The cannabis plant contains significant levels of essential minerals and vitamins, proteins, omega fatty acids, and fiber. On top of that, they contain the cannabinoids, flavonoids, and terpenes that many people have grown to love.
When the cannabis plant’s leaves are raw and fresh, the cannabinoids are still in their acid form instead of the “active” form they are in when dried or heated. This means that practices like juicing cannabis leaves don’t create the psychoactive effects typically associated with cannabis.
The active forms of cannabinoids offer unique benefits through the way they interact with our bodies’ endocannabinoid systems.
Juicing Cannabis Leaves: The Benefits
You likely don’t hear people talking about using cannabis leaves as much it. I’m talking about smoking and baking with cannabis. However, this is one of the ways to enjoy the benefits of cannabis without having to ingest it through smoking. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits you might enjoy from juicing the leaves of the cannabis plant.
If you’re looking to benefit from cannabinoids in a more convenient way, check out this compliant distillate.
Chronic Inflammation Reduction
If you are wondering about the benefits of raw cannabis use, one of them is its potential ability to reduce chronic inflammation. is when a person experiences long-term inflammation the last for several months or even years. This is considered to be an autoimmune disorder.
There are anti-inflammatory compounds in both the buds and the leaves of cannabis. This means that I can help to reduce inflammation in your body. This can be a better option for people who want to benefit from cannabis’s anti-inflammatory properties without smoking it.
A long list of diseases is associated with chronic inflammation. These include bowel diseases, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and arthritis.
Supports Healthy Bones
So far, there is not much in the way of research about the impact that cannabis can have on bone health. However, the assumption is that cannabis has similar components as other leafy green vegetables. This means that it is thought cannabis has a good amount of nutrients like magnesium, calcium, and vitamin K that can help to prevent and reduce loss.
Might Help With Arthritis
Arthritis occurs when one or more of your joints is swollen and tender. This condition usually gets worse as people get older.
Because of the anti-inflammatory compounds discussed earlier, some people use cannabis use to help with arthritis. This can help to both reduce the inflammation in your joints as well as relieve the pain you are suffering from.
Might Help With Diabetes
Diabetes is a disease in which your blood sugar levels are too high. Both CBD and THCV have been found to improve blood glucose and metabolism in both human and animal models of diabetes. Another study found that people with type 2 diabetes had increased insulin production and decreased blood glucose levels when consuming CBD and THCV.
Might Help Boost the Immune System
The leaves of the cannabis plant contain iron, potassium, phosphorus, think, vitamin C, and folate. These are essential nutrients for boosting your and repairing cells. There also some studies that suggest that cannabis might have antiviral and antimicrobial properties, which might help support the ability of your body to fight off infection.
Might Help Repair Damaged Cells
Cannabis is a plant that is very high in antioxidants. Antioxidants are substances that can help to contact the oxidative damage produced by free radicals. It is thought that the leading driver of many diseases including cancer as well as aging is oxidative damage.
Could Help Improve Asthma
Asthma occurs when the airways in the chest become inflamed or get narrower. This is a . Some of the symptoms include difficulty breathing, coughing, and wheezing.
Treatment of asthma involves preventing complications and managing symptoms as there is no cure.
Recently, there has been a growing interest in using medical cannabis to help treat asthma along with other health conditions. However, it is not necessarily recommended that people with asthma ingest cannabis by smoking. This reason, some people might choose to drink cannabis juice rather than using another method of consumption.
Could Help Heal Infections
An increasing number of pathogens are resistant to current drugs on the market. For this reason, researchers are interested in discovering new classes of antimicrobial agents.
A number of different cannabinoids have been found to have antimicrobial activity that is potent against specific pathogens.
How to Juice Raw Cannabis Leaves
Now that you know why you might want to start juicing raw cannabis leaves, you probably want to know how. Let’s take a look at every step in the process.
Harvesting
You always want to use freshly harvested leaves when you are juicing raw cannabis leaves. The more the plant material has been exposed to oxygen and light, the more it breaks down and loses its cannabinoid content and nutrients. The ideal time to harvest from your cannabis plant is when it is in the flowering stage.
You’ll want to choose leaves from the inside of the plant. This is because you want to keep the outer leaves that are catching the sun and helping your plant grow to its full potential.
Tools and Techniques
You can use a hand crank juicer, an electric juicer, or a wheatgrass juicer for juicing raw cannabis leaves. To make a small amount of juice, it takes about 15 cannabis leaves, so an electric juicer might be best so your arms don’t get tired.
It’s also possible to use just about any type of blender. You can pulverize the leaves and even the buds if you want in a blender first. Then you can hand-press them through cheesecloth or a strainer to separate the juice and the pulp.
First, you’ll want to soak your leaves for about five minutes in cold water. Soaking the leaves helps to open up the pores of the plant so you can get more access to the nutrients inside. You’ll want to re-juice the pulp after your first round as well. This means you’ll get more juice out of it and more nutrients.
Avoid juicing the stems of the leaves. Since they are so fibrous, they can easily clog up your juicer.
Consumption and Storage
You will find that using cannabis leaves creates a vibrant and fresh drink. However, not everyone is a fan of the taste. You therefore might choose to add coconut water or regular water to dilute it before drinking. You might also opt for another type of juice to help create a more palatable taste.
You can store your cannabis juice in the refrigerator for up to three days in a sealed container. However, you most likely won’t have access to the fresh leaves every day. For this reason, it’s best to make the juice in bulk and freeze it.
Opinions differ on how long cannabis juice lasts in the freezer. Most people say they last between one and three months. You might choose to freeze your cannabis juice in ice cube trays, allowing you to conveniently and easily add them to other juice recipes or smoothies.
Supply
You typically cannot get fresh cannabis leaves from most dispensaries. However, you might be able to get them from a local grower if they have leftover trim. It’s common for growers to simply waste their trim anyway, meaning that there’s a good chance they’ll be willing to give it to you if they have it.
You will want to make sure that the cannabis is pesticide-free and organic. There is also the option of growing it yourself if it is legal in the state that you live.
Juicing Cannabis Leaves: Is It Right For You?
There will hopefully be more research in the future about the benefits of cannabis in general, but also about the benefits of the acid forms of cannabinoids when ingested fresh. With cannabis increasingly legal both medicinally and recreationally across the United States and the legalization of industrial hemp at the federal level, it is safe to assume that more studies will be coming out in the decades to come.
If you have access to raw cannabis leaves, why not try juicing them? You can find all sorts of juicing cannabis leaves recipes online that combine cannabis with other delicious fruits and vegetables. You might find that it’s your favorite new drink!
Did you find this article on juicing cannabis leaves interesting? If so, be sure to check out the rest of our Health blog for more fascinating and informative content!