CBD vs CBG- Everything you need to know

While CBD has more studies, CBG is quite intriguing. Together, they work better for the mind and body.

What is CBD?

CBD is the most popular and (usually) the most abundant cannabinoid found in hemp plants. It's become a bestselling dietary supplement because of its healthy properties.

CBD also works with the cannabinoids found in your endocannabinoid system. Your endocannabinoid system oversees balance and homeostasis by interacting with your immune system, your hormone system, your neuronal system, and many other major systems and organs. That's why CBD acts like a Swiss army knife for a variety of health challenges.

What Does CBD Stand For?

CBD stands for cannabidiol. It's a fatty lipid from the cannabis plant with three rings and a tail. It absorbs through the intestines, and spreads through the body and brain and assists with balance and healing.

Potential benefits and effects of CBD

In survey after survey of why people use it, the top three reasons are always for pain, for sleep, and for anxiety.

These uses make sense. The endocannabinoid system works with your endorphin system, the painkilling molecules in your body. It strengthens your own pain-fighting system in a non-addictive manner. That's why so many people turn to CBD for their occasional aches and pains and exercise recovery.

For sleep, the effects of CBD are different for everybody. Listening to our customers, we hear many people say that CBD is their favorite thing to take before bed. It ensures them an easier time of going to sleep and causes a deeper longer sleep. However, for others, CBD tends to wake them up like a cup of tea and can’t take it after a certain time of day. 
Taking CBD in the morning and noon helps with anxiety levels and balance throughout the day. This allows you to fall asleep earlier and to sleep longer.

How CBD helps with anxiety is one of its most talked-about features. Not only does CBD help lower emotional stress and anxiety, CBD works with your brain’s serotonin system, often called the neurotransmitter of happiness. Studies have shown that CBD even helps people with anxiety before public speaking.

But these are only the benefits that we hear the most. We're amazed by our customers who call in and tell us their health wins caused by CBD when nothing else seemed to help. With the widespread nature of the endocannabinoid system, there is a reason that CBD is so popular.

What is CBG?

It is the mother cannabinoid of the cannabis plant. When the plant produces cannabinoids, CBG is the very first cannabinoid it makes. After that, CBG is modified to make CBD, THC or CBC. It's constantly processed into other cannabinoids, which doesn’t leave much left in the plant. 
However, this hasn't stopped scientists from realizing CBG is one of the most intriguing cannabinoids for health.

Most likely, it will be the next famous cannabinoid sold in dietary supplement stores. We know that people using CBG-rich products find that they help them with anxiety, chronic pain, depression, and insomnia. But unlike THC, CBG causes no psychoactive effects.

We do know that CBG acts at the CB1 and CB2 receptors and is a strong antioxidant. This study shows that CBG is the strongest antioxidant of all the major cannabinoids.cbd

What does CBG stand for?

CBG stands for cannabigerol. 

What is CBG good for and what are the potential benefits and effects?

Because CBG also works with the endocannabinoid system, it's been found to help with many things across the body and mind.

In mice with intestinal problems, fish oil combined well with CBD & CBG. In guinea pigs with lung inflammation, they both worked to lower inflammation. In neurons, CBG helped to lower excitability via control of the sodium channels and thus to protect them from getting harmed by too much excitation as well as lowering pain transmission. 
In a mouse model of stroke, CBG protected brain cells and it was also found to be protective of the blood-brain barrier as well as helping with neuroinflammation. And in one cool study, CBG even helped increase the strength of the brain’s stem cells.

For pain, CBG works on the same receptors that your body uses to detect spicy foods. Also, this review of 26 studies demonstrates the strong anti-inflammatory power of CBG. And in mice, CBG has been found to lower blood pressure. CBG might even become a new ingredient for oral care products.

CBG vs CBD

While CBD is known for being calming, anecdotally CBG is known for being more activating. It can speed up the heart and make people feel more alert. It might even someday be a viable alternative to caffeine. At the biochemical level, while CBD and CBG help with your serotonin levels, it's only CBD that repairs the release of neurotransmitters.

In terms of availability in stores, CBD is more common than CBG. However, as the health benefits of CBG become known, it's also becoming widespread.

Similarities & Differences

While CBD has three rings, while CBG has two. Neither of them cause a psychoactive effect. They also work through the two main receptors of the endocannabinoid system, and people find that they combine well because they balance each other out.

CBG vs CBD for Anxiety

For anxiety, CBD is well known and well documented as a great tool for stress relief. CBG has less correlation to stress relief because it tends to be more activating.

CBD vs CBG for pain

For pain, there are not many head-to-head studies between them, but both have been examined for pain and the research is promising. That's why we believe in the power of full spectrum hemp extracts. Combining major cannabinoids seems to help them work together better, especially for pain.

 Summary

While CBD oil is better known and more widely available, CBG oil is a fast-rising star from the hemp plant. At PlusCBD, we pride ourselves on creating full spectrum hemp extracts that get as much of the hemp plant into the bottle as possible. Try our full-spectrum gummies, oils, topicals, and softgel capsules cbd product.