Cannabis Juice: The Elixir of Health?

Ganja smoothie anyone? Sounds good to me! If you keep an eye on cannabis health and science news you might have heard some of the hype about raw cannabis juice. Its being touted by some as a miracle cure for all sorts of conditions and ailments, but is it really? What does the science say? Does a bud a day keep the doctor away?

Ganja smoothie anyone? Sounds good to me! If you keep an eye on cannabis health and science news you might have heard some of the hype about raw cannabis juice. Its being touted by some as a miracle cure for all sorts of conditions and ailments, but is it really? What does the science say? Does a bud a day keep the doctor away?

The media story starts in 2008 with Kristen Courtney, a young adult from the US. She was suffering from multiple conditions; systemic lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, hypoglycaemia, anaemia, chronic sinusitis, chronic bacterial infections and then some. She was taking a lot of pharmaceutical drugs and smoking large amounts of cannabis to deal with her symptoms but when she decided to start juicing pot instead she made a remarkable recovery. Within eight weeks she was well enough to stop taking the forty-odd pharmaceutical pills she was on every day. Now she’s happy, healthy, and beyond all expectations she even got pregnant. She attributes her recovery to the fixing of an “endogenous cannabinoid deficiency order”.

By juicing raw cannabis it is possible to ingest non-psychoactive THCA and CBDA in significant quantities to influence good health. The terpenoids, flavonoids and other plant alkaloids that are lost through decarboxylation (the breaking down of CO2 within the plant) are also kept available. The sum result of all this can mean an increase in cerebral blood flow, enhanced cortical activity, added resistance against respiratory pathogens and it has a full-system anti-inflammatory effect. As well as that and curing Kristen’s many ailments, this form of consumption can be a great help to sufferers of Parkinsons and Alzheimers, and it is a proven and immediate treatment for chronic nausea. One bud a day is a recommended dose. 

Not everyone is quite so enthusiastic though. Martin A. Lee points out in his 2013 article that, like THCA and CBDA, THC and CBD are both active in terms of cancer and tumour reduction and pain relief and they also help regulate immune system and peripheral nerve functions, but they are not the same – THC and CBD are decidedly more potent than their acid (A) forms. He then goes on to explain that decarboxylation is a natural process, it often starts while the plant is still alive and unharvested, in other words, THC and CBD are perfectly natural end-states for THCA and CBDA. Other critics remind us that raw cannabis can host nasties like salmonella and E. Coli and that to achieve a recommended dose of 600mg – 1000mg of CBDA the patient would have to juice a lot of raw leaves, and just how are you going to measure that dose anyway? Once you start, it can take up to eight weeks of daily use to realise the full benefits of the juice, it is also important to use fresh plants that have been harvested in that small window of time when the trichomes are fully ripe but not yet cloudy. If the trichomes have started to decarboxylate naturally then the THCA will turn to THC, if that happens the ingestant will run the risk of enhanced psychoactivity. Dread the thought!

All things considered, this is a great debate for the cannabis plant. Nobody is doubting the extent of the plant’s medical potential, rather they are debating which might be the best way to use it and which are the best forms of its chemicals to use; its the potency of THC and CBD against the synergistic effects of THCA, CBDA and all the terpenoids, flavonoids, chlorophyll and other plant alkaloids working together. If you want official recognition even the Food and Drug Administration of the US has approved 600mg of CBD as daily ingestive dose!

In the end it’s all going to come down to what exactly it is that the patient needs help with; plenty of passionate scientists and nutritionists are studying all the implications and questions involved so there will be some good knowledge discovered soon as a result. This whole discussion brings to mind something the enigmatic Dr Ben Dlamini of Swaziland said: “I’ve eaten this plant every day since I was a kid and I’ve never been high once! Look at me! I can still move and dance when I feel the rhythm and I’m an old man – 82!” And this is in a country where living to the ripe old age of forty is a privilege. There’s certainly no doubt about the absolutely vast range of medical uses for cannabis, as a treatment, a cure and a preventative, but just how good is it? And what are the best ways to use it? Juicing works for a lot of people.

If you’ve got a supply of fresh cannabis leaves or nuggets handy and you want to give it a try its best mixed with other vegetable juices because it has a bitter taste, one part ganja juice to nine parts carrot juice is good starting point, but beware! Some people can suffer an allergic reaction - the plant has natural defences against predators that want to eat it while its still alive – the stems are covered in protective, irritative hairs so it can make your throat swell up. Juicing the plant should help avoid this problem but eating it raw might be a bit much. As for decarboxylated or not, you could always go for the best of both worlds – a nice raw nugget topped up with a bit of heat-treated herb – the synergistic effects of all those CBDAs, THCAs, terpenoids, flavonoids and other such wonders mixed up with the psychoactive potency of weed as we know it. Yeah man! Pass the smoothie ‘pon the left hand side! 

Useful sources include:

• A Better Route to High Dosage Without Psychoactivity? Juicing Raw Cannabis; Martin A. Lee; O’Shaughnessy’s; Winter/Spring 2013
• How Exactly Does Cannabis Juice Work?; Seshata; Sensi Seeds Blog; 10 Feb 2014; http://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/exactly-cannabis-juice-work/
• Juicing Cannabis: The Potential Health Benefits of Treating Cannabis Like a Vegetable; Zach Reichard; Medical Jane; 19 Jan 2013; http://www.medicaljane.com/2013/01/19/cannabis-the-foundation-of-health/#