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What is the CBD Entourage Effect?

If you’re new to CBD and have been wondering about its potential and how CBD works with your body, a great first place to start is to understand the Entourage Effect and how it impacts the interaction of your body and the CBD oil you're taking. To begin, the Entourage Effect occurs when all the components within the hemp plant are used to craft a CBD oil that causes every compound within the hemp plant to work together. This working together, or synergistic effect, creates maximum impact to anyone using the oil.

Someone taking the dropper out of a bottle of CBD next to a backpack on a park bench

What is the Entourage Effect?

If you’re still wondering what the Entourage Effect is, wonder no more. The hemp plant contains a number of different compounds, but the two that most everyone has heard of are cannabinoids and terpenes. CBD functions to support the body’s nervous system, while terpenes, an organic part of the hemp plant, dictate just how CBD and other cannabinoids work. THC and CBD that bind to the CB1 and CB2 receptors in the human endocannabinoid system. The relationship between CBD and other cannabinoids and terpenes is what’s known as the Entourage Effect. This Entourage Effect is the reason why full-spectrum CBD is considered more effective than CBD isolate.

Full-Spectrum CBD Oil Surpasses CBD Isolates

A well formulated full-spectrum CBD oil, like Fab's CBD oil, have a wealth of benefits over oils that isolate specific cannabinoids, or CBD isolates. The terpenes found within full-spectrum oils facilitate the workings of CBD and other cannabinoids. Therefore, full-spectrum oils potentially contain more advantages because every compound of the hemp plant works together to create a stronger, more effective oil that can do more with the Endocannabinoid System. This means that the cannabidiol, or CBD, in full-spectrum oil impacts hemp’s other cannabinoids so that they work together more effectively.

Various colorful CBD oil boxes strewn over a white marbled surface

Why Doesn’t the Entourage Effect Happen in CBD Isolate?

The answer to this question is simple: because CBD isolates contain a single cannabinoid and do not have any of the rest, there are no other components to work together to create an entourage effect. Cannabis compounds have a strong influence on each other's functions when they work within the human body. These synergies, made possible by the creation of full-spectrum oils, have a wealth of potential.

Why the Entourage Effect is Important

Pure substances, though useful, are not as effective as substances containing more than one component working together in harmony. Full-spectrum CBD oils optimize the interactions associated with the symbiotic relationship between terpenes and cannabinoids. Cannabinoids have a neurochemical effect on the cannabinoid receptors within the central nervous system. In fact, CBD diminishes the mind-altering effects of THC by blocking the cannabinoid receptors responsible for allowing that “high” feeling.

Beneficial Terpenes

Beneficial terpenes are not just found in hemp and cannabis plants. Terpenes are found within most all species in the plant kingdom. For example, the terpene linalool, found in some aromatic plant species, contains sedating properties. When linalool is combined with CBD, the two compounds boost each other up to create a powerful compound that successfully calms and promotes relaxation. Likewise, the terpene Pinene, commonly found in cannabis, pine needles, rosemary, and basil, smells just like pine and can be used in combination with CBD.

A dark brown glass CBD bottle with the dropper out and resting on the wooden table amidst hemp leaves

Tips for Getting the Most From the Entourage Effect

Of course there is one guiding principle for getting the most out of the entourage effect: choose the CBD oil or product that has the fullest profile of cannabinoids and terpenes possible. That will be the single most important factor in accessing this phenomenon to its fullest. We mentioned CBD isolate and full spectrum CBD oil before, but we haven't mentioned much about broad spectrum CBD oil. This is an option that still offers the ability for the entourage effect to take place, but it's missing the THC. So while it's not as thorough as a full-spectrum environment, it is almost as good! 

Putting it All Together

These few examples of cannabinoid combinations merely scratch the surface of all the possible combinations that can be brought together to create a powerful entourage effect within the body. However, regardless of the combinations, it’s most important to purchase full-spectrum oils, like the premium, potent, and pure full-spectrum CBD oils crafted at FABCBD, in order to reap all the benefits that these synergies have to offer.