Juices, Smoothies and Salads: The Benefits of Raw Cannabis

By now we know there’s numerous ways to consume cannabis: smoking, vaping, topicals, oils, tinctures, to name a few, but more and more people are discovering the benefits of raw cannabis.

Whether you’re juicing your cannabis, adding it to your smoothie, or even tossing it into your salad, consuming raw cannabis brings you some incredible essential nutrients while possibly helping to guard you against cancer, while acting as a power anti-inflammatory.

Here’s what we know about raw cannabis:

Raw Cannabis is Cannabis in Unactivated Form

Consuming raw cannabis does not hold any psychoactive properties whatsoever that could lead to a person feeling “high”. In order for cannabis to hold psychoactivity, it must be activated through decarboxylation (heating), or concentrated with heat and pressure. Raw cannabis’ cannabinoids come in acid forms, so instead of activated CBD, raw cannabis holds Cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), and instead of THC, there’s THCA, or Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid.

Cannabis as a Super Food

Cannabis is loaded with proteins, minerals, vitamins, fibers, and antioxidants, amino acids, as well as omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids that possess amazing antioxidant properties. Antioxidants are important for helping flush out the body from harmful substances, chemicals, and damaged cells within the body. Antioxidants are important for promoting overall well-being, boosting the immune system, reducing the risk of heart diseases, and lower the risk of cancer development.

Possible Protection Against Cancer

Dr. Michelle Ross’ book Vitamin Weed reveals some incredibly important things about how raw weed can guard against certain cancers. She suggests that it could guard against certain skin cancers for those who have high cancer risk for sun exposure. Also discussed is the benefit of CBDA as a method to manage your cancer risk, especially if cancer is in your family. THCA, unactivated THC, is also effective in reducing the proliferation of both prostate cancer cells and breast cancer cells.

An interesting fact put forth by Dr. Ross is juicing carrots with your cannabis, as carrots release falcarinol, which is effective against some cancers, and inhibits breast cancers. When used together, raw cannabis and carrots increase each other’s anti-cancer properties.

THCA and Inflammation

THCA is thought to be far more superior than THC as far as its medicinal properties and ability to reduce inflammation. While THC can sometimes stimulate both pro-inflammation pathways along with anti-inflammation pathways, THCA only stimulates the anti-inflammation pathways, making THCA the perfect anti-inflammatory. Dr. Ross recommends that you flash freeze your cannabis juice for optimal THCA preservation. THCA is also very effective to help reduce pelvic pain for conditions like endometriosis, which is another reason women with problems with reproductive pain should be juicing, blending, or eating their cannabis raw.

Get To Your Kitchen

Here are some excellent ways to get some THCA and CBDA into your diet by consuming raw cannabis:

• Toss it in your juicer with other veggies like spinach, carrots, and green apples to cut down the bitter taste of the cannabis;
• Put it in your smoothie with your favorite fruits to mask the taste of the cannabis;
• Chop some up and mix it with some of your favorite greens, fruits and veggies to add some superfood to your salad;
• Drizzle cold compressed cannabis oil* on your salad as an oil substitute;
• Use hemp seeds or hemp hearts on your salads or other foods just as you would enjoy some of your other seeds

Consider raw cannabis a truly amazing superfood!

* just remember if you heat the cannabis oil you will convert the THCA to THC and may feel the psychoactive affects of the oil.