The entourage effect
If you look closely at your CBD flowers, you'll see that they're covered in trichomes, sticky, shiny dots of resin - cannabinoid interaction.
It is mainly in this resin that hundreds of therapeutic compounds are found, contributing to the effects and benefits of hemp.
You're probably already familiar with the hemp plant's two most famous cannabinoids, THC and CBD, but there are many others which the plant produces in lesser abundance and which play an essential role in the overall effects induced by the consumption of hemp flowers.
What is the entourage effect?
This refers to the fact that two or more chemical compounds can act synergistically when consumed together, inducing effects that would not have been observed had they been consumed alone.
When hemp is consumed, our body absorbs hundreds of botanical compounds. Each induces its own specific effects, and the combination of these results in an overall effect: this is known as the entourage effect.
To illustrate the entourage effect, let's take the two best-known cannabinoids, THC and CBD, as an example. In a 2010 study, patients suffering from cancer pain were given either a pure THC extract or a hemp extract containing all the cannabinoids. As it turned out, patients who received the cannabinoid combo reported less pain than those who received only pure THC.
Hemp is much more than THC and CBD. It also produces hundreds of other cannabinoids, such as CBNThey also include terpenes, which are aromatic compounds found, for example, in essential oils of lavender, orange, black pepper, eucalyptus, etc...
Neurologist and pharmacologist Dr. Ethan Russo found that CBD and CBG cannabinoids inhibited bacterial infection by MRSA staphylococcus, and were even more effective when combined with the MRSA-fighting terpene pinene, or when combined with other terpenes that increase skin permeability.
However, we must remain cautious and nuanced, as few studies have yet been carried out on the existing synergies between the various cannabinoids, which are not yet ready to reveal all their secrets.