Why Hemp Tincture Is Good for Your Health
Modern days, hemp is strongly associated with marijuana or cannabis – narcotic psychoactive substances. However, traditional healers used and continue to use hemp exclusively for pain relief and treatment of ailments.
Hemp tincture is a medicine with great medical potential. It can be used to relieve pain and treat a large number of different diseases. Tinctures are used not only for medical purposes but also in cosmetology, as an ingredient in antibacterial lotions, creams, ointments, shampoos, and shower gels.
Hemp leaves and seeds contain 30-38% fatty oil, which consists of fatty acid glycerides. There are amino acids: alanine, aspartic acid, valine, glycol, leucine, isoleucine, hydroxyproline, threonine, tyrosine, trigonellin, as well as proteins, querbacht, cannabinol, cannabidol, alkaloids.
Pharmacists began to actively use cannabis tincture for medicinal purposes in the late 19th – early 20th century.
People learned about the medical effect of tincture on hemp leaves and cones in ancient times. Over the centuries, they have been used as medicinal external agents and drugs for oral appliance made on their basis.
Cannabis tincture properties
The properties of hemp are widely used and are still used in traditional medicine. The unique composition and ratio of the nutrients included in its composition made this plant very popular as a tool that helps in the prevention and treatment of many serious and not very many ailments.
This is the list of some of them:
- asthma;
- gastritis;
- epilepsy;
- stomach ulcer;
- multiple sclerosis.
In addition, cannabis-based preparations quickly destroy the herpes virus, cleanse the lungs, and lower blood pressure.
How to make a cannabis tincture?
There are many ways to use cannabis, and a tincture is a great option for beginners. This is a concentrated plant extract, to create which you need high-grade alcohol. Alcohol is used to extract terpenes and cannabinoids from a plant. If you want to avoid the heady effect, you can make a tincture on glycerin.
Healing hemp tincture on alcohol is easy to prepare, does not require much effort and serves as an excellent therapeutic tool.
Initially, it was made based on alcohol, which is an excellent solvent.
Today alcohol is considered the best means of extracting cannabinoids. Tinctures from leaves, cones, and stalks of cannabis, which are created at pharmaceutical enterprises, very often already do not contain alcohol. Almost all of it is evaporated – usually, no more than 5% remains.
At the same time, stevia is added to the tincture – a natural plant sweetener that improves the taste of the drug product.
Cannabis tincture medicinal substances
Tincture of cannabis seeds and leaves contain many medicinal substances:
– Useful unsaturated fatty acids
Omega 3 and Omega 6;
– 20 types of amino acids;
– Vitamins of various groups;
– Cannabinoids and terpenes;
– A large number of trace elements.
Required materials for cannabis tincture recipe for the psychoactive effect
Alcohol tincture on hemp cones is no longer suitable for treatment, but psychoactive effects. The tool is very strong, and only the most experienced cannabis lovers can withstand it. Of course, this tincture can also be used for medicinal purposes – in this case, you need to take no more than 40 ml for 1 time.
To prepare a tincture for this recipe, you will need:
- alcohol 65% – 500 ml;
- alcohol 40% – 500 ml;
- 40 grams of dried hemp cones;
- 2-3 tbsp. tablespoons of fruit syrup;
- 15 berries of barberry;
- 3 juniper berries;
- ground ginger on the tip of a knife;
- 1 liter of any berry fruit drink.
Dry marijuana buds should be put in a glass jar and pour 0.5 liters of alcohol 65%. After this, the jar should be placed in a dark place for a week, shaking slightly from time to time. When 7 days have passed, the tincture should be filtered through a fine sieve or gauze, add berries and ginger, add 0.5% alcohol 40%.
Then the tincture should be left in a dark place for another three days under a closed lid. Do not forget to shake the jar twice a day. After this, the resulting product must be filtered again and add fruit syrup to obtain a beautiful color and aroma.
To slightly reduce the degree, you can dilute the tincture with 1 liter of fruit juice.
The Importance of Cannabis Decarboxylation
So, you have raw grass, and you are trying to decide what to do with it: smoke or bake a pie? If you decide to smoke, then you decarboxylate cannabis when you burn it in a fire.
The word “decarboxylation” is a combination of words, breaking it, we can understand and get an idea of what this process entails. Let’s start from the beginning.
De – Prefix, which, among other things, means removal or deletion. Carboxyl is a chemical term for the COOH acid radical group found in most organic substances.
Ation is a suffix that, among other things, means action.
Putting it all together, what do we get? The action to remove the carboxyl group. Crude and even dried cannabis contain tetrahydrocannabinol acid (THCA) and cannabinol acid (CBDA) in varying amounts.
As can be seen from the figure, it is this additional CO2 that means the difference between THCA and THC.
Decarboxylation is a natural process that occurs over time, and when trichomes come in contact with air, although we can accelerate this process by heating the inflorescences in any conventional electric or gas oven. The more precise the temperature control in the furnace, the more efficient the process will be. It is important not to use too high a temperature, as this can lead to the loss of some compounds with medicinal properties, so it is better to use a lower temperature and not rush the process. Thus, for example, heating at 110ºC for 30-40 minutes will not lead to the loss of beta-caryophyllene, a therapeutically useful substance, whereas at a higher temperature it will be lost.
How to use a cannabis tincture
There is no ideal recipe for using tinctures, as everyone has different tastes and tollers. Here are the best recommendations you can follow:
- Get dropper bottles. With their help, it will be much easier to measure the dosage of the tincture.
- If you are trying the tincture for the first time, do not plan any important things. It may be too strong, so it’s best to do it at home on a free day.
- If you have a low toller or you don’t know, start with one or two drops and wait 1-1.5 hours to feel the effects. Those who have a high toller can try a full dropper – the effects will also appear in 1-1.5 hours.
- You can also add the tincture to drinks with a pronounced taste, for example, cranberry juice.
- For stronger effects, you can drip tincture under the tongue and hold it there for half a minute. So it will act faster than products with the addition of cannabis.
Well-Known cannabis tincture recipes
In folk medicine, there are many different cannabis tinctures recipes for hemp infusions.
Recipe 1 – For treatment
To prepare cannabis tincture you will need about 100 grams of hemp (you can take leaves, stems, buds). Hemp raw materials are crushed and placed in a pan or large bowl, then poured with 1 liter of vodka or alcohol. Hemp must be infused for 14 days.
Hemp tincture on vodka is an excellent remedy for cold sores on lips and non-healing wounds. When diluted with water, it can be used as a means to rinse a sore throat with angina.
There are many different opinions about how much marijuana and alcohol you need to use when creating a tincture. The volume can greatly depend on what a person needs. Here are some guidelines you can take a first look at:
Light effect – 1 g of marijuana per 30 ml of alcohol
Average effect – 1 g of marijuana per 20 ml of alcohol
Strong effect – 1 g of marijuana per 10 ml of alcohol
However, none of these recommendations is final. If you try one of these ratios, and it turns out to be too strong, switch to a lower dosage. If the ratio is too weak, increase the concentration. You can also vaporize part of the alcohol to increase strength, or add glycerin to reduce it.
Recipe 2 – Old method (Green Dragon)
This is the slowest, but the most famous way. You may have heard of the Green Dragon or have already tried it. This method is so popular because it practically does not need additional materials.
For this method you’ll need:
– Marijuana
– High degree alcohol
– Dark glass jar with a tight-fitting lid
1. Decarboxylate 28 g of marijuana.
2. Put it in a glass jar.
3. Add approximately 300 ml of alcohol and close the lid tightly.
4. Place the jar in a dark, cool place for about three months. Periodically remove and shake the jar.
Recipe 2 – Ed Rosenthal
Each of its methods always has its arguments. He came up with an original (at least for me) tincture recipe. This method is taken from his new book on concentrates and products with the addition of cannabis.
What do you need?
- Marijuana
- High degree alcohol
- Dark glass jar with a tight-fitting lid
- Blender or food processor
- Colander
- Large metal bowl
- Another large bowl (metal or glass)
- Coffee filters
- Decarboxylate 28 g of marijuana.
- Put it in a colander located in a large metal bowl.
- Pour water into a bowl so that the marijuana floats on its surface and leave for 90 minutes.
- This will help pull chlorophyll out of the cones.
- Remove the colander from the bowl to make the glass water.
- Roll wet marijuana into a ball and squeeze water out of it.
- Break the ball and put the marijuana in a blender.
- Add approximately 300 ml of alcohol and mix at low speed for five minutes.
- Leave the liquid for an hour, and then mix it again for five minutes.
- Strain the liquid through a colander, collecting all the used marijuana.
- Squeeze the remaining tincture from pieces of cones.
- Put the used marijuana in a bowl of fresh alcohol for another hour.
- Strain the liquid again through a colander, but this time the used marijuana can be discarded. Strain the tincture in a bowl through a coffee filter to get rid of small particles.
- This step is optional, but the final product will look better.
- Pour the tincture into a dark glass jar with a tight-fitting lid.
The tincture is ready!
Cannabis Tincture Performance of Safety
To minimize the harm associated with cognitive impairment caused by the use of hemp, hemp should be avoided in situations that require concentration, attention and undisturbed perception of time, for example, when doing homework.
At least a day before the implementation of important and complex tasks requiring cognitive efforts, it is reasonable to refrain from using hemp tinctures at all.
Here are some tips to protect yourself when preparing tinctures:
- Avoid open flames. Do not smoke – even a small spark may be enough to cause a strong fire.
- Do not use a gas stove. Trying to make tinctures next to a gas stove is incredibly dangerous. Alcoholic fumes can cause an accidental fire. Try to use an electric stove whenever possible.
- Make sure you have good ventilation. High degree alcohol releases vapors that, if accumulated, can cause a fire. If space is well ventilated, the concentration of such vapors in the air remains at a sufficiently low level.
- Keep a dry fire extinguisher handy. If you follow the above rules, you will not have problems when preparing the tincture. However, you must be prepared for everything!
All tinctures, like food, deteriorate sooner or later, but the good news is that they are stored for much longer. With proper storage, well-prepared and unopened tinctures should be stored for two to three years, while they do not lose their therapeutic properties.
Cannabis tincture against cannabis smoking
Smoking cannabis and even vaping is not the easiest way to use marijuana for everyone, and some consumers believe that such methods have a bad effect on the throat and lungs. Over the past few decades, attitudes toward smoking have generally changed significantly, so there is the fact that many of them prefer edible products and tinctures as the main method of cannabis consumption.
Studies have shown that smoking marijuana helps with nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing chemotherapy. When it comes to palliative care, especially for patients with cancer, the study indicates that most patients (over 60 percent) experience both of these symptoms and not one or the other, so medical marijuana can relieve both (and possibly many others) at the same time. Studies have also shown that smoking or using marijuana through a vaporizer can help with the pain associated with neurological disorders and can help patients return to their normal diet.
THC is the main physical active ingredient in marijuana. It usually enters the body when smoking marijuana. Also available in the form of oils, capsules, tinctures, even food. In simple terms – this is exactly what makes you feel high.
The hemp smoker is talkative, laughs a lot and feels that his sense of humor seems to have grown wings. The sense of time and space, memory, the ability to concentrate, the criticality, as well as the ability to coordinate and reactions weaken. Reflexes slow down, appetite increases, especially for sweets.
Cannabis tincture against edible cannabis
Сakes, cookies, sweets – the so-called weed edibles, space cakes pose a danger to both children and pets, as well as to unsuspecting people who can accidentally use hemp. When consuming large quantities, hallucinations can occur. Panic attacks and anxiety attacks are possible. The use of cannabis products changes the attitude and behavior of a person. Of course, eating chewing sweets soaked in concentrate or butter, grass, and chocolate is a good alternative to smoking, but cannabis tinctures have several advantages over traditional foods.
The main cannabis tinctures advantages are :
– a much faster effect on the body compared to an orally ingested edible product.
– can begin to act after a few hours.
– tinctures, on the other hand, begin to act in a few minutes!
Since tinctures are absorbed in the mouth, and not in the digestive tract, they have additional benefits for patients who need hemp preparations that are difficult to swallow or who suffer from nausea – two common problems that prevent patients from consuming any food.
Bioavailability refers to how much of an administered drug enters the bloodstream. It may be a surprise to find that traditional foods have very low bioavailability, which means that only a small percentage of cannabis consumed actually reaches the bloodstream. Sublingual absorption is a more direct route into the bloodstream. This increases the bioavailability of tinctures, and therefore makes them more effective.
Cannabis tincture against hemp oil
Cannabis fatty oil has no nutritional value, but it is used in cosmetology, soap making, paint, and varnish industry. In cosmetology, hemp oil is used to nourish, strengthen and restore damaged hair. Tinctures can also be made from various starting materials, such as alcohol, glycerin or oil. Since the active substances in cannabis are insoluble in water, they must be dissolved in alcohol or fat.
It is easiest to make a tincture of alcohol, but not everyone likes to drink alcohol, so the most popular tincture is oil-based. For example, coconut oil tincture is popular because it is available to everyone. Glycerin as a base for hemp tincture is a recent invention. This option is considered the healthiest, because even oil tinctures are not very useful for our body.
Marijuana tincture effects on your health
One of the most effective ways to use hemp is a drop, and there are a lot of reasons. Cannabis tinctures have existed for centuries. They were one of the very first cannabis concentrates and were used as a medicine. After the ban on cannabis, tinctures also disappeared, but thanks to legalization, they return and take their place of honor in the market.
The main advantage of tinctures is a quick effect; they begin to act in a few minutes, unlike edible products.
Since tinctures are absorbed in the mouth, and not in the digestive tract, they are great for medicinal purposes for people who have difficulty swallowing or who experience nausea.
Since marijuana tincture is a natural antibiotic and local analgesic, among other things, alcohol-made tincture with your own hands can be used to treat ear pain, herpes rinses with tonsillitis, and wound healing. To do this, it must be diluted with water.
Those who intend to take cannabis preparations for the treatment of any disease should not forget that this is a drug. Cannabis should not be treated for too long without a break, its overdose should not be allowed. Your health is in your hands, use one of the effective traditional medicine based on the popular drink.
* All information is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guide or call to action.
