Cannabinoid Guide

CBG vs. CBD vs. CBN vs. CBC - The Ultimate Comparison Guide

Just a few years ago, CBD was the only non-intoxicating cannabinoid widely available. It was not long, however, before CBD was followed by cannabigerol (CBG), and in no time at all, products containing cannabinol (CBN) and cannabichromene (CBC) also started appearing.

While most people know that all of these new hemp compounds are non-intoxicating, common knowledge regarding the unique properties of CBG, CBC, and CBN usually ends there. In this guide, we’ll provide detailed information on each of the non-intoxicating cannabinoids that has recently emerged on the market, and we’ll help you determine which hemp constituent is right for your purposes.

A Whole New World of Cannabinoids is Emerging

Mature Cannabis sativa flower contains hundreds of different compounds, and the majority of these substances are either flavonoids, terpenes, or analogs (copies) of a few common cannabinoids. There are around 6 to 8 fully chemically distinct cannabinoids, and each of these cannabinoids has unique properties.

Starting with the realization that CBD might have therapeutic value in the early 2000s, it took nearly 10 years for breeders to develop biodynamic hemp phenotypes high in CBD instead of THC. It is rather remarkable, therefore, that efforts to breed hemp strains that are high in CBG, CBN, and CBC have evolved at such a rapid pace.

These days, cannabinoid producers have either bred cannabinoid-specific strains or developed processes to convert more widely available cannabinoids, such as CBD or CBG, into rarer compounds like CBN and CBC. Products containing CBD, CBG, CBN, and CBC are now widely available, making it well worth our time to determine their strengths both alone and combined.

What is CBG?

Let’s start our inquiry into the latest additions to the cannabinoid market with cannabigerol (CBG), which is beginning to rival CBD in popularity. CBG is the easiest cannabinoid to derive from CBGa (cannabigerolic acid), which is considered to be the “stem cell” of cannabinoids since it can also convert into CBD, CBC, or THC via enzymatic processes.

Once CBGa has converted into CBG, it becomes stable and won’t undergo an additional transformation into THC or any other cannabinoid.

Instead of deriving CBG from CBGa molecules that have been genetically encoded to become other cannabinoids, hemp producers have developed cultivars that naturally produce high concentrations of CBGa without converting it into anything else. Since CBG breeding is still in its infancy, CBG flower strains with concentrations above 15% are rare, but that is still enough to gain a potent glimpse into everything CBG has to offer.

Like CBD, CBG is non-intoxicating, and hemp users report that the effects of these cannabinoids feel very similar. Under the hood, CBG interacts with your body’s systems via very different mechanisms than CBD; and, based on initial research, CBG appears to offer a few benefits that are entirely unique.

CBN vs. CBD

In terms of chemical structure, CBN is more similar to THC than it is to CBD, which is part of why the effects CBN and THC provide together have been researched so extensively. CBN almost behaves like a fusion of CBD and THC — while it may provide the appetite-stimulating effects of THC, it is less-psychoactive. Many people use CBD as a sedative, but they report mixed results. The vast majority of individuals who have used CBN for sleep, however, report impressive degrees of success, substantiating calls for further research into the sedative properties of this cannabinoid. Due to its potential antibacterial effects, CBN also bears similarity to CBG. This Cannabis sativa compound straddles the middle ground between multiple intoxicating and non-intoxicating cannabinoids, making it a fascinating target of future research for reasons beyond its potential sedative benefits.