CBG Is The New CBD: What We Know About The Lesser Known Cannabinoid

While most of us have heard of CBD by now, not many can say the same of CBG. Over the past five years, CBD has taken the beauty and wellness worlds by storm for its high antioxidant levels as well as its potential to help alleviate anxiety, calm the mind and help insomnia, but now, CBG is being dubbed as even more effective ingredient, and still totally legal. But what actually is CBG? And is it really any different from its popular predecessor?

First things first, it’s important to understand exactly what CBD is. CBD (it’s full name is Cannabidiol) is a type of cannabinoid, which is a group of chemical compounds derived from the cannabis plant. CBD is non-psychoactive, meaning it cannot make you high (the reason cannabis makes people high is because of a totally different cannabinoid called Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is illegal in the UK). 

Many believe that CBD has many health and wellness benefits, namely relieving feelings of pain, stress, depression and anxiety as well as helping to reduce insomnia. It can be taken as a tincture, an oil or a supplement and is widely available in health stores and some pharmacies as a form of alternative medicine. However, it should be noted that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has recently published a list of sanctioned ingestible CBD supplements following a review into whether manufacturers have tested their products sufficiently and proven they are safe. The list of products that the FSA has validated as safe, or as “awaiting evidence”, can remain on the market and can be found here. Any product not mentioned on the list will need to be immediately removed from the market and shouldn’t be consumed until proven safe. 

While we should be wary of ingesting cannabis-derived health products, CBD have been approved for use in topical skincare for its high antioxidant properties that helps to reduce damage from environmental aggressors like pollution, and is commonly found in everything from night creams to bath oils. CBG shares similar topical benefits but is far less common that CBD. 

What is CBG? 

CBG (it’s full name is Cannabigerol) is yet another cannabinoid. Interestingly, CBG is the precursor to many other cannabinoids, including CBD and THC (the acidic form of CBG breaks down to form the base molecules for the other cannabinoids), so some people refer to it as the mother of cannabinoids. 

What are the benefits of CBG?

Unlike CBD, which has been widely studied, there is little definitive scientific research on CBG (so far!). Preliminary findings from in-vitro and other studies have suggested that CBG could have a number of health benefits, including reducing inflammatory conditions like colitis and helping to prevent brain seizures and epilepsy.