Cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) has garnered increasing attention in recent years for its potential health benefits. As a precursor to the well-known cannabidiol (CBD), CBDA offers unique properties that may provide distinct advantages. In order to fully appreciate and harness the benefits of CBDA, it is essential to understand its bioavailability, which plays a critical role in the advantages CBDA offers when compared to CBD.
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What is Bioavailability?
Bioavailability refers to the proportion of a substance that enters systemic circulation after administration, ultimately becoming available for use by the body. It is important to understand the bioavailability of a product, as it helps determine how much of a substance is actually absorbed and utilized, impacting its overall efficacy.
What is CBDA?
CBDA is an acidic cannabinoid found predominantly in hemp plants. It serves as the precursor to CBD. This means when CBDA is decarboxylated, a process where cannabinoids are exposed to heat, it converts to CBD. Due to the vast number of benefits CBDA offers, global solution providers have found ways to extract cannabinoids without the use of heat, thus allowing for the extraction of acidic cannabinoids at a mass scale.
What is the bioavailability of CBDA?
When compared to CBD, CBDA has one astounding advantage, its bioavailability. Research has found CBDA is 19x more bioavailable than CBD. This means when an equivalent amount of CBDA and CBD are administered, one can absorb much more CBDA. This allows for lower doses of CBDA to feel therapeutic benefits and makes it’s a more powerful plant-derived therapeutic for an array of uses.
Differences between CBDA and CBD
Although CBDA and CBD are similar, they are different in many ways. Along with CBDA having heightened bioavailability, it also has a greater effect when interacting with receptors. For example, CBDA has a greater affinity to the 5-HT1A or serotonin receptor, making it a better therapeutic for a variety of instances, including acting as an anti-anxiety and anti-nausea agent. CBDA has also been found to demonstrate greater antioxidant and antibacterial activity than CBD.
What are the benefits of CBDA?
While CBDA has been less studied compared to CBD, research has found it has the potential to produce a wide range of benefits. Here are some of the benefits of CBDA:
Anti-Anxiety
CBDA can help patients with anxiety and depression by activating the 5-HT1A or serotonin receptor. Research has found CBDA can help modulate the response to stressful stimuli and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Anti-Nausea
Through the same action CBDA helps patients with anxiety and depression, it can also help to reduce nausea and the frequency of vomiting.
Anticonvulsant
CBDA can reduce the duration and frequency of seizures and is currently being looked at for use as an FDA approved plant-derived therapeutic for patients with various seizure disorders.
Anti-inflammatory
CBDA reduces inflammation and pain, having the potential to help with a wide range of conditions, including fibromyalgia, arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease.
Antioxidant
CBDA has been found to act as a greater antioxidant than Vitamin E and CBD. This makes CBDA a great component to skincare products to provide anti-aging properties. Additionally, CBDA could potentially help with ailments and diseases caused by oxidative stress, including cancers and cardiovascular disease.
As research continues, we will know of even more benefits CBDA holds.
CBDA Administration Methods
To harness the elevated benefits and bioavailability of CBDA there are two main administration methods to choose from, oral administration or topical. Here are some of the most popular products with CBDA:
Oral administration
- Capsules: Capsules are made by incorporating CBDA isolate into a carrier oil, such as MCT oil, and putting the formulation into a capsule for a convenient and consistent dosage method.
- Edibles: CBDA-infused foods and beverages can be a tasty and discreet way to consume CBDA. They come in a variety of options including tea, water, and gummies.
- Sublingual tinctures: Tinctures are made by adding CBDA into a carrier oil. They can be taken orally or can be added into beverages.
Topical application
- Creams and lotions: CBDA-infused topical products can target specific areas for localized relief.
- Transdermal patches: These can provide consistent, time-released doses of CBDA.
It is important to note, that though many companies advertise smokables as CBDA, they are not. When CBDA is exposed to heat, it converts to CBD, making it impossible to harness the benefits of CBDA through smokable products, such as vapes and pre-rolls.
CBDA’s heightened bioavailability makes it a superior cannabinoid to many cannabinoids beyond CBD. Due to the many benefits it holds, it is a matter of time before we see an influx of plant-derived therapeutics with CBDA.
