Just when I thought I’d seen all the major medical marijuana research,
an amazing new study comes out. This one shows that a major
component of cannabis, also found in common foods, is responsible
for pot’s anti-inflammatory effects. Severe arthritis may have met it’s match.

This component of medical marijuana is called Beta-Carophyllene.

beta-carophyllene

Beta-Caryophyllene
Beta-Caryophyllene
Sound familiar? It should, it’s closely related
to beta-carotene, that precursor to Vitamin A that is so abundant
in carrots.

Beta-carophyllene composes between 12 and 35 percent of the
cannabis plant’s essential oil, is used as a food additive,
can be found in spice plants like oregano, basil, cinnamon
and black pepper, and finally, it does NOT make you high.
Turns out, there are two types of cannabis receptors, one
that can be activated by the “high” inducing chemicals, like
THC, but there is another type of receptor that is critical in
the inflammation control system of the body.

Excessive inflammation has been shown to be responsible for

Also Beta-carophyllene

diseases such as liver cirrhosis, Crohn’s Disease, severe arthritis, heart
disease, and many others.

Experiments with mice showed a 70% decrease in the inflammatory
response when they were fed beta-carophyllene. Mice without the
receptor showed no improvement.

Could this substance, a direct key to activate specific receptors that
control inflammation, be the whole reason that veggies are so good
for us? That very well could be the case, though that theory is far
from widely accepted.

Read the research abstract at

http://www.pnas.org/content/105/26/9099