 1 teaspoon of sesame seed oil to this, blend and put into the cavity of the chicken – it’s not going to fill it – it’s going to add a world of flavoring.
Cut veggies to bite size
Stuff Chicken with herbs
Put in CropPot
Fill bottom along the sides of the chicken with ⅛ cup of water, just covering the bottom – The chicken and veggies will create all their own juices
Add Veggies around the sides of the chicken in the crockpot –
Add your one special MMJ or HEMP LEAF to the middle, take a picture and share it with the world, or at least us. HempingtonPost proudly supports all things Cannabis.
*We found out how many plants we can grow per household and planted our four. Already we are juicing and cooking with the leaves every day, highly recommended. With this in mind – may your days be filled with good will as the world turns trying to figure out how we can move forward collectively…? I say, FREE the Plant and Educate the Humans to take care of their Soul and Soul connections first. Together We Grow!
Contact me directly for personally with your questions and more cannabis recipes…
Next Juicing with Cannabis – it’s amazingly delicious and off the charts healthy –
Scientists believe cannabis could help prevent and treat coronavirus By Lee Brown
This is the most exciting news to wake to this Friday May 22nd, 2020, coming straight from the highly revered NYPOST –
They have high hopes for a coronavirus breakthrough.
A team of Canadian scientists believes it has found strong strains of cannabis that could help prevent or treat coronavirus infections, according to interviews and a study.
Researchers from the University of Lethbridge said a study in April showed at least 13 cannabis plants were high in CBD that appeared to affect the ACE2 pathways that the bug uses to access the body.
“We were totally stunned at first, and then we were really happy,” one of the researchers, Olga Kovalchuk, told CTV News.
The results, printed in online journal Preprints, indicated hemp extracts high in CBD may help block proteins that provide a “gateway” for COVID-19 to enter host cells.
Kovalchuk’s husband, Igor, suggested cannabis could reduce the virus’ entry points by up to 70 percent. “Therefore, you have more chance to fight it,” he told CTV.
“Our work could have a huge influence — there aren’t many drugs that have the potential of reducing infection by 70 to 80 percent,” he told the Calgary Herald.
While they stressed that more research was needed, the study gave hope that the cannabis, if proven to modulate the enzyme, “may prove a plausible strategy for decreasing disease susceptibility” as well as “become a useful and safe addition to the treatment of COVID-19 as an adjunct therapy.”
Cannabis could even be used to “develop easy-to-use preventative treatments in the form of mouthwash and throat gargle products,” the study suggested, with a “potential to decrease viral entry” through the mouth.
“The key thing is not that any cannabis you would pick up at the store will do the trick,” Olga told CTV, with the study suggesting just a handful of more than 800 varieties of sativa seemed to help.
All were high in anti-inflammatory CBD — but low in THC, the part that produces the cannabis high.
The study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, was carried out in partnership with Pathway Rx, a cannabis therapy research company, and Swysh Inc., a cannabinoid-based research company.
The researchers are seeking funding to continue their efforts to support scientific initiatives to address COVID-19.
“While our most effective extracts require further large-scale validation, our study is crucial for the future analysis of the effects of medical cannabis on COVID-19,” the research said.
“Given the current dire and rapidly evolving epidemiological situation, every possible therapeutic opportunity and avenue must be considered.”
Editor’s note: ‘Please note, full spectrum Cannabis with THC can be even more powerful for deep balancing of our endocannabinoid system which balances the endocrine system while reigniting our immune system. Cannabis has been used for thousands of years as the go to herb throughout the world. It has been less than 100 years since Cannabis became demonized and outlawed by those who rule with greed and power!’ states Darlene Mea CEO & Founder of HemingtonPost.com
If the idea of having a marijuana deficiency sounds laughable to you, a growing body of science points at exactly such a possibility. Scientists have known that the active psychoactive compound in marijuana is THC, which is short for tetrahydrocannabinol.
In August 1990, researchers reported in the journal Nature the discovery of receptors in the brain that specifically accommodate the cannabinoids in pot. Cannabinoids bind to particular neurological sites in the brain, as though the brain was specifically designed to utilize this plant. Did nature toss cannabinoid receptors into the brain by random chance? Are cannabinoid receptors part of an intelligent design for deriving maximum benefit from cannabis? Is cannabis a divine elixir of sacred communion for which we are ideally suited? Actually, a more sober answer seems likely. When there are receptors in the brain for a particular type of compound, that compound is made in the brain. This is true of many important agents that work to transmit brain messages of all types. So a hunt began to find such a compound.
In that vein, in 1992 researchers in Israel isolated the cannabinoid anandamide in the human brain. Unlike THC, anandamide is manufactured in the brain, and is therefore an endogenous cannabinoid. This agent, anandamide, is the compound that attaches to the built-in cannabinoid receptors in our brains. The name anandamide is based on the Sanskrit word ananda, which means bliss. Anandamide is a bliss molcule, enhancing greater well being and emotional satisfaction.
Ever since the pioneering work of Dr. William O’Shaughnessy on cannabis and pain compiled in the 1840’s a growing body of science has shown that cannabis offers relief for various types of pain. In the brain, the endogenous agent anandamide also plays a role in mitigating inflammation and pain. So both cannabinoids from inside and outside the body play a role in pain reduction. More recent studies show pain relief among sufferers of multiple sclerosis when cannabis is consumed.
Anandamide also plays a role in proper appetite, feelings of pleasure and well-being, and memory. Interestingly, cannabis also affects these same functions. Cannabis has been used successfully to treat migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and glaucoma. So here is the seventy-four thousand dollar question. Does cannabis simply relieve these diseases to varying degrees, or is cannabis actually a medical replacement in cases of deficient anandamide?
At least one author, medical doctor Ethan Russo, believes in the possibility of endocanabinoid deficiency, and suggests that such a deficiency might actually be a significant cause of the types of health problems listed above. His paper “Clinical Cannabinoid Deficiency,” published in Neuroendocrinology Letters in 2004, delved deeply into the various ways that cannabinoids function in the body, and how a deficiency in cannabinoids can lead to a broad range of diseases. Since the publication of that paper, a number of studies have further confirmed the effectiveness of cannabis for many health disorders.
The idea of clinical cannabinoid deficiency opens the door to cannabis consumption as an effective medical approach to relief of various types of pain, restoration of appetite in cases in which appetite is compromised, improved visual health in cases of glaucoma, and improved sense of well being among patients suffering from a broad variety of mood disorders. As state and local laws mutate and change in favor of greater tolerance, perhaps cannabis will find it’s proper place in the home medicine chest.
@MedicineHunter and include hashtags: #medicinehunter #chriskilham #ethnobotany #bridging worlds #cannabis #hemp #medicinalplants #plantmedicine #sacredplant #yoga
Aromatic oils that give cannabis its signature taste and smell might have a role to play in fighting the coronavirus.
Israeli researchers at the forefront of cannabis research are now investigating the potential of a formulation of cannabis terpenes in treating viral infections, COVID-19 included.
Is cannabis effective against COVID-19? Researchers want to know
Secreted in the same glands that produce cannabinoids like THC and CBD, terpenes are aromatic oils that are responsible for the taste and smell of cannabis — but that’s not all that they do.
Research suggests that terpenes play a considerable role in not only tempering the intoxicating effects of THC, but also creating synergy with phytocannabinoids and even increasing their therapeutic value.
In the context of the coronavirus crisis, researchers at the Israel Institute of Technology are testing the therapeutic potential of cannabis terpenes.
During previous severe coronavirus outbreaks, such as those caused by the SARS coronavirus in 2002-2003, researchers found that cannabis terpenes reduced disease severity and impact in both in-vitro and in-vivo. In a 2007 study published in the Journal of Medical Chemistry, Chinese scientists concluded that the terpenes blocked a certain protein that allows the virus to replicate its genetic material.
“Our lab has been approved to operate as a corona lab, and in doing so, we are promoting two studies based on existing cannabis studies,” Professor Dedi Meiri of the Israel Institute of Technology said in a statement forHealth Europa.
“First, we will try to identify the plant’s own molecules that are capable of suppressing the immune response to the COVID-19 coronavirus – which causes inflammation and severe disease – to lower the immune system response without suppressing it, thereby providing better complementary treatment to the steroids, which completely suppress the immune system.”
Meiri and colleagues hope that the terpenes might modulate the effect of cytokine storms –– the overreaction of the body’s immune system that can cause complications and multiple organ failure.
The novel formulation is designed to be administered by direct inhalation.
Cytokines are small proteins released by many different cells in the body, including those of the immune system where they coordinate the body’s response against infection and trigger inflammation.
It’s believed that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can trigger cytokine storm syndrome, attacking healthy lungs, eventually causing their collapse.
Besides looking into terpenes’ potential to lower the immune system response, the Israeli researchers are also investigating how these cannabis molecules interact with the ACE2 receptor. It is thanks to this receptor, which is abundantly found in cells in the respiratory tract, that the coronavirus enters cells and begins replicating its genetic material.
“There is a process that examines the effect of cannabis molecules on proteins as well, and we are now examining which ones are relevant to the same receptor, with the goal of reducing its expression, making it difficult for the virus to enter the cell and proliferate,” Meiri said.
Previously, researchers at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, found that certain Cannabis sativa extracts could be used in treatments to prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
A word of caution
The results of these preliminary studies shouldn’t by any means be considered an endorsement of cannabis in these trying times. COVID-19 is a severe respiratory illness that is known to aggressively attack the lungs. As such, those who smoke tobacco or marijuana might be at particular risk.
Research on cannabis as a COVID-19 treatment is still ongoing and it will likely take a long time before we have clear answers. In the meantime, don’t self-medicate and risk making matters worse.
Dating back to the earliest records of time we can see the cannabis plant was revered as the medicine for most all ailments. Why then is this all healing plant still illegal? Most of us know it’s the petrochemical and pharmaceutical industry who has monopolized our world since the early 1900’s. We have been misinformed and deceived regarding the major benefits of Hemp/Cannabis. Moving forward we must begin to see why it is our human rights that have been taken, the right to choose the medicine we want not from drugs but fro seeds… This is our first amendment. It’s time we get back to our roots!!!
How do WE change things around…? Participate in standing for your rights, we the people have the power to choose…Information is power. As you read this article below from the National Institute of Health you will see clearly, the Cannabis plant has been used for eons for its many many healing properties as well as being the strongest fiber on the planet!!! Who knew, the Hemp root, not the flower, was the basis for most medicines!
HEMP was used Traditional Therapy with Future Potential for Treating Inflammation and Pain with this earliest recording in the 1500’s. Again why all the study, the proof is already in recorded history!
Introduction: The roots of the cannabis plant have a long history of medical use stretching back millennia. However, the therapeutic potential of cannabis roots has been largely ignored in modern times.
Discussion: In the first century, Pliny the Elder described in Natural Histories that a decoction of the root in water could be used to relieve stiffness in the joints, gout, and related conditions. By the 17th century, various herbalists were recommending cannabis root to treat inflammation, joint pain, gout, and other conditions. There has been a subsequent paucity of research in this area, with only a few studies examining the composition of cannabis root and its medical potential. Active compounds identified and measured in cannabis roots include triterpenoids, friedelin (12.8 mg/kg) and epifriedelanol (21.3 mg/kg); alkaloids, cannabisativine (2.5 mg/kg) and anhydrocannabisativine (0.3 mg/kg); carvone and dihydrocarvone; N-(p-hydroxy-β-phenylethyl)-p-hydroxy-trans-cinnamamide (1.6 mg/kg); various sterols such as sitosterol (1.5%), campesterol (0.78%), and stigmasterol (0.56%); and other minor compounds, including choline. Of note, cannabis roots are not a significant source of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol, or other known phytocannabinoids.
Conclusion: The current available data on the pharmacology of cannabis root components provide significant support to the historical and ethnobotanical claims of clinical efficacy. Certainly, this suggests the need for reexamination of whole root preparations on inflammatory and malignant conditions employing modern scientific techniques.
Hemp Root is Medicinal
The cannabis plant is known for its multiple uses: the leaves, flowers, seeds, stalks, and resin glands have all been exploited for food, fuel, fiber, medicine, and other uses. One of the first mentions of the medical use of cannabis root was by the Roman historian, Pliny the Elder, who wrote in his Natural Histories that “a decoction of the root in water relaxes contractions of the joints and cures gout and similar maladies.”1 By the latter part of 17th century, various physicians and herbalists recommended cannabis root to treat fever,2,3 inflammation,4–9 gout, arthritis, and joint pain,1,5,6,8,10–12 as well as skin burns5,8,10 and hard tumors.6–8 There are also accounts of cannabis root being used to treat postpartum hemorrhage,13 difficult child labor,14 sexually transmitted disease,15 and gastrointestinal activity16,17 and infection.3,8 Despite a long history of therapeutic use (Table 1), the roots of cannabis plants have been largely ignored in modern medical research and practice.
Gout, arthritis, and joint pain
In earlier times, cannabis root was used to treat gout.1,5,6,8,10–12 In 1542, Leonhart Fuchs, the German physician and botanist, wrote in his herbal book “hemp root, boiled in water, and wrapped—is also good for gout.”10 Similarly, the French physician and writer François Rabelais noted “the root of this herb, boiled in water, soothes muscles, stiff joints, gout pains, and rheumatism.”11 In 1613, Szymon Syrenski, the Polish botanist and academic, recorded the uses of hemp roots boiled in water for “curved and shrunken body parts.”12 In 1640, John Parkinson, the English botanist and herbalist, also noted “the decoction of the rootes, easeth the paines of the goute, the hard tumours, or knots of the joynts, the paines and shrinking of the sinewes, and other the like paines of the hippes.”5 In 1710, the English physician Dr. William Salmon recorded “the decoction of the root.—it is said … to ease the pains of the gout, to help hard tumors or knots in the joints, cramps, and shrinking of the sinews, and to ease the pains of the hip, or sciatica, being applied thereto by fomentation, and afterward mixed applied made up into a cataplasm with barley flower, renewing of it every day.”6 In 1758, the French writer M. Marcandier reported in Traité du Chanvre, “its root, boiled in water, and coated in the form of a cataplasm, mollifies and softens the joints of the fingers that are shrunken. Is quite good against the gout, and other inflammations; it resolves tumors and callosities of the joints.”8 In general, the historical records indicate that cannabis root is most often extracted with boiling water8,10–12 and applied topically to treat gout and arthritis.6,8
Fever
In the 12th century, the Persian Philosopher Ibn Sina (Avicenna) wrote in the Canon of Medicine that “the compress with the boiled roots of cannabis decrease fever.”2 In Argentina, cannabis root was also recommended for fever due to infection with malaria—“the root bark, provides a fairly harsh taste mainly due to the presence of tannin, is used fresh in cooking at the rate of thirty grams per liter of water, or dry, fifteen grams, for abbreviating bouts of fever in malaria.”3 From these accounts, cannabis roots were administered both topically2 and orally3 for fever.
Inflammation
There are numerous mentions of cannabis root as a treatment of inflammation.4–9 In the 17th century, Nicholas Culpeper, an English botanist, herbalist, and physician, stated in his book Culpeper’s Complete Herbal that “the decoction of the root allays inflammations of the head or any other parts.”4 In 1640, Parkinson also noted “hempe is cold and dry—The decoction, of the roote is sayd to allay inflammations in the head or any other part.”5 In 1710, Salmon recorded “the decoction of the root.—it is said to be good against, viz. to allay inflammations in the head, or any other part.”6 In 1747, the English physician Robert James wrote in his book Pharmacopoeia Universalis: or, A New Universal English Dispensatory, “the root boil’d, and applied by way of cataplasm, mitigates inflammations.”7 In the 18th century, M. Husain Khan also wrote in the Persian medical text Makhzan-al-Adwiya, “A poultice of the boiled root and leaves for discussing inflammations, and cure of erysipelas, and for allaying neuralgic pains.”9 In general, a decoction of the cannabis root4–6 or boiled water extraction7,9 administered topically7,9 is the preferred method for using cannabis root to target overactive inflammation.
Skin burns
Cannabis root has also been used topically to treat skin burns. In 1542, Fuchs recorded “hemp root … the raw root, pounded and wrapped, is good for the burn.”10 In 1640, Parkinson also noted “hempe is cold and dry—The decoction, of the roote … it is good to be used, for any place that hath beene burnt by fire, if the fresh juyce be mixed with a little oyle or butter.”5 In 1758, Marcandier reported that cannabis root “pounded and ground fresh, with butter in a mortar, one applies it to burns, which it soothes infinitely, provided it is often renewed.”8 Overall, cannabis root has been used topically to soothe skin burns in a variety of ways, including raw root,10 as a juice,5 and mixed with fat (butter).5,8
Hard tumors
There are mentions of cannabis root for treating tumors, however, the term “tumor” may have been used to describe any kind of “abscess, sores, ulcers, or swelling,” but it is unclear if these tumors included what we consider today to be cancerous tumors. In the 12th century, Ibn Sina wrote “the compress with the boiled roots of cannabis … resolve the indurations if applied on the hot tumors and hardened places [of the body].”2 In 1710, Salmon recorded “the decoction of the root—it is said … to help hard tumors or knots in the joints.”6 Similarly, in 1747, James wrote “the root boil’d, and applied by way of cataplasm, discusses tumors, and dissolves tophaceous Concretions at the Joints.”7 Furthermore, in 1758, Marcandier reported that cannabis root “resolves tumors and callosities of the joints.”8 In general, topical application of boiled cannabis root is used to help with hard tumors.2,6,7
Childbirth
In the ancient Chinese pharmacopeia, the Pên-ts’ao Ching, it is stated that the juice of the cannabis root has been used to assist with the cessation of hemorrhage after childbirth. “The juice of the root is thought to have a beneficial action in retained placenta and postpartum hemorrhage.”13 Similarly, other accounts from China report “Ma gen, Cannabis Radix, cannabis (hemp) root: This is the root of the cannabis plant. Ma gen dispels stasis and stanches bleeding. It is used in the treatment of strangury, flooding and spotting, vaginal discharge, difficult delivery, retention of the placenta, and knocks and falls. It is taken orally, either as a decoction or crushed to extract its juice (in its fresh form).”14 Interestingly, to assist with difficult childbirth, cannabis root is administered orally, either as juice or decoction.14
Sexually transmitted disease
There is a report of cannabis root being used to help treat the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea.15 In the 17th century, a German-born botanist employed by the Dutch East India Company in what is now known as eastern Indonesia noted “in Hitu [Ambon Island, Indonesia] the Moors took the root of the male or flower-bearing plant (which in European herbals are not readily distinguished) from my garden, and gave it to eat to those who were held fast by unclean Gonnorhaea.”15 It is unclear from this account how the cannabis root was prepared to eat.
Gastrointestinal activity
Cannabis root has been used to protect against vomiting (antiemetic) in Réunion, a French island in the Indian Ocean: “boiled roots were used to reduce infants’ vomiting…”.16,17 In Chile, hemp roots have also been used to induce vomiting (purgative).17 In Argentina, hemp root was recommended, “the bark should be collected in the early spring, when it is also a good tonic, successfully administered pulverized and mixed with wine for weakness and pains of the stomach. It tones at the same time the entire digestive apparatus, removes toxins and infections caused by the weakness of them. Its same fruits [seeds] can replace the root.”3
Infection
There are several mentions of cannabis root for treating infection. In the Persian medical text Makhzan-al-Adwiya, “a poultice of the boiled root and leaves for … cure of erysipelas,”9 which is a bacterial infection of the upper skin layer. In modern Argentina, hemp root was recommended “to remove toxins and infections.”3 Marcandier also noted in 1758 that “its juice and decoction placed in the buttocks [anus] of horses, in fact, also brings out the vermin.”8 To assist with infection, cannabis root has been administered topically,9 orally,3 and intrarectally.8
A newly discovered cannabis compound has been shown in the lab to potentially be 30 times more potent than THC, the most studied psychoactive compound in marijuana.
Whether the new cannabinoid, named tetrahydrocannabiphorol, or THCP, will deliver 30 times the high of THC — or any high at all — is unclear.
Italian scientists also discovered a second previously unknown compound they named CBDP. It appears to be a cousin of CBD, the medicinal compound known for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anticonvulsant activity.
The discoveries were recently published in the journal Nature, Scientific Reports.
Discovering the compounds
The compounds were isolated and identified from the Italian medical cannabis variety known as FM2 using mass spectrometry and metabolomics, processes used to find the basic chemicals of a sample or molecule.
The authors assessed the ability of THCP to bind to human cannabinoid receptors found in the endocannabinoid systemby sending the compound to a lab to be tested in a tube.
The endocannabinoid system’s job is to keep our body in homeostasis, or equilibrium, and it regulates everything from sleep to appetite to inflammation to pain and more. When a person smokes marijuana, THC overwhelms the endocannabinoid system, latching on to cannabinoid receptors and interfering with their ability to communicate between neurons.
THCP bound strongly to both receptors — 33 times more than THC does, and 63 times more than another compound called THCV. The finding led the authors to wonder if THCP might explain whysome particularly potent cannabis varieties have a stronger effect than can be explained by the presence of THC alone.
“This means that these compounds have higher affinity for the receptors in the human body,” said Dr. Cinzia Citti, lead author of the research and post-doctoral fellow in life sciences at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy. “In cannabis varieties where THC is present in very low concentrations, then we can think that the presence of another, more active cannabinoid can explain those effects.”
The role of alkyl side chains
The alkyl side chain is the driving force behind a cannabinoid’s effects on humans. For most of the nearly 150 cannabis compounds, including THC, the chain is only five atoms long, the authors said.
However, THCP has a seven-atom chain, meaning that in its natural form it has surpassed the potency of THC.
A cannabinoid with more than five atoms has never been previously reported as naturally occurring, according to the authors. Additionally, most of them have neither been isolated nor characterized because of how challenging it is.
“The challenge is that it can take a long time to isolate, especially with rare sources,” said Dr. Jane Ishmael, associate professor in Oregon State University’s College of Pharmacy. “I get the impression that these products were present in small amounts, so it’s a surprise to find the natural products from a cannabis plant that we’ve known about for a long time.”
Potential effects in humans
CBD has mostly been the focus of studies on the health benefits of cannabis, but because THCP appears to show stronger binding abilities and potency, the authors think there is potential for health benefits.
The findings could enable the production of cannabis extracts for targeted physical effects; more testing with the study’s methods could further the discovery and identification of new compounds, the authors said.
“There are other minor cannabinoids and traces in the plant that can be hard to study, but by isolation we can continue to assess the effects they might offer,” Ishmael said.
“Historically, many of our medicines have been derived by or inspired by natural products. By having new compounds that bind with very high affinity, that will give scientists a new probe into biological sciences.”
This story first appeared at CNN. CNN’s Sandee LaMotte contributed to this report.
