CBD Oil Online and Delta-8 THC
If you’re into holistic health, cannabidiol (CBD), or just happen to love the hemp plant and the full spectrum of culture around it, chances are you’ve seen something online about ‘delta-8 THC’ doing the rounds.
While it’s not one of the premium CBD products we have on our shelves in Australia, as fellow hemp lovers who also happen to stock many CBD oils online, we think it’s a pretty interesting development in the industry and one fellow hemp lovers should know about.
What is Delta-8 THC?
As you probably already know, THC is the cannabis compound that gets you high, giving you a feeling of euphoria, happiness, sedation, symptom relief, and much more. This is different to cannabidiol, aka CBD, which does not get you high, but has many therapeutic properties itself and is increasingly researched to treat a huge variety of health conditions.
Now, the kind of THC that does get you high is actually called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol. It’s a mouthful! For short, we’ll refer to this as delta-9 THC. It’s found in high (pardon the pun) concentrations in the majority of cannabis strains.
Delta-8 THC, however, is also found in most cannabis strains, but only in trace amounts. Given that it’s only in very small amounts, it must be extracted, then synthesized. As such, it’s more expensive to produce, and is commonly referred to as ‘synthetic THC’.
What Is the Difference between Delta-9 and Delta-8 THC?
One a molecular level, regular delta-9 THC and delta-8 THC are very similar. They both bind to our body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS), and they both have what’s known as a ‘double bond’ structure.
The main difference here is where that double bond is located. Both cannabinoids have a chain of carbon atoms, but delta-8 has the double bond on the eighth carbon chain, whereas delta-9 has it on the ninth.
Chemistry aside, on a ‘how does it feel’ level, delta-8 THC is known to be less potent than delta-9 (regular) THC. Delta-8 will indeed get you high, but not as high. So, the feelings of euphoria, or happiness, along with the side effects of red eyes, or the munchies, will be a little less pronounced.
It’s thought that this is a result of the double bond we mentioned earlier being lower down the carbon chain, affecting how it bonds to our body’s ECS.
What Are the Benefits of Delta-8 THC?
While there hasn’t been nearly as much research on delta-8 THC yet compared to CBD or regular THC, there still has been some –and it goes as far back as the 1970s!
Cancer
Perhaps the most exciting research on delta-8 THC is how it might help fight cancer. One of the only studies regarding delta-8 as a cancer treatment occurred back in 1974, with government researchers using mice infected with lung cancer to try and determine if delta-8 was harmful to the immune system.
An unexpected discovery occurred during the study, though, after researchers realized that the mice who had been treated with delta-8 THC for a period of 20 days actually had reduced tumour sizes. Researchers also found that survival time went up when mice with cancer were treated with delta-8 THC.
Unfortunately, though, any further research into the subject was limited in the decades following that 1974 study due to cannabis’ legal status in the U.S., but there is still plenty of reason to believe that delta-8 could be a weapon in the fight against cancer.
Nausea, Appetite, Anxiety, and More
While not extensive, there is some well-documented research from several scientific, peer-reviewed journals on how delta-8 THC can help with:
- Preventing vomiting
- Promoting an appetite
- Reducing anxiety
- Treating pain and inflammation
- Treating addiction
However, we’ll cover all of those in a future blog, so be sure to check our site regularly or subscribe to our mailing list by entering your email in our footer.
Closing Thoughts, and a Question
Actually, let’s start with the question: when searching for CBD oils online, have you come across any containing delta-8 THC in Australia or New Zealand? If so, we’d love to hear from you! Drop us a line in the comments or email us here, and tell us how you found it, and what you’re using it for. Once again, while we don’t stock delta-8 THC on our shelves, feel free to reach out to us as we do help people with custom oil profile options. And, as always, talk to your healthcare professional before trying any new supplements.