If you’ve ever been energized by the fragrance of peppermint or felt the calming effects of lavender tea, you have experienced the compelling effects of plant terpenes.
Terpenes give plants their flavor and aroma. Terpenes are also the driving force behind their therapeutic benefits. When you smell a flower or peel and orange, it’s the terpenes that stimulate your senses and enhance your well-being.
Full-spectrum CBD oil is a significant source of beneficial plant terpenes. Understanding the benefits of terpenes, and how CBD enhances their effects, may help you appreciate the many potential wellness benefits of full-spectrum hemp oil products.
Understanding the Effects of Plant Terpenes
It was once believed that plant terpenes provided therapeutic benefits because of the way fragrance impacts our senses. Terpenes were thought to promote healing by stimulating the emotional centers of our brain through our sense of smell. While this is a sound assessment, it only tells part of the story.
While terpenes have no significant effect on the plant they originate from, they do have the ability to impact other organisms and provide therapeutic benefits. The therapeutic benefits of individual plants depend on the combination of terpenes they contain.
Research confirms that terpenes not only trigger emotional responses, they also modulate brain activity and regulate physical processes.
Full-spectrum CBD oil may contain up to 200 potentially beneficial plant terpenes that have been attracting a significant amount of attention from scientific circles. Many of the terpenes found in full-spectrum hemp oil are also found in other sources. You may be familiar with a few of the following examples:
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Limonene
- The terpene that gives citrus fruits, rosemary, and pine needles their unique aroma. Limonene is used to help medicinal creams and ointments penetrate the skin.
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Myrcene
- Myrcene has a clove-like fragrance shown to have a calming, relaxing effect. Just a few of the many plants containing myrcene include ginger, rosemary, cardamom, black pepper, and celery.
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Linalool
- With an aroma often described as a citrusy-lavender. You will find linalool in the skins of citrus fruits, as well as in jasmine, lavender, thyme and basil plants.
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Pinene
- As limonene is to lemons, pinene is to pine. Pinene is also found in juniper berry and frankincense. This plant terpene is shown to improve concentration, increase energy levels, and boost a person’s feeling of satisfaction.
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Nerolidol
- Nerolidol is a terpene found in many plants. Just a few examples include ginger, jasmine, neroli, and tea tree oil. The scent of nerolidol is commonly described as woody.
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Beta-Caryophyllene
- Beta-Caryophyllene is commonly found in basil, black pepper, and oregano. Beta-caryophyllene interacts with your endocannabinoid system. By activating key endocannabinoid receptors, beta-caryophyllene helps maintain internal balance. (1)
Terpenes Enhance the Potential Benefits of CBD
While investigating the many potential health and wellness benefits of hemp oil, you may have learned how hemp plant-based cannabinoids mimic the messengers and influence the receptors of your endocannabinoid system. If you are familiar with this system, you likely know that your endocannabinoid system is the messaging network that regulates nearly every essential function in your body.
Plant terpenes have a similar effect. Like cannabinoids, terpenes also bind with various receptors and influence vital processes. Cannabinoids and terpenes work synergistically. When compounds are synergistic, each active element has a greater impact when combined than they have on their own. The synergy between cannabinoids and terpenes are maximized with another phenomenon called the entourage effect.
Terpenes Contribute to The Entourage Effect
Hemp oil contains as many as 480 plant compounds, including the additional cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, and essential fatty acids found in the original plant. While synergy explains the benefits of relying on whole plants rather than individual plant components, it’s the entourage effect that maximizes the effects of synergy.
In addition to its synergistic active components, full-spectrum hemp oil also contains many inert elements. Researchers noticed that these elements that have no effect on their own become active when they are combined. When combined and activated, the entourage effect explains how these combined factors maximize the impact of each plant component.
Because the entourage effect intensifies the health and wellness potential of CBD, many CBD enthusiasts believe full-spectrum CBD products are more beneficial than hemp oil products made with CBD isolate. In addition to cannabinoids and terpenes, full-spectrum CBD also contains:
- Plant flavonoids
- Amino acids
- Essential fatty acids
- Vitamins and minerals
- B vitamins
Terpenes work with the many (113) potentially beneficial cannabinoids in your full-spectrum hemp oil. These aromatic compounds are also shown to help cannabinoids pass through the blood-brain barrier.
Maximizing the Potential with Full-Spectrum Hemp Oil
The components that give plants their flavor and aroma are shown to provide significant therapeutic benefits. When terpenes and cannabinoids work together, the potential benefits are magnified and multiplied by the entourage effect.
To learn more about the potential health and wellness benefits of hemp CBD, download The Ultimate CBD User Guide at CBDistillery. Our fairly-priced hemp oil products are derived from non-GMO hemp seeds. Our products are third-party verified to ensure the quality, purity, and potency of every product we offer.
Sources:
- Intrepid Hearts. (2017, April 19). The Magical Powers of Plant Terpenes.
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