Cannabis Compounds: The Next Covid Combatant?

A recent study has found that cannabis could be a key to slowing the spread of Covid-19. 

Taking cannabis derivatives and extracts in the form of oils,  preventative pills, tinctures, or other proactive, preemptive oral methods of consumption may aim to stop a potential positive COVID-19 infection from developing within us. 

This post-contact, pre-infection oral supplement could offer coronavirus barriers in addition to other protective measures such as vaccinations,  creating a stronger, more comprehensive scope of protection and resistance to the virus. 

The study, titled “Cannabinoids Block Cellular Entry of SARS-CoV-2 and the Emerging Variants,” was conducted by Dr. Richard Van Breeman of Oregon State University and his colleagues at the Oregon Health and Science University. 

Van Breeman and his team found that cannabis compounds and compound acids blocked the coronavirus from penetrating and infecting human cells, which shows tremendous promise for preventing viral infection.

Could our next Covid-dose actually be a measure of cannabis? 

How Could Cannabis Combat COVID?

The potential use of cannabis compounds to prevent illness goes back to basic biology. 

Covid-19 infection involves protein and enzyme interference. 

Proteins are molecules found inside your body that facilitate cell functions. Enzymes, also known as biological catalysts, are a type of protein that binds to molecules and produces fast chemical reactions.

Proteins and enzymes are essential for keeping our bodies in proper working order and carrying out our internal, systematic functions. 

Such functions include eating, breathing, moving, feeling, and even DNA cell replication, as proteins and enzymes travel and disperse throughout your body.   

Unfortunately, binding to proteins and hitching a ride is also how viruses, including Covid-19, can enter and attack your immune system. 

The coronavirus, in particular, occurs when the SARS-CoV-2 viral spike protein, a protein that enables viruses to infiltrate cells and infect them, binds with one of our enzymes types.

Like cannabis compounds CBD-A, CBG-A, and THC-A, cell inhibitors could prevent this binding from happening, which is precisely what the study aimed to find out. 

CBD-A and CBG-A were determined to have infection-blocking properties and, along with THC-A, have a high potential for deterring Covid-19 infection. 

CBD-A, CBG-A, and THC-A receptor functions allow these compounds to attach to another protein molecule and change their cellular communication and responses. 

Receptor binding is how cannabinoid compounds or cannabinoid acids, such as CBD or CBD-A or THC or THC-A, work within our body. 

When we take cannabis compounds such as CBD, they are processed through our endocannabinoid system (ECS). 

The ECS is a biological communication system that modulates homeostasis and sustains physiological harmony within our bodies. 

We need our ECS to help regulate sleeping and eating and monitor immunity, stress, and pain responses.  

The ECS has endocannabinoid receptors that serve as communication signaling beacons. 

The messages developed by the receptors are delivered by enzymes that flow through your bloodstream. 

When we take a substance such as CBD, it causes a change in communication with the receptors. 

For example, CBD can alert your receptors that less pain is needed, and enzymes help spread the message. This response alteration is why CBD enables pain relief and is used for pain reduction. 

While the promising research behind cannabis compounds for Covid prevention offers a huge, potentially game-changing next step for helping stop the spread of COVID-19, the findings are oriented towards just that: preventative care. 

Much like vaccinations, oral cannabis compound supplements would be intended for frontline use rather than a Covid cure-all for those who become infected. 

Combining Cannabis Compounds For a Stronger Defense

Combinations of CBD-A, CBG-A, and THC-A were found to have more substantial effects on viral defenses than when the compounds were dispersed and expected to bind independently. 

This multifaceted approach is not an uncommon practice in the cannabis industry. 

Cannabinoid compounds such as CBD, CBN, and CBG are often used together to create robust and wholesome products. 

Take CBD and CBN, for example. 

While popular for its wide array of symptom management, CBD is known to help overcome sleeplessness and promote relaxation. 

Similarly, CBN, another cannabis chemical compound produced through THC oxidation, is also used to target sleep disorders and induce sedation in its consumers.

CBD and CBN can regularly be found combined in Sleep Formulas, cannabis-based products designed for and geared towards a better night’s rest. 

Increasing interest in cannabinoid combos like Sleep Formulas has opened up the door to new compounds blends. 

CBD has dominated the non-THC cannabis extract industry for years but is just one of many cannabinoids produced by the cannabis plant. 

The potential benefits of other cannabinoids have prompted manufacturers to consider the hundreds of chemical compounds that could be used to our advantage. 

Taking the CBD-A compound (also referred to as cannabidiolic acid or cannabis compound acids) cited by Dr. Van Breeman and his team and mixing it with CBD is set to create an elevated oil option for consumers. 

With CBD-A offering a more potent and intense version of the advantages harnessed from CBD, using both affords users a bit of benefit backup and a more powerful proactive approach, without the psychoactive effects caused by other compounds like THC. 

The appropriately named Immune Defense Formula now being created by Saving Grace CBD is debuting at a critical time – we all could use the extra layer of protection in the pursuit to become healed, not high. 

This Does Not Mean Smoking Marijuana Helps Prevent Covid-19

While smoking marijuana would make for a readily available and consumable COVID-19 combatant, the science isn’t as simple as that. 

The Covid-fighting cannabinoid compounds of interest are CBD-A, CBG-A, and THC-A. The letter ‘A’ pinned to the end of each cannabinoid represents these compound’s carboxylic acid groups. 

Carboxylic acids are subject to conversion when they come into contact with heat. 

When this chemical conversion occurs, the acids are essentially changed to CBD, CBG, and THC. In other words, they lose their acidic identifiers.

This modification is important because CBD, CBG, and THC cannabinoid compounds not of a carboxylic acid variety don’t protect against the virus. 

Consuming them in a format that requires heat, such as smoking and vaping, could negate the compounds’ preventative properties. 

For now, the scientific jury is still out on whether other forms of cannabinoid compound consumption could prevent COVID-19, but digestive ingestion remains on the right track. 

What we do know is that this preliminary research has opened the doors for further cannabis and Covid related research. 

While exact dosage and administration remain to be developed, future findings might alter the state of cannabis culture as we know it.