At Resilience CBD, we strongly believe in the healing powers of cannabidiol (CBD) and the incredible benefits the hemp plant can provide for you and your pet. Our passion and experience with full spectrum CBD hemp oil inspires us to share our knowledge of its benefits and provide only the highest quality, full-spectrum CBD hemp oil supplement. We believe a full-spectrum CBD oil is an important part of the well-being and overall vitality of all mammals, including pets and humans. A full-spectrum CBD oil contains a group of molecules called cannabinoids, which includes CBD, cannabigerol (CBG), and cannabichromene (CBC). While these are just a few of the many cannabinoids found in hemp and CBD hemp oil, they are crucial in supporting the function of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) and in helping your pet be healthy and resilient.
DOES CBD OIL GET YOU HIGH?
CBD oil does not get people or pets high because it lacks tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the ‘active ingredient’ in marijuana that produces the psychoactive effects users experience. While both marijuana and hemp are in the cannabis family, hemp is distinguished from marijuana primarily because it lacks THC. When your pet ingests a full-spectrum CBD hemp oil supplement, your pet obtains all the benefits of cannabis and CBD without getting your pet high. In addition to lacking THC, many hemp varieties have a much higher concentration of CBD than marijuana. As medical cannabis use has become more widespread, there is an abundance of case studies and research to suggest that the cannabinoids within hemp may have legitimate medical uses for people and pets and may even be vital to maintaining good health by supporting the ECS.
WHAT IS THE ENDOCANNABINOID SYSTEM IN PETS?
First discovered in 1992, the ECS is the only known system that produces and interacts with cannabinoids other than the cannabis plant itself. With that consideration, the ECS within people, pets, and all mammals are inextricably linked to cannabis, and should not be ignored! So the question is: why is it that only mammals (pets and humans too!) and cannabis produce cannabinoids? While there may be other organisms that produce cannabinoids, it is apparent mammals have forged a strong symbiotic relationship with the cannabis plant. For over 10,000 years, humans have been cultivating and using hemp for more reasons than one could possibly think of — hemp has been an important agricultural crop for its durable fibers, the production of paper, human and pet food, and particularly medicine and therapy. There are so many different ways humans and their pets have utilized hemp that one could say we’ve practically evolved with the plant. Given our ancient and diverse relationship with hemp, it is a curious phenomenon that we have an ECS in the first place and that the cannabinoids in hemp play such a critical role in supporting the ECS.
HOW DOES CBD OIL AND THE ECS HELP YOUR PET?
Research on the ECS has confirmed it plays a very important role in being healthy because it balances the other physiological systems in your body. For example, when something in our body is out of balance, such as the immune system, we often feel sick or, in extreme cases, develop disease. The ECS plays a vital role in regaining that internal balance and staying healthy. This is also true for our pets. When your pet ingests cannabinoids such as CBD, the cannabinoids interact with receptors in the ECS called the CB1 and CB2 receptors. Introducing cannabinoids to these receptors facilitates their ability to promote physiological stasis because they are supporting a healthy ECS.
Research on the CB1 and CB2 receptors has revealed they affect a variety of physiological processes such as modulating pain, memory, inflammation, appetite, metabolism, and immune responses. By ingesting phytocannabinoids from a full spectrum CBD oil, you are feeding your pet’s CB1 and CB2 receptors and helping them function properly. Also, keep in mind there may be more receptors that interact with cannabinoids in the ECS that we do not know about yet. Ultimately, more research on cannabinoids and cannabinoid receptors is needed. However, it is clear that providing your pet cannabinoids from a full spectrum hemp oil exerts a significant effect on their ECS function and plays an important role for being physiologically balanced and healthy.
If you’re still skeptical about the importance of the ECS in maintaining good health, remember this: through the ECS, we produce our own internal cannabinoids, called endocannabinoids. A dysfunctional or impaired ECS has been linked to a number of health problems, and may even be so crucial to our health that some doctors have proposed a clinical endocannabinoid deficiency syndrome. Ultimately, the ECS is a central component of mammalian and pet physiology that maintains physiological balance and vitality.
HOLD ON . . . HUMANS AND PETS ACTUALLY PRODUCE THEIR OWN CANNABINOIDS?
Yes, just like cannabis, humans, pets, and all mammals produce cannabinoids. While cannabis produces phytocannabinoids such as CBD, we produce endocannabinoids (internal cannabinoids). Put simply, these endocannabinoids ‘feed’ and interact with the CB1 and CB2 receptors within the central and peripheral nervous systems, as well as the brain, and are critical in supporting a healthy ECS. The two most common endocannabinoids we produce are called Anandamide and 2-AG (2-Arachidonoylglycerol). Some refer to Anandamide as the bliss chemical, as it gets its name from the ancient Indian Sanskrit “Ananda” which translates to “happiness, bliss, joy or delight.” The other endocannabinoid, 2-AG, is present in concentrations up to 170 times that of anandamide, yet shares many of the same functions. The primary difference between these two molecules is that 2-AG mainly interacts with the CB2 receptor, which is particularly important for the immune system. In conjunction with 2-AG, anandamide does much more for our pet’s health than to produce a state of happiness; research has shown that both endocannabinoids are important for memory, neuroprotection, cardiovascular health, modulating pain, metabolism, bone health, fertility, and immune function. Also, if you’ve ever experienced the ‘runner’s high’ after strenuous physical activity, you can thank the endocannabinoids present in your ECS. Researchers at the University of Arizona showed that both 2-AG and anandamide are responsible for producing the ‘runner’s high’ in humans and dogs. I know my dog overindulges a bit in the runner’s high effects from anandamide!
Since the ECS has profound all-encompassing effects throughout the body, a deficiency in any of your endocannabinoids may present a great variety of symptoms. If you or your pet suffer from any symptoms related to the function of the ECS, you may consider supplementing full spectrum CBD into your diet to feed a deficient ECS with plant-based alternatives!
HOW ARE CBD PRODUCTS DIFFERENT?
CBD can help people and pets in a variety of ways and is usually available as an isolate (pure cannabinoid) or as a ‘full spectrum’ CBD oil. As an isolate, CBD is the only compound derived from cannabis present in the product in which it is sold (oil, tincture, lotion, etc.). Pure CBD isolate on its own has a crystalline look and usually appears in a powder form. CBD Isolate may be useful for people and pets that need a very specific dose for their particular desired effects. CBD isolate can also be used as a source for CBD in many different products.
In contrast, a full-spectrum hemp oil supplement contains all the phytocannabinoids found in hemp, in addition to the plant terpenes in hemp. It is called full spectrum because it is extracted from the entire plant, as opposed to isolating specific compounds.
Better recognized as essential oils, terpenes are a group of chemicals that give plants their distinct aromas and have additional medicinal properties of their own. There have been over 200 different terpenes found in cannabis, but only a handful have been studied for their medicinal properties. For example, linalool is a common terpene found in hemp, and it is what gives lavender its unique smell. Numerous studies on linalool alone have found it provides sedative, antidepressant, anxiolytic, and immune system benefits.
In a full spectrum CBD oil, you are ingesting a more balanced array of phytocannabinoids and terpenes, leading to more balanced benefits from the supplement. Because a full spectrum CBD supplement provides additional benefits beyond that of a CBD isolate, some companies may try to spike a low quality “full spectrum” CBD oil supplement with CBD isolate in order to achieve the concentration of CBD advertised. Although these products may be labeled as “full spectrum,” they aren’t of the same quality as a full-spectrum supplement that is strictly derived from hemp. An analogy to this issue would be if a craft distillery were to spike their products with pure ethanol (everclear) in order to increase the total alcohol percentage in the final product. Not only is this practice detrimental to the customers who want a true full-spectrum CBD supplement for themselves or their pets, it may not be as effective. Always remember to look at what CBD product you are using to see if it is made with CBD isolate or if it is truly full spectrum.
Because the CBD industry is still an emerging industry, and because cannabis has been highly stigmatized in recent history, it has yet to be incorporated into western medicine, rendering some CBD products inferior or inconsistent to others due to a lack of quality control and regulation. With a lack of quality control, it is hard as a consumer to know what you are getting and if that particular product is the right choice for you. For that reason, it is important to learn about the differences in CBD products and why they may or may not be right for you and your pet.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FULL SPECTRUM HEMP VS CBD ISOLATE?
The benefits from using a full spectrum CBD oil versus a CBD isolate are somewhat analogous to the benefits of eating a complete meal versus an individual ingredient. With a complete meal, you are combining various ingredients that act synergistically to provide a full spectrum of benefits, whereas eating a single ingredient limits the benefits you receive to only what’s inside that ingredient. Another analogy is if you were to only eat vitamins manufactured in a lab compared to getting vitamins from your food. In the CBD supplement industry, CBD isolate is analogous to individual vitamins, while a full-spectrum CBD oil supplement is more analogous to a complete meal. Would you rather take a vitamin C supplement from the store or simply eat an orange? With CBD products, it is important to remember that the benefits from hemp are greater than the sum of its parts.
The synergy of cannabinoids and terpenes in a full spectrum hemp oil supplement has been called the ‘entourage effect’ by those who have researched it. The entourage effect first gained attention in the 1980’s, when doctors started to wonder why patients taking the synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) called Marinol (pure THC) actually preferred a whole plant extract over Marinol, suggesting the combination of cannabinoids and terpenes from the entire plant may have produced some sort of ‘entourage effect’ that was more effective in treating symptoms than Marinol alone.
More recently in 2015, researchers found that oil from a hemp plant high in CBD was more effective than pure CBD in treating inflammation and related symptoms. That research in particular is promising with regards to the entourage effect because it clearly shows the enhanced benefits from a full-spectrum CBD oil when compared to pure CBD. Additionally, there is an abundance of anecdotal evidence to imply that a full spectrum method of obtaining CBD and the benefits from hemp are more effective than CBD isolate in treating a variety of symptoms.
While research indicates that the cannabinoids and terpenes in a full spectrum hemp supplement may synergize together and produce an ‘entourage effect’, a full-spectrum hemp supplement does in fact provide a greater diversity of cannabinoids and terpenes than a CBD isolate. Thus, ingesting a greater diversity of cannabinoids may support the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in more ways than ingesting a pure cannabinoid does, leading to greater overall satisfaction and healing for you and your pet.
