Medical Cannabis: Edibles vs. Inhalation – Why is it so different?
Cannabis experts now discourage smoking the plant as the only real downside to its use is the damage of the smoke to the lining of your lungs. Both methods of inhalation put the active compounds in cannabis directly into your bloodstream, which carries them to your brain where they attach to receptors and cause the well known effects.
You can also eat cannabis in the form of what is called edibles: cookies, brownies, and other food products. When you ingest cannabis, it goes into your intestines, then passes through your liver. Your liver processes THC into a by product called 11-hydroxy-THC, which then travels to the bloodstream and then to your brain.
Actually, hemp, and hemp seed in particular, has been used as a highly nutritious food source for thousands of years. Food source hemp comes from the plant Cannabis, the same plant species as marijuana. Hemp is used in making clothing, is a premium source for paper products. The finished product can be worn, written on, and you can eat it. Hemp is a high quality source of protein.
Edible hemp comes from a special variety of cannabis that contains only small trace amounts of the chemical THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) that causes marijuana's intoxicating effects. So don't need to worry about it giving you a high any more than a poppy seed muffin will. Poppy seeds contain trace amounts of opiates.
The Chinese have been cultivating hemp as a high quality and nutritional, food source for more than 6,000 years. Hemp seeds were used as food even before soy foods. The seed eventually found its way to Europe and India. In India it's called “bhang,” and the dried leaves are used to treat colds, fevers, diarrhea and used in religious ceremonies. Hemp seed is high in quality protein, essential amino acids, vitamin E, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and calcium. Hemp seed tastes like pine nuts or sunflower seeds. A tablespoon of hemp seed contains about three grams of protein, no cholesterol, one gram of fiber, only fifty-six calories, four grams of omega-6 and some omega-3 essential fatty acids.
Five decades of scientific research have shown that insufficient essential fatty acids raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. Essential fatty acids, in a healthful balance, affect brain function, immune system responses, and infant development. Most people who eat the Standard American Diet (SAD) consume a highly disproportionate amount of Omega-6s, usually 11 to 30 times more omega-6s than omega-3s. Optimum balance is between 3 to 1 and 6 to 1, depending on age and sex.
Omega-3 EFA's help reduce inflammation and omega-6s increase it. Both are essential for proper immune system response. When there are too many omega-6s, we're more likely to develop diseases which are related to inflammation, like heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis. The main culprit is baked goods and highly processed foods that are made with refined vegetable oils, particularly hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils.
