As the market for cannabis heats up around the world, from the superfood appeal of hemp seeds to the newfound popularity of cannabidiol (CBD oil), it’s no surprise that people are looking for new ways to pump up the power of the plant. While there’s a lot of potential on the horizon for medical marijuana and its considered health benefits, many people aren’t aware that the nutritional quotient of the green stuff can be improved with a few choice foods.
Whether you’re new to the market and are testing out marijuana seeds or are wondering how some of your favourite foods will interact with the powerful green substance, it’s a pretty multi-faceted plant with a lot of potential!
From coconut oil to chocolate to your favorite glass of wine, here are some of the ways that cannabis will work with some common staples in your kitchen.
Wine
Wine contains polyphenol, which is a substance that can stimulate the brain in much the same way that the psychoactive ingredients present in marijuana which is the endocannabinoids do. Given the fact that both wine and cannabis have the ability to lower inhibitions and work to relax the user, it should come as no surprise that both can work in tandem with each other!
According to Scott Lukas, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Harvard Medical School, cannabis “causes your blood alcohol levels to actually be lower than…if you had just consumed alcohol by itself.” But, if you start out with a drink and then ingest cannabis, you’ll have the opposite experience.
Since alcohol content in wine opens up the blood levels and helps THC to be absorbed, you’ll experience a more intense high than you would with cannabis alone plus this ultimate combination helps with memory loss and ageing.
Coconut Oil
Most of us are aware of healthy fats like nuts, olive oil, and avocados, but coconut oil has become a prominent fixture on the health scene recently for its myriad body benefits. Fortunately, whether you decide to cook with coconut oil and cannabis or stir up your own combination, you unleash even more of the benefits of both when you heat them together!
When cannabis is heated, a compound known as THC-A is converted to THC, and this process helps it to bond with healthy fats. Given the ability both substances have to stimulate the regulatory system of the body, this can be a means of improving heart health, reducing inflammation and working out many common pains and ailments in the body. Whether you add this combination to your coffee or your soup, it’s chock-full of health potential.
Coffee
A cup of joe may be the morning-time drink that most people crave, but it also has an impact on some of the same parts of the brain as cannabis.
According to a study at Northwestern University published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, the link between coffee and the endocannabinoid system was determined. By observing the levels of metabolites, the chemicals in the blood produced during metabolism, researchers determined that the system’s stimulation dropped off when consuming coffee.
As a result, because cannabis works to stimulate the endocannabinoid system, the effects of coffee and cannabis are entirely different from one another and counteract each other’s impacts. So, if you’re
thinking of testing out coffee alongside a dose of medical marijuana, you may not notice a marked difference in the way you feel.
Tea
If coffee isn’t your drink of choice, you may still be interested to know that – not only can cannabis be brewed alongside tea – it actually works to bind with the body’s cannabinoid receptors to improve how you feel.
In fact, in countries like Jamaica and India, tea is often brewed with marijuana for a variety of different health effects and even as an offering to the deities. While coffee may actually counter many of the regulatory properties that cannabis offers, tea can work alongside medical marijuana to reduce chronic pain that’s the result of diseases like cancer, AIDS, and multiple sclerosis. Because of the two substances ability to bind with each other, marijuana tea can minimize the psychoactive impacts of marijuana and lead to a sedation and sense of deep relaxation.
Chocolate
There are few treats out there that are more popular than this sweet snack, but it’s important to know too that there are actually many health benefits of chocolate. Not only is it popular for its sinful sense of decadence, it actually contributes to a marijuana-akin high that has the ability to impact mood, memory, and appetite.
Given the presence of anandamide in chocolate, a substance which is a naturally occurring cannabinoid, the popular treat works to stimulate the body’s endocannabinoid system and regulate feelings and moods. In addition, because anandamide activates the system’s receptors, it can intensify the ‘high’ feeling when it is consumed along with cannabis. Chocolates can be infused with cannabis seeds too. Get more information on these bars.
Cannabis alone has certain benefits of its own and if one pairs it with certain foods, the experience is going to be one of a kind. As the air is getting clearer for cannabis now , people are getting more aware of the unique health benefits of cannabis (in regions like Louisiana, medical marijuana is growing in popularity) as what it can do to clear your body, adding support to the immune system and providing your body with nutrition (fatty acids and vitamins) which supports and helps your body heal faster from certain medical conditions.
Featured image courtesy of Lonely Planet.