Terpenes in Cannabis and Essential Oils | Mental Health Benefits

Good afternoon everybody and welcome to this presentation of Pacer Integrative Behavioral Health. Today we are talking about terpenes in cannabis, CBD and essential oils. And as always, I'm your host, Dr. Donnelly Snipes. So let's start out with the important information and disclaimers. Always consult with your doctor about any changes to health behaviors including the use of essential oils, taking supplements or changing your diet. Cannabis and CBD interact with most medications, unfortunately including over the counter medications. So medical supervision is essential. That being said, let's talk about terpenes. And terpenes are the aromatic compounds found in plants that's not just in cannabis or cbd, any of your plants. So terpenes are what you are finding in the essential oils, if you're familiar with those. So we're going to talk about specifically the terpenes that are found in cannabis but I'm also going to tell you where you can find those same terpenes in other, other plant if you are not, you know, interested in cannabis inhalation or ingestion of terpenes. The aromatic compounds can have anti inflammatory, anti anxiety, antidepressant, antifungal, antibacterial, neuroprotective and cognitive enhancing effects. So terpenes can be awesome. And if you are familiar with essential oils, you are familiar with the fact that a lot of essential oils have been demonstrated in research and to have calming effects or uplifting effects, appetite suppressive effects. It does this when we inhale the terpenes. The, in terms of essential oils, when we inhale the terpenes, it activates sensory receptors in our nose that send messages to our brain that alter our neurochemicals. They actually interact with the receptors in our well, it causes the neurochemicals to interact with receptors in our brain. So terpenes can be really awesome because you know, again they are something that can be smelled in terms of cannabis and CBD related products. Terpenes are also found in the, in the plant itself and well and you can also find it in other plants like sage and rosemary and oregano. When you eat those plants, you are ingesting the terpenes. Now do not ingest essential oils. Essential oils are extremely extraordinarily potent distilled down forms of the, the essential oil from the plant and high, high, high, high, high concentration of terpenes. They can be toxic vapor very easily. I know some people do ingest essential oils but it is extremely dangerous and needs to be done definitely under a doctor's supervision. That being said, when terpenes are ingested orally and again, that can mean just eating oregano or cumin. They exert their influence in the digestive tract and throughout the immune system. So just because you're not smoking it or inhaling it doesn't mean the terpenes aren't doing the work. So that, that's kind of my take home. There is no matter how your body connects with the terpenes, they do have effects. Of the 120 different terpenes that are found in cannabis, for example, any of them may influence their overall effects of cannabis by helping the cannabinoids to penetrate the blood or penetrate the blood brain barrier more easily, by altering liver metabolism of the cannabinoids, or by contributing to their own therapeutic properties. This is called the entourage effect. And basically it says, you know, when you have the effects of the cannabinoids like THC or CBD plus terpenes that also activate those receptors or assist in, in creating those effects, they may work synergistically. And that's not just true of cannabis. That's true of a lot of things that they. They found that essential oils can actually enhance the effectiveness of certain herbs and medications. So let's talk about some of these terpenes. And the terpenes give things their unique smell. If you are familiar with essential oils, you know, for example, that there are like 12 different kinds of lavender. Each one of them has a slightly different aroma to it. Same thing. There's not as many different types of frankincense, chamomile. There's Roman and German. So each one of these has a different balance of terpenes in them. But in terms of the main terpenes that are can be found in different types of cannabis or CBD oil, we have Myrcene. This is typically found in your indica strains of cannabis. It can also be found in bay leaf, verbena, pine, juniper and lemongrass plants and essential oils. So if you're looking for an essential oil that will produce the effects of mircene, you know, those are some options that you have. Meine is anti inflammatory, anti emetic, which means it helps you helps with nausea and sedative, so it helps you calm down, it reduces inflammation and makes your tummy feel happier. Now, I did do some research, I am relatively new to learning about cannabis, so I did do the some research and found that cannabis strains that tend to have Myrcene in it include Blue Dream, Sour Diesel, Northern Lights, Pineapple and Skunk xl. You can also again get Myrcene. It's available in certain broad spectrum CBD oils. You just, you need to really do your research and specifically look and ask if it, if, if they know whether the CBD oil has this particular terpene in it. The next terpene, and this is one of my favorite, it's limonene. You can typically find it in the sativas, your cannabis sativa strains. It's citrusy, it has a. You can find it in lemon essential oil, orange essential oil, spearmint. I actually order D limonene, which is a animal industrial strength degreaser. But it is limonene to clean my house. I use it in my laundry, I use it to clean it is very uplifting. Limonene has antidepressant, anti anxiety effects and it also has been shown in some cases to enhance immunity. So those are all really awesome properties. Now, in terms of cannabis and cbd, limonene tends to be higher, as I said in the sativas. And the strains that typically have higher amounts of limonene include Sour Diesel, Sweet Tooth and Super Lemon Haze. Pretty much if it has the name of a citrus fruit in it. The rule that I found in on one of the sites was that it probably has a high level of limonene in it. The next one is another one of my favorites. It's linalool. And this is the main constituent in lavender essential oil. And we all are familiar with lavender essential oil and how it can be very calming. Interestingly enough, linalool is also very common or very, very high concentration in coriander, cilantro and basil. Now, I love basil and I love lavender. I cannot stand coriander or cilantro. So I thought that was really interesting that this particular terpene was really high in all four of those plants. And they have such different aromas to them, which tells you that there are other terpenes that work and they may have slightly different therapeutic effects. I know my donkey, for example, isn't crazy about lavender, but she loves cilantro. I grow cilantro in the garden and she just eats it all the time. So anyway, that's kind of a side note. Linalool is helpful for relaxation sleep and they found in some research that it's helpful for seizure reduction. In terms of cannabis strains, Fire OG OG Shark and Amnesia Haze are purported to to have higher levels of linalool than other strains. Caryophylline is the next terpene we're going to talk about. And this is a spicy terpene and it is found commonly in black Pepper, cinnamon, oregano, cloves and thyme. So I thought it was interesting going back here that. Oh no. Anyhow, some things that have a clove like smell really don't have, you know, really aren't related to clove at all. But in terms of terpenes that are actually in cloves and oregano, it's caryophylline. Karyophylene is anti inflammatory analgesic, so it's pain relieving. And they found in some studies it may reduce alcohol consumption. Now I am not saying to do to use it as a detox, but caryofyline essential oil might be helpful as an addition to a detox protocol under the supervision of a physician. Remember, alcohol detox can very quickly be life threatening. Even if you are not a, an allth time drinker, even if you're a binge drinker. Sometimes your blood pressure can skyrocket when you are detoxing from alcohol. So please, please, please, if you are undergoing alcohol detox, make sure to do it medically supervised. Strains of cannabis and CBD oil that have karyophyline in them include Northern Lights Fire, OG Harlequin and Super Silver Haze. And I'm sure there are others out there. I was just kind of trying to give you a quick rundown of different types because you can, if you've been to a dispensary, you know that there are different strains of cannabis and CBD oil derived from those different strains of cannabis that have slightly different properties. And that's really what we're talking about here, is figuring out which ones might have the best terpenes that work for you if you are in recovery from addiction. Again, you can use essential oils. You don't need to use CBD oil, you don't need to use cannabis to find these terpenes. I just think it's interesting as we start to learn more about cannabis, how incredibly powerful this plant is that we've ignored for so long and how many, you know, unique effects it has. Alpha and beta pinene are obviously terpenes that are derived from pine type plants. They smell very piney. Think pine Sol pine, balsam, rosemary, frankincense, cypress and juniper berry are the ones that are more common. I mean, there's also spruce and a few others. If you've smelled different pine essential oils, you know, some of them have a more woody smell and some of them have a more citrusy smell. And that tells you that there are other terpenes that are in there in addition to the alpha and Beta pinene. Pinene terpenes tend to be anti inflammatory, improve breathing, improve memory and alertness. They can also help buffer against the memory effects or the memory problems that can be caused by long term cannabis use, according to research. Now it's important to remember that you know, think about in terms of improving breathing. You know, if you are smoking, it's likely not going to improve your breathing. So it's important if you're trying to find a way to improve your breathing, it's important to consider how are you going to get that terpene into your system in order to do that. And that is where you consult your physician who can tell you the best way to do it. But strains of cannabis with pinenes in them include pineapple, Purple Kush, cherry bomb, Blue dream and sweet skunk. Humulene is a terpene that's found in hops and we're all familiar with hops in terms of beer and things like that. It has an earthy aroma. And humulene can be found in sage, cloves, again basil and black pepper. It is also anti inflammatory. Sense a little pattern here, appetite suppressant and calming. Now a lot of people when they think of cannabis they think of the munchies and that can be a side effect. But the humulene is an essential oil that actually can help suppress appetite. Birthday cake, Great White shark and Sour Diesel evidently are high in humulene. Terpinolene has a piney floral type smell to it and it can be found naturally in sage, rosemary and tea tree oil. Tea tree oil is probably the preeminent example. It is really strong in tea tree oil. It has anti anxiety, relaxation and sedative properties. It can be found in strains such as Dutch treat and Jack Harer. Geranial. This is another one that I really like in essential oils. Some say it has a tobacco like aroma. It also has a floral scent. Geranial comes from the geranium plant mainly. That's where it's, you know, most, most prominent, most, most strong. But it's also can be found in rose, rose, geranium and citronella. So thinking about each one of those, they smell a little bit different but they all have high levels of geranial, which is a neuroprotective, antioxidant and antibacterial. Notice it's not one that's listed as anti inflammatory but, but it does have a lot of other really awesome properties to it that can be found in purple punch, Dutch Hawaiian Kimbo, Kush Og shark and Amnesia Haze. O can be found in basil and bergamot and it's said to have a musky odor to it. I love both basil and bergamot. I don't think of either one of those as musky, but, you know, whatever. Maybe I have a different definition of musky. But basil, if you think about basil, it does have sort of a woody, earthy FL smell to it. Bergamot is more of a citrusy smell. So obviously in most essential oils there are going to be multiple different types of terpenes. The same thing is true in just about every plant is this is anti inflammatory, antifungal, antiviral, uplifting and energizing. In terms of cannabis strains, it can be found in Chocolate, Thai, strawberry shortcake, Goji Og and huckleberry. Other terpenes that can be helpful, they're not as prominent in the cannabis plants, but they have been shown to have some effect or they think it has some effect for helping people with Alzheimer's and with inflammatory conditions include eucalyptol. Eucalyptol can also be helpful for lung functioning. Think about, you know, what's in Vicks Vapor Rub. You know, it's, there's a lot of eucalyptus in there. Tea tree oil and eucalyptus are both very high in eucalyptol. Strains of cannabis that are high in it include Bubblegum, Super Silver Haze and acdc. And finally, terpenes that have antioxidant, anti inflammatory, antifungal and possible cholesterol lowering properties include camphine and sabine. And you can find camphine in acdc, Banana, Kush, Ghost, OG and Strawberry Banana. I am not advocating for the use of cannabis. What I am doing is letting you know about all of the components that are in a lot of plants, including cannabis. And some of these terpenes, or all of these terpenes can help us understand why cannabis works the way it does, why it is so powerful, for example, for nausea reduction and to help people with pain. They found that people who use cannabis, and this can be, you know, through edibles, have a significantly reduced amount of pain. They've done a lot of testing on with people using oral mucosal sprays that contain a one to one ratio of THC and cannabis. And they found that it has a lot of varied anti inflammatory, anti anxiety, antidepressant effects to it. So there's a lot of new interesting research that's coming to the fore. But all of these, and that's why for each one of them, I also wanted to point out that the different essential oils that you could also find these terpenes in. If you want to stay way away from CBD or way away from cannabis, that is, you know, totally cool. I mean, a lot of people need to stay away from it for one reason or another. If you are taking any other medication, CBD and cannabis will likely interact with it because of the pathway that metabolizes it. So, you know, it may not be an option for you. I know it's not an option for me because it interacts with medication I have to take on a daily basis. So then you would look to some of the essential oils that I have listed, like the. The lavender and the rose, geranium and the rosemary and bergamot and those other things in order to get similar effects. Now, I know that there was a lot of stuff in there, and it may take you a few minutes to digest that, but are there any questions about terpene beans? Morgan, in terms of cannabis usage and dissociation, I would have to do more research on that and, and see what the correlation or what, what the correlating variables are. Because saying that there is or is not a connection between cannabis usage and dissociation for anybody or everybody is probably too broad. I would need to examine specific populations and see if there's a greater risk in dissociation for them, such as people with extreme ptsd. You. Alrighty, everybody. Have a fabulous rest of your day and I will see you next time.