Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are the two primary compounds in cannabis. Both these cannabinoids require the presence of fat to become bioavailable once consumed within the human body. They are also fat soluble, which mean that cannabinoids are stored in the fatty tissues in our body.
THC especially has been noted by scientists to have a high affinity for fats. Whenever making cannabis infusions, one always needs a good fat for the cannabinoids to bind themselves to.
Many cannabis products are infused into a variety of popular fats. Butter is the most common, especially for cooking and baking, though other widely-used fats include coconut oil, olive oil, walnut oil, and avocado oil to name a few others. But coconut oil is still the best among all these types of fat.
Benefits of Coconut Oil for Cannabis Infusions
Coconut oil has an endless list of versatile uses, and it’s also vegan-friendly. It can be used for cooking even in higher temperatures.
Coconut oil provides the greatest number of health benefits especially when combined with cannabis. It contains a high amount of healthy fatty acids, which not only have tremendous health benefits, but also act as an effective binding agent for the cannabinoids. Just one tablespoon of coconut oil already meets the 13 gram per day recommendation for saturated fats by the American Heart Association.
Additionally, it contains over 80% saturated fats, which is why it’s such a great carrier oil. Other oils, such as olive, only have a saturated fat content of around 20%. Saturated fats are usually found in animal products and by-products, such as butter, though butter isn’t vegan-friendly.
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Meanwhile, other plant-based fats such as avocado and sesame oil are virtually unsaturated. Saturated fats normally will cause detrimental health problems such as high cholesterol when consumed in high amounts, but coconut oil simply doesn’t have that effect on the cardiovascular system. It’s the perfect healthy fat since the medium-chain fatty acids do not clog the arteries.
Saturated animal fats are the most efficient way to deliver the therapeutic benefits of cannabinoids when consumed.
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Furthermore, coconut oil can be infused with cannabis to make oral cannabis oils, lubricants, topicals, cooked and baked goods.
It also has potent health benefits that no other fat or oil does:
And so much more.
Now when you combine that with the health benefits of cannabis, you have yourself one extremely powerful and therapeutic infused cannabis oil.
Types of Coconut Oil You Can Use for Cannabis Infusions
There are basically two kinds of coconut oils that are sold in the market: refined and unrefined. They each have their own advantages, though all of them can be used to make a variety of cannabis oil infusions. What makes them different are the methods of processing that they undergo.
- Virgin Coconut Oil: Virgin coconut oil, sometimes known as unrefined coconut oil, is essentially coconut oil that has not been processed. It’s extremely smooth and has a gentle taste, so much so that it’s easy to consume on its own.
Some unrefined coconut oils are sold and marketed as ‘cold pressed’, which means that they didn’t use any heat in extracting the oils.
- Refined Coconut Oil: Refined coconut oil is widely sold at supermarkets. It has a more neutral taste and a much higher smoke point, making it more suitable for cooking and baking. The refining process does remove some of the nutrients. Just be sure to purchase refined coconut oil that’s solvent free.
- MCT Oil: Medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) oil can be used in any cannabis infusion recipe, especially for gummies and candies. It’s flavorless, making it a great carrier for making tasty foods and dishes. It goes through a process that separates the different kinds of fat within the coconut oil, leaving just the medium chain fatty acids. The medium-chain triglyceride content makes the smaller molecules in this coconut oil easier to digest, and more efficiently absorbed in the blood stream.
In doing so, it can be converted into energy much quicker, which is why MCT oils are popular among keto diet enthusiasts. MCT oil is also known as fractionated coconut oil.
Whenever buying coconut oil to use in infusions, it’s always good to go for organic especially if you are using these products for health benefits.
Conclusion
Cannabis coconut oil is such a powerful combination that can be used for improving overall health as well as reducing the symptoms of chronic pain, heart disease, inflammation, diabetes, cancer, migraines, obesity and so much more. This is primarily because of the high concentration of saturated fat and medium-chain triglycerides in coconut oil, allowing it to work synergistically with the therapeutic cannabinoids in marijuana. As a result, the human body can absorb and metabolize these compounds efficiently compared to other carrier oils.
This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been reposted with permission.
