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I have spoken a lot about CBD (Cannabidiol) on my blog. CBD is a cannabis compound (cannabinoid) which has risen in popularity over the last few years for its many health benefits. But what I haven’t really discussed, is that I also take another cannabinoid, CBG (Cannabigerol), and I believe this natural compound has just as many wellness benefits as CBD.

I started taking CBD just over 4 years now, and I noticed a reduction in my pain and anxiety levels within a couple of weeks. But I was still experiencing many other symptoms including, disturbed sleep, uncontrollable restless leg syndrome (RLS), muscle spasms and tremors. I really wanted to find a way to tackle these symptoms, so I did a lot of searching. I’m intolerant to most prescription meds, so I knew I needed a natural alternative.

Surprisingly, my research brought me straight back to cannabis. This plant is truly amazing and I believe over the years, as more clinical trials are carried out, many more medicinal uses for cannabis will be found.

There are two cannabinoids I was interested in for these particular symptoms; CBG and CBN. CBN is known to be a powerful sedative and muscle relaxant, but unfortunately, as it is a degraded form of THC, it is an illegal substance in the UK. So this was not an option for me. CBG on the other hand, is non-psychoactive like CBD, and therefore legal.

I began to experiment with CBG. I started by taking it a night, about 30 mins before bed. And to my amazement I started sleeping for the first time in years without the aid of sleeping tablets. I then introduced CBG in small doses throughout the day, and the benefits continued. 

For me personally, I find CBG calming both physically and mentally. So it helps reduce my anxiety, and also my physical symptoms like muscle spasms, RLS and tremors. I also find in mildly sedating in small doses, and even more so at larger doses. 

CBG has now been a staple of my daily supplement routine for two years, and I believe it has benefited my health just as much as CBD.

But what exactly is CBG and could you also benefit from taking this natural compound? 

What is CBG?

CBG stands for cannabigerol. It is a cannabinoid (cannabis compound), and is currently being studied for its potential therapeutic properties.

In fact, you may be surprised to learn that CBG is actually the parent of both CBD and THC. Without this wonderful compound, CBD and THC wouldn’t exist. But what does this mean? 

Although CBG is classified as a minor cannabinoid, it’s an extremely important cannabis compound. It can be thought of as the ‘mother cannabinoid’ to other cannabinoids. It’s basically a building block on which several other cannabinoids depend.

All cannabinoids start their life as CBGA (the acidic, inactive form of CBG). As the cannabis plant grows, CBGA changes, is broken down, and becomes the base molecule that other cannabinoids form from – it is converted to CBDA, THCA, and CBCA. These compounds are often referred to as ‘raw’ cannabinoids. (Please see attached image). Once heated, CBDA, THCA and CBGA become the cannabinoids we are most familiar with; CBD, THC and CBG.

Each cannabinoid has a slightly different makeup and slightly different effects. While THC causes psychoactive and intoxicating effects, CBD and CBG can boost our health, without the ‘high’. The other 100+ cannabinoids all do different things, too. 

Let me briefly explain what cannabinoids are. Cannabinoids are a diverse class of chemical compounds that occur naturally in the human body and also in some plants, most notably, cannabis. These cannabinoids interact with receptors within our bodies own endocannabinoid system (ECS) to trigger various physiological actions. The ECS plays an essential role within the body and cannabinoids are vital for the ECS to function effectively.

For a more detailed look at how cannabinoids work within the body, and the endocannabinoid system, please click here. 

As I have mentioned, like CBD, CBG is non-psychoactive, so it won’t get you high. Its safe to consume even at high doses, and offers many therapeutic benefits. In fact, much like CBD, it’s believed that CBG could counter some of the negative effects of THC-rich strains such as paranoia and anxiety.

Potential health benefits of CBG

Like other cannabinoids, CBG has shown to contain numerous wellness benefits and could play an integral role in treating several health disorders and diseases. Here are a few potential health benefits of consuming CBG:

All of this has yet to be proven in clinical trials, but there are some early animal studies showing that CBG may be a promising treatment for several conditions. 

What disorders can CBG treat?

Because of its long list of benefits, CBG could be a safe and effective treatment for:

Where can you buy CBG?

Unfortunately, although CBG products have been around for a couple of years now, there is still only a very limited choice on the market. I think this is due to the cost, but also because there had been very little publicity about CBG, compared to CBD. 

CBG is more expensive than CBD because it occurs in much lower levels in the cannabis plant. This means it takes more plant to make the same amount of product.

Although many full spectrum CBD oils will contain trace amounts of CBG, the limited choice of dedicated CBG products means purchasing CBG can be challenging. Hopefully this will change as extraction and growing processes adapt, and research into CBG grows. 

Here are the options available at the time of writing this post;

Biopurus UK offer a 10ml full spectrum, whole plant extract oil, containing 500mg of CBG (5%) and 500mg of CBD (5%) Biopurus UK is a small manufacturer of organic, full spectrum hemp products. You can buy this product online from a company called For the Ageless

Fiddler’s Elbow Grease sell a 2.5% and 5% CBG oil

MediHemp produce a dedicated CBG oil containing 500mg of CBG per 10ml (5%). It’s made from a full spectrum CBG Extract, and can be bought from a number of online retailers.

I am reliably informed that Holistic Hemp Scotland are soon to release a CBG product too. I will update this post when I find out more.

There are a couple of CBD companies that add small amounts of CBG to their CBD products, but as the amount of CBG present are so small, I have not included them in this list.

Final thoughts

Preliminary research of the cannabinoid CBG highlights some rather substantial health potential.

I personally benefit from taking CBG in many ways including, reduced anxiety, improved sleep, improved mood, reduced muscle spasms and tremors. I also have severe osteoporosis in my spine and hips, and as CBG had been shown to improve bone health, I am excited to discover the benefits of long-term use. 

However, because CBG only occurs in the mature cannabis plant in trace amounts, it is currently expensive to extract, and to buy. Research shows that CBG content is highest in the cannabis plant at week 6 of 8 during the flowering period. This gives the potential of harvesting the plant in the early stages of the flowering cycle, to maximise the CBG content. Extraction processes are also adapting and becoming much more efficient. This should bring the cost down, and is something that we may see more of in the future.

I believe CBG is just as significant as CBD, and I hope awareness around this cannabinoid grows, and it gets its own time in the spotlight. 

✔Have you tried CBG? What are your experiences with this cannabinoid?

If you would like to find out more about CBD and other cannabinoids, or you have any specific questions you need answering, please head over to my Facebook page CBD Resource Centre