Our newest CBG flower strain, Stem Cell CBG, has officially been added to our line. Now, we think it’s time to talk more in-depth about the compound. What is CBG flower?
What is CBG, to begin with? Is it like CBD, or more like THC? Why would someone want to smoke or consume this type of hemp? Let’s explore all the answers and then some in this comprehensive guide.
What is CBG Flower?
First up, the obvious question: what is CBG? If you haven’t yet seen our other guide on the topic, be sure to check it out here! In short, though, CBG is a minor cannabinoid. “Minor cannabinoid” is, of course, fancy lingo that means it’s present in less than 1% of any particular cannabis strain. For example, Delta 8 THC is another minor cannabinoid.
And while CBG may not be present in most hemp strains, it’s been recognized as a compound since the 1960s. That might be mostly because of what it becomes. You see, CBG is the precursor to CBD, THC, CBC, and all the other cannabinoids. In its CBGa form, it’s what metabolizes into everything else.
While it was discovered in the 60s, it didn’t get the spotlight it deserved for quite a few decades. More recently, though, scientists and researchers began to explore the benefits of the cannabinoid. Now, we’re able to more easily extract it from hemp plants, and for a lot cheaper than the older methods. Likewise, we’re able to breed higher levels of CBG into hemp nowadays.
While the process might be tricky, it means we can introduce our shoppers to CBG flower. We can also thank our expert breeders for achieving such a feat. Crossing genetics isn’t easy, especially when you’re after a specific end result.
Is CBG Flower Legal?
Thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill, industrial hemp is legal across the nation. Hemp that contains 0.3% delta-9 THC or less is legal.
While some states have specific laws or bans on certain products, CBG flower is not often noted. In fact, while there’s a lot of attention on CBD products as of late, CBG is still kept safely under the radar.
So, yes, CBG flower is legal! We do mean on a federal level, however. The Farm Bill doesn’t change state or area laws. Check out your state and local laws just to be sure it’s fully legal for you, though.
Is CBG Psychoactive? (Can CBG Get You High?)
Now, you might want to also know if CBG can get you buzzed. There are some psychoactive cannabinoids other than THC, after all! CBG, however, isn’t one of them.
As it happens, cannabigerol is entirely non-psychoactive. It cannot get you high, but it does stimulate the cannabinoid receptors in our bodies easier than CBD.
Just like with CBD flower, in fact, you don’t have to worry about paranoia, anxiety, or psychoactive effects. There’s a lot to love about both types of hemp, which is why we offer both CBG flower and CBD flower.
What if I wanted it to be psychoactive?
Now, if you were hoping for something that does get you high, delta 8 THC may be more up your alley. Another legal cannabinoid, we extract delta 8 from hemp to use it in edibles, vape cartridges, capsules, and more.
We also offer delta 8 flower. Some shoppers simply prefer the classic, traditional method of smoking or making their own edibles, and we respect that.
What Does Smoking CBG Flower Feel Like?
While some effects may be universal, each strain will give you something slightly different. Take our newest strain as a great example: Stem Cell CBG.
It contains 9.56% CBG, but it also has a terpene profile of Selinadiene, b-Caryophyllene, and Guaiol. Those terpenes make up 2.05% of the rest of the flower, delivering faint cinnamon notes to your taste buds.
When you first puff on CBG flower, you may not notice its effects right away. Like CBD flower, it has the tendency to build over time. Also like CBD, some people don’t feel its benefits right away. Others, meanwhile, feel it all too intensely.
In most cases, both the flavors and effects will be subtle and soft. Many users of CBG note an increase in mental clarity and focus.
Picture: a puff or two in the morning to get your bearings before you head out for the day.
Or, maybe you smoke a little at the end of the day while you cool off for the evening.
Maybe you combine it with some CBD oil for a powerful entourage effect. You can mix and match the effects with our versatile types.
It may also stimulate a combination of potential benefits. Every day, research continues to observe the countless health advantages of hemp. Unsurprisingly, since it comes from hemp, cannabigerol might provide a variety of positive properties, too.
10 Potential Benefits of Smoking CBG Flower
For users with chronic pain, inflammation, or other ailments, smoking CBG flower might be a completely different experience. Instead of the subtle factors it provides, the benefits are clearer.
We touched on some of the potential benefits of CBG in our past guide, but there’s more than that to share. Let’s take a look at what smoking CBG flower might offer you.
1. Stimulate Your Appetite
Like we mentioned in the past blog, cannabigerol has the potential to stimulate appetite. That means smoking on some CBG flower might give you the appetite you’ve been looking for. Though the clinical trial was done on rats, it gives us a good idea as to what it can do for humans, too.
In short, CBG might help you eat. Of course, you won’t get the blazed-out munchies you might get from THC. Again, CBG doesn’t get you high. It could, however, perk up that appetite you’ve been neglecting.
2. Anti-Inflammatory
Another way CBG offers promise is through its anti-inflammatory properties. Currently, IBD, or inflammatory bowel disease, is incurable. It affects millions of people across the world. Now, though, cannabis research is seeing more of a spotlight than ever before.
Thanks to cannabis research, we can see the potential positive impact that it could have on IBD patients. It also may affect a variety of other types of inflammation. CBG, specifically, was found to have a positive effect on negative symptoms.
3. Potential for Pain Relief
Early studies for CBG have found that it has a number of beneficial properties, including relief from inflammation and pain. Ethan Russo’s 2010 review looked at the potential cannabis synergy has.
While one cannabinoid alone has its benefits, the entourage effect of cannabinoids together is so much more intense. Combining CBG flower with perhaps other hemp-based products might be the ideal solution.
Everyone is different, so we recommend starting slow and working your way up. Especially if you’re after relief from symptoms, you shouldn’t expect it to happen overnight. In reality, your body needs to adjust to the daily routine of cannabis products.
Over time, people really start to notice its effects. What you feel on the first day of smoking CBG flower will be miles behind your fourth week of consistency.
4. Antibacterial (and Antifungal) by Nature
In a world becoming resistant to antibiotics, CBG as an antibacterial and antifungal agent is a blessing. In fact, research shows that cannabigerol appears to be extremely effective.
With that knowledge, it’s becoming a critical focus in research for life-threatening infections. Staph, MRSA, and other infections already resistant to many antibiotics are included in this. Research is still early on the subject, but the results thus far are promising.
5. Neuroprotective – Good for the Brain!
This is another effect we highlighted in our other CBG guide. Cannabigerol is a neuroprotectant! In fact, it appears to have incredibly potent neuroprotective properties.
While it’s good for the brain, that could also mean it could help with conditions like Huntington’s Disease. This is huge for the neurodegenerative disorder community.
6. CBG Could Enhance Your Mood
Cannabis has long since been known to help improve mood. It’s taken a bit longer to discover what inside cannabis helps to accomplish that, though.
Many researchers observe mood-enhancing effects from a variety of compounds in cannabis. CBG happens to be one of them. As it happens, cannabigerol could help enhance mood.
It does this by stimulating the body’s natural production of anandamide, AKA our “bliss” chemical. Anandamide levels increasing in the body helps to boost the feeling of wellbeing and your overall mood.
7. Anti-Anxiety Potential
CBG also has the potential to help with symptoms of anxiety. It does this on a base, anatomical level, by inhibiting our GABA uptake. GABA is an amino acid acting as a neurotransmitter that attaches itself to various receptors throughout the brain.
More to Love About CBG
The potential benefits of cannabigerol don’t stop at these first 7. However, they are about to get a bit more specific.
Before we dig in, we do want to stress that CBG is not considered a cure or treatment for anything.
While we trust what researchers have observed thus far, nothing is set in stone. Further research is necessary before anything can be confirmed or concluded.
It’s important to mention that we don’t recommend CBG as an alternative to prescription medication you may already be taking. If you do have a condition and want to incorporate CBG flower into your daily routine, it’s good to discuss it with a health professional first.
With that being said, three important potential benefits have come to the surface thanks to cannabis research. Let’s take a look at what else CBG might help with:
9. CBG could potentially help reduces the effects of colitis.
A chronic digestive disease, colitis is inflammation of the inner lining of the colon. Since we know CBG can provide other anti-inflammatory effects, relief from colitis was also observed in the clinical trial.
10. Could Inhibit the Growth of Cancer Cells
We see this effect from a review on the antitumor activity that comes from plant-derived, non-psychoactive cannabinoids. CBD, of course, has been studied the most extensively thus far. However, CBG, CBN, and CBC were each also included.
11. Relieves Intraocular Eye Pressure
Lastly, but certainly not least, CBG appears to help relieve pressure on the intraocular eye. This makes it a potential novel treatment for glaucoma. We’re excited to see more research as it comes out on the subject.
Where to Get CBG Flower
We hope you’re able to take away from this guide what CBG could potentially do for you. Now that you know what there is to know about CBG flower, it’s time to give it a try.
We offer one CBG strain because we wanted to hone in on the best. Stem Cell CBG is a hemp strain worth trying if you’ve ever wanted to know what it’s like.