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The Entourage Effect & Your Cannabis Experience
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
This basic Gestalt principle perfectly captures what we mean when we refer to the entourage effect in cannabis. You’ve probably heard of the entourage effect in the context of the full spectrum vs. isolate debate. It is often used to explain why full spectrum hemp extracts are preferred over isolated CBD, but there’s more to the conversation.
The cannabis plant as a whole is greater than any individual cannabinoid alone. Every part of the plant plays a role – from the fats and fibers to the terpenes and cannabinoids. When you start to manipulate those variables and their presence in end products you manipulate the cannabis experience. That’s not necessarily a bad thing! Just an important thing to understand when you’re trying to determine the best product for you and your needs.
Defining the entourage effect
The entourage effect is the mechanism by which cannabis compounds act synergistically to modulate the overall effects of the plant.
Our endocannabinoid system is widely distributed throughout our bodies, modulating many physiological functions. CB1 and CB2 receptors primarily serve as the binding sites for endocannabinoids produced by our own bodies, as well as for phytocannabinoids produced by the cannabis plant. However, âcannabisâ is not a single compound product. It is known for its complicated molecular profile, producing a plethora of phytocannabinoids (CBD, THC, CBC, CBL, CBG, etc) alongside a vast array of terpenes.
Thus, the âentourage effectâ is the suggested positive contribution derived from this robust molecular profile working together.
The full spectrum vs. isolate debate
First things first:
- CBD isolate is 99.9% pure CBD. It is a white powder that is oil soluble, tasteless, and odorless.
- Full spectrum extracts can be broken down into 2 basic categories: whole plant/FSO and distillate.
- Which of these 2 categories your full spectrum product falls under will make a big difference in the character of the product (look, smell, taste) and how much the entourage effect comes into play
Full spectrum: whole plant
Whole plant, or “FSO” (full spectrum oil), usually range from 60-75% CBD plus varying levels of minor cannabinoids, with delta9 THC levels staying below 0.3%. This type of full spectrum extract retains more terpenes, flavonoids, and chlorophyll than distillate. The oil is dark green-brown with a very earthy, cannabis-forward taste and smell. That taste and smell comes from the terpenes, by the way, but more on that in a bit.
Full spectrum: distillate
Distillate is more refined than whole plant. CBD levels in distillates range from 75-90% with varying levels of minor cannabioids, with delta9 levels staying below 0.3%. The minor cannabinoids are usually found in a lesser degree than whole plant, but that’s not necessarily a hard and fast rule.
The biggest difference between distillate and whole plant is that distillates, by nature, do not contain terpenes. Terpenes are removed during the distillation process to create a purer product. They can be reintroduced once distillation is complete, but the truth is that they usually aren’t in your standard CBD tinctures.
Distillate is a golden honey color (no chlorophyll to be found). There is still a presence of fatty acids and certain beneficial compounds besides CBD in distillates, but the higher CBD potency the lower the presence of those compouds become and the closer you get to an isolate.
Isolate
As noted, isolate is isolated CBD in a powder form. There are no other minor cannabinoids, no THC, no compounds originally found in the plant. There is a lot of value in isolating compounds like this when it comes to treating legitimate medical issues.
The truth is that a whole plant extract might cause a histamine reaction that would be fine for a relatively healthy person, but could be problematic for somebody with serious autoimmune issues.
Also, full spectrum extracts – whether distillate or whole plant – can vary from batch to batch. Products are made to have consistent CBD levels, but the levels of the other cannabinoids nor the naturally occcuring terpene profile are guaranteed to be consistent from batch to batch, product to product.
When you need standardization and consistency above all else, isolate is the way to go. That doesn’t change the validity and value of the entourage effect, though. Due to the absence of all other plant compounds, isolates have a much narrower therapeutic window. That means that the dosing needs to be much more precise and the effects usually don’t last as long when compared to a full spectrum.
So, does the entourage effect really make full spectrum the better choice?
Generally, full spectrum will be the better choice for most. But, that does not mean that isolate is “bad”.
The presence of the fatty acids, terpenes, and minor cannabinoids do help sustain the effects of CBD in your body. The terpene beta caryophyllene even activates the CB2 receptors of the endocannabinoid system. But if you are referring to a 90%+ CBD distillate when talking about full spectrum please know that most likely means that there are no terpenes and only small amounts of those other beneficial compounds.
If you are seeking to treat a serious medical condition or there are possible contraindications (medication interactions, etc), then isolate may be the better choice for you and your needs. Dissolving isolate in MCT oil or other fatty oils can help improve the viability of CBD in your system.
As with anything else, there is a lot of nuance to this conversation… and we are about to unpack some more of it!
Expanding the way we think about the entourage effect
Our Flex, OG, and Chill tinctures, for example, use a ~80% distillate that doesn’t have terpenes, but the other ingredients that are present in those blends are actually rich in their own terpenes, polyphenols, and flavonoids. The other ingredients also contribute their own active compounds. Black seed oil, found in all 3 blends, contains thymoquinone which is an incredibly powerful antioxidant and antibacterial. The terpene profile of lemon balm, which is used in our Chill blend, is rich in beta caryophyllene which, as noted, activates our endocannabinoid system.
Grounded is our high-dose whole plant blend, designed to deeply nourish your endocannabinoid system with a rich concentratin of cannbinoids and naturally occuring terpenes.
We use isolate in our Chronic roll-on, but in combination with 7 carefully selected essential oils that each serve a specific purpose and contribute to the overall effect of the product. Oh, did we mention that terpenes are the building blocks of essential oils?
Terpenes are very important
Terpenes play a hugely significant role in how we experience cannabis. You’re probably familiar with indica and sativa – the two most common ways we classify different cannabis strains. Sativa strains are said to provide a more uplifting, energizing, creative, “heady” effect. Indicas, on the other hand, are known for their body highs and more relaxing, sedating effects.
Cross breeding cannabis plants to get all the crazy varities that you see today has resulted in mostly “hybrid” strains, meaning they aren’t necessarily indica or sativa but rather a blend of the two. The varying indica/sativa effects that you get from different cannabis products are actually a product of their terpene profile.
Terpenes are not exclusive to cannabis. As noted, they are the building blocks of essential oils and are found in every plant. These compoundss are responsible for the aromas, flavors, and even colors associated with various types of plant life – including cannabis.
Linalool is the dominant terpene in lavender and is known for its relaxing, sedating, pain relieving effects.
Limonene is the dominant terpene found in citrus and is known for its uplifting, antibacterial effects.
Myrcene is a terpene that is found in mangoes and, fun fact, if you eat a mango before ingesting THC you will actually get higher! But that’s not the only important thing to know about myrcene. For a strain to be considered indica, its terpene profile needs to consist of over 50% myrcene. Less than 50% myrcene and that strain will be considered an indica.
So, if you have a strain that is 60% myrcene, 20% linalool, 10% limonene and 10% pinene (another uplifting terpene), you can expect it to be super calming and beneficial for anxiety and pain relief. On the other hand, if it’s 20% myrcene, 40% limonene, 30% pinene, and 10% linalool, you can expect a more energized, creative and uplifting effect.
Take a ride on the magical space bus
A great way to bring this all together and help you understand the important role each part of the plant plays is with a good ol’ space bus analogy.
Envision the experience of cannabis as if riding a space bus to a unique and definable location in outer space.
A cannabis indica strain might put you beyond the depths of your couch out to the cold orbit of Pluto, where a sativa strain might have you quickly zooming into the Sun. High-CBD hemp might keep you in a stable low orbit around your home planet. In order to go to space, and to get to your preferred destination in a repeatable way, your space bus requires some hardware.
The structures of your space bus; from your seat, the windows, the roof and the wheels, are all required to carry you from where you are to where you want to go. If you donât have a structure to carry things in, you arenât going anywhere!
The Vehicle & Carrier
In cannabis, the carrier of your experience can be described by the fibrous biomass and the lipids (think fats and waxes) that carry the rest of the compounds into your body. When you smoke flower, you are combusting the biomass in order to vaporize the active compounds. When you do a dab of some extract or vape some distillate, the major components that give the extract itself its consistency are predominantly from the lipid family. These materials form the basic structure of your space bus, and give you a fundamentally strong frame to rely on while you are on your journey to space.
The Driver & Captain
Your space bus needs a driver, otherwise how can you precisely target the location in space you want to go? An unguided space bus could drop you off in the wrong location, or even strand you in a place you donât necessarily want to be. The main driver of your cannabis and hemp experience, the part that dictates the direction and charts a course, comes from the variety of terpenes found in the plant.
Through the synergistic interaction of the terpenes and the natural effects of the individual terpenes themselves, your space bus has the ability to orient itself and move in a specific direction with purpose towards a destination. Your driver, the terpene profile, is what will determine where you go, and which route your space bus takes to get you there.
The Rocket Engine & Fuel
Finally, to go fast enough to get to space and to get to far-reaching destinations, you need fueled up rocket engines. The rocket engines of your space bus get their power and properties from the plantâs cannabinoid content. Different ratios of cannabinoids yield varying power, speed and efficiencies in your rocket engines, which can be fine tuned to the specific location in space you want to go to.
THC provides raw thrust in some scenarios like a solid rocket booster required to get you out of the atmosphere, where CBD provides specific and subtle thrust in other scenarios like stabilizing orbits and gently performing interplanetary transfer maneuvers. In essence, the true force of your experience is powered by the cannabinoids.
Enjoy the Ride
I hope that this helped you gain a better understanding of the cannabis experience and how to select products that are right for you. Cannabis is a very individualized experience. No two people are exactly alike in their endocannabinoid system and subsequent reaction to cannabis.
So, in the absence of any hard and fast rules and the presence of a lot of variety and choice, the best thing you can do is understand the basic building blocks. That way you can understand why a certain product didn’t give you the results you were looking for, or why another product was able to get the job done. From there, you can start to narrow done what your needs and preferences actually are and be better equipped to have consistently fabulous journeys on the magical space bus that is cannabis.
