The phrase “well-oiled” machine means a machine that is ‘useful, efficient, [and] effective.’1 What do you do every 3,000-6,000 miles you drive your car? Change the oil. In fact, any machine that’s expected to put in the long hours frequently gets some love in the form of this lubricant. And although we lack the metal and bolts of our robotic friends, many of us humans are considered to work like machines. So where’s our lubricant? Where’s our life-preserving oil?
The World of Cannabis Sativa
The Cannabis Sativa plant is responsible for two main oils that are the Dr.Ganja hot topic of today: CBD oil and Hemp Oil. Surprisingly, although the two oils are derived from the same plant, their chemical composition and effects (and therefore, uses) are drastically different. So here’s the lowdown on these two wonderful oils:
Hemp Oil
Hemp Oil is usually only extracted from the seeds of the Cannabis Sativa plant. The seeds are cold pressed and voila oil.
Hemp (seed) oil is a lot like other oils that you use every day in your kitchen such as olive or coconut oil. It contains vital minerals like magnesium and potassium, but it also contains the essential Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids that the body requires but cannot manufacture on its own! The importance of these fatty acids for the brain and the body alone cannot be underestimated, here’s the short of it: omega 3’s are essential for your cardiovascular health (among other things) and omega 6’s are essential for proper brain functioning (among other things).
Just like the cooking oil comparison above, hemp oil is often used in the kitchen. It has amazing health benefits due to its nutritional power-punch, and is even used in some soaps and skin care products.
CBD Oil
CBD Oil, unlike its hemp oil cousin, is taken from all parts of the Cannabis Sativa plant.
CBD stands for cannabidiol and is a cannabinoid much like the famed THC everyone has heard of (the aspect of the marijuana plant that gives you the euphoria); however, unlike THC, it does not get you “high.” That is not to say CBD doesn’t do other amazing things. It is an amazing antiemetic (helps with nausea) and anti-inflammatory (helps with inflammation or swelling). In fact, many athletes that put some of the hardest beatings on their body, MMA fighters, use CBD oil to help with their inflammation post-fights and post-workouts. Hemp oil doesn’t contain any cannabinoids like CBD oil does, and so its inflammatory effects aren’t nearly as pronounced as they are in CBD oil (although recent research has shown that the omega fatty acids, such as those found in hemp oil, have anti-inflammatory effects2). CBD has also been found to be an effective analgesic, or pain reliever, as well, something that the already amazing hemp oil, cannot boast about.
So, nature, or nature with a little man-made extraction, gave us two oils from the Cannabis Sativa plant. Hemp oil, which is typically extracted from the seeds and contains a whole lot of nutrition, but lacks any or very very low levels of cannabinoids; and CBD oil, which is extracted from all parts of the plant and contains dominantly the cannabinoid CBD. CBD is very effective for nausea (and thus chemo survivors), inflammation, and pain. Hemp oil contains many vital fatty acids and minerals that are crucial for a healthy body. Both oils have little to no THC in them, so there is no risk of “getting high” from the oils; however, your body might just feel a little euphoric after you lubricate them with some of nature’s best oils.
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