Is CBG Oil Better Than CBD for Inflammation?
Nowadays, shoppers have multiple hemp cannabinoids to choose between. CBD is no longer the only non-intoxicating cannabinoid you can buy online as CBG gains greater recognition for its unique benefits.
Is one cannabinoid better than the other at fighting inflammation? Overall, scientists believe that non-intoxicating cannabinoids have impressive promise as anti-inflammatory therapies, but that doesn’t mean CBD and CBG approach the problem of inflammation the same way. Learn which CBD and CBG oils to buy by comparing the evidence that each cannabinoid reduces inflammation.
What is CBD oil?
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil is a hemp flower extract that contains high concentrations of CBD. Also present are trace concentrations of CBG, CBN, and other “minor” cannabinoids alongside naturally occurring flavonoids and terpenes. CBD oil is the most common type of hemp product available online, but it might not be able to offer everything CBG oil can.
Does CBD oil help with inflammation?
Since the early days of CBD, this cannabinoid has been known informally as an anti-inflammatory. Countless people with inflammation-related conditions have found CBD useful, and a great deal of research has accumulated on the subject.
Studies into CBD & inflammation
We’ll start with a 2020 evidence review titled “Antioxidative and Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Cannabidiol” and published in the journal Antioxidants. The authors examined all the available scientific data on CBD and inflammation to determine whether the cannabinoid is useful as an anti-inflammatory therapy.
The review summarizes that “CBD… exerts a number of beneficial pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties” before examining the cannabinoid’s direct antioxidant potential as well as its interaction with many oxidation-related systems in the body. While the study fails to draw any major conclusions, it provides massive evidence that CBD should be looked at further as a potential anti-inflammatory therapy.
The following year, another review compiling evidence on CBD and inflammation was published, this time in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. The authors sought specifically to determine the effects of CBD on inflammatory cytokines, immune hormones that can trigger inflammatory responses.
Titled “The Effects of Cannabinoids on Pro- and Anti-Inflammatory Cytokines: A Systematic Review of In Vivo Studies,” the review concluded that “CBD, CBG, and CBD+THC combination exert a predominantly anti-inflammatory effect in vivo.” Interestingly, THC alone was not observed to “reduce pro-inflammatory or increase anti-inflammatory cytokines.”
What is CBG oil?
Cannabigerol (CBG) oil is the same as CBD oil except that it is extracted from hemp plants that contain high concentrations of CBG, not CBD. Recently, hemp stains have been bred to contain 15%+ CBG for the first time, allowing the online CBG industry to spring into existence.
Does CBG oil help with inflammation?
Many users are convinced that CBG shows just as much potential to help with inflammation as CBD. Though this new cannabinoid is not yet as popular as CBD, it has become just as much revered within the chronic pain community, especially as new evidence has come to light.
Studies into CBG & inflammation
Our first piece of evidence comes from a laboratory study published in August 2021. The creators of this model showed that “CBD and CBG… exhibit anti-inflammatory activity” and go on to suggest that they “may have beneficial effects in treating diseases characterized by airway inflammation.”
The following month, a study published in the September edition of Molecules found that synthetic compounds derived from CBG have a whole host of benefits related to inflammation and pain. Derivatives of the cannabinoid would not show this anti-inflammatory potential if the compound itself did not offer that benefit to some extent.
Lastly, published again in Molecules (this time the January 2022 publication), we find another study into CBG derivatives produced by yeast biosynthesis. Perhaps most interestingly, this study found that, when it comes to CBG, “there are areas where it may be more effective than CBD.”
The verdict: Is CBG or CBD better for inflammation?
It’s clearly important that the scientific community continues looking into both CBD and CBG for inflammation. While CBD has gone a long way toward global acceptance, that doesn’t mean we know everything about the cannabinoid, meaning that CBG may offer benefits that CBD does not.
It would be a mistake, however, to abandon CBD in exchange for CBG as a preferred inflammation remedy. Due to the entourage effect, cannabinoids always offer better effects when used together, and it appears CBD and CBG cover each other’s blind spots when both cannabinoids combine to combat inflammation in your body.
