Sometimes sleep just won’t come. Insomnia is a problem for one in three people in the US, according to the CDC, and five percent of people use prescription medication to combat this tossing and turning. You know those nights, we’ve all had them. Whether you’re laying awake thinking of the test you have the next day, a job interview or money problems…so many things weighing on your mind and no matter what you do you just cannot fall asleep. You toss, you turn, you count sheep, maybe pick up your phone to search the internet or turn on the TV just to zone out. Sometimes there is absolutely nothing that you can do to force yourself to sleep. No matter how tired you are, sleep will not come. Next thing you know the sun is streaming through your bedroom windows and you feel as though you haven’t even had an hour of sleep. Oh and to make the torture worse, the day must still go on. You still have to go to school or work…your daily routines don’t stop and to add to the misery you have to at least attempt to not look like you’re the walking dead
There isn’t one cause for insomnia thus prevention is complex. The best recommendation is cognitive behavioral therapy which is a more long term, holistic approach to changing the beliefs and attitudes that trigger sleepless nights. Essential oils like lavender have long been recommended for aiding in a good night’s sleep. Research has suggested that the chemical composition in these complex oils stimulate different wave patterns, like theta brain waves, that can actually lead to deep sleep.
Just looking at fields of lavender gives me a relaxing feeling almost as much as the plant itself. Lavender is a common flower with relaxing properties, many suggest placing lavender in your pillow to help with sleepless nights. The major terpene associated with this plant and its essential oil is Linalool, which can make up to 50% of the oil’s composition. Other common terpenes associated with this oil are myrcene and caryophyllene. Linalool is associated with a floral aroma and a relaxing, indica feeling. The strain Grand Daddy Purple is well known for its high linalool content.
Linalool is a terpene alcohol with two enantiomers, meaning that the same chemical structure can be represented as mirror images, much like your left and right hands. Each structural form interacts differently with the human olfactory sense and can have more sweet, floral notes or a woody citrusy scent. As with wine, the nuances in flavors and aroma are complex and depend on the whole composition of chemicals within the plant and how they interact with the equally complex human genetics.
Now for a comedic break for those parents who could sleep if they didn’t have some crazy freakin kid keeping them up…Go The F@ck To Sleep read by Samuel L. Jackson.
The herb is more than just a powerful potion…people learning about what they smoking.
Educated consumers around the world are taking these Cypress Hill lyrics to heart and in turn the industry is listening. With the success of medical and recreational access around the country patients and customers are demanding knowledge about the products they consume. If you walk into a dispensary and ask your budtender for their recommendation on flower their first question would probably be, “Do you prefer sativa or indica?” Although these are the most common classifications today, what makes a sativa uplifting or an indica couch-lock you with the munchies…let’s just say it’s complicated. The plant contains unknown hundreds if not thousands of chemical compounds, many unique to the plant, that have made it important to human society for millennia.
Google Mangos and High and you’ll have your pick of Reddit articles, YouTube videos and blogs (like mine) saying that it’s a must try to get you higher And the main hypothesis as to why boils down to one of the most common terpenes – Myrcene. When analyzing the volatile components of different varieties of mangoes researchers have shown some credibility to this with several varieties showing 30-50% of the total composition to be myrcene. However, another look shows alternating varieties with 50-60% terpinolene or up to 75% 3-carene. The answers in nature are never easy.
Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC has been understood for decades to be the primary cannabinoid responsible for psychoactive activity. The mode of action responsible for your high is the interaction of the THC molecule and the endocannabinoid receptor in your brain, CB1. The blood-brain barrier is a grouping of cells that selectively restricts the movement of chemicals to the brain. Medicinally, it has been shown that myrcene increases cell permeation allowing for a more fluid cell membrane. So, simply it could be understood that increased myrcene concentration in the blood will make the blood-brain barrier more fluid, thus allowing more THC molecules to pass into the brain and AHHHHHH……what?????
Myrcene and Inflammation
The medicinal benefits of plant essential oils have been utilized throughout human history. Until prohibition, this plant was a cure all found in many neighborhood drug stores for ailments. As we enter the end of prohibition around the world many of the medicinal benefits are now being researched by scientists. Recently, a team of scientists in Portugal discovered that “myrcene has significant anti-inflammatory [effects in human cells] and, thus, its ability to halt or, at least, slow down cartilage destruction and osteoarthritis progression warrants further investigation.” Much more research is needed, however the medicinal properties of the variety of chemical compounds are being understood today more than at any time in human history.
A cup of joe is a necessity for many morning routines as you try and pry your eyes open. Coffee beans with their high concentrations of caffeine, usually in the form of a hot drink, are almost culturally ubiquitous; from the Italian espresso to the delightful Kona coffee of Hawaii. Plants have long been sought after for their “pick me up” effects and are a common daytime recommendation for focus, energy and creativity. High concentrations of pinene, in particular alpha pinene, have been associated with these effects.
Pinene, a main component of pine tree sap, is a more complex terpene than other terpenes like limonene and mycrene. One difference is that pinene is a bicyclic terpene, meaning it has two carbon ring structures attached to each other. Carbon ring structures are rad in nature (like freakin DNA!) as they are biosynthetically complex to make and have very interesting biological interactions in plants and animals.
Along with this complexity comes four major terpene structures of pinene, alpha and beta and the +/- enantiomers of both. The difference between alpha and beta versions of pinene is a shifting of the double bond from inside the ring to outside of the ring which moves hydrogen atoms around as well as positive and negative forces. And the enantiomeric variations are the same molecular structure but in a mirror images, like your right and left hand. These minor shifts in molecular structure have significant changes to the interactions of these molecules with biological organisms and for us lovers of the plant that means different flavors, aromas and effects.
Dementia and other forms of cognition loss, like Alzheimer’s disease, are quickly becoming an epidemic. In fact Alzheimer’s disease has been estimated to be on path to be the leading cause of death in the elderly over 65 by 2050. Pinene, as well as many of the other terpenes or cannabinoids, have exciting medicinal possibilities for dementia. Some of pinene’s medicinal benefits include reducing inflammation, increasing bronchodilation (take a deep breath here…) and being an antibiotic. Pinene has also been discovered to inhibit the enzyme acetylcholinesterase. Many researchers have linked forms of dementia like Alzheimer’s to the body’s inability to control the level of this enzyme in the neural pathways of the brain. Without proper control of this enzyme, chemicals that are transmitted between neurons do not function properly and as a result the brain is less capable.
Ever wonder what makes strains so different they can smell like a skunk, a pineapple, rat piss or a blueberry? Or why Blue Dream make me chill but causes my friend to get dizzy? WTF is going on with this plant! There’s a lot more unknown about the chemical compounds found in the plant than are known. What was coined as the “Entourage Effect” to describe the synergy in the full spectrum of chemicals and their effects on the human body might as well have been called the “I Have No Clue Effect”. Research is slowly teasing apart the mysterious evolutionary dance this plant and Humans have had but many more lifetimes of research are ahead of us.
The well known star most recently has been tetrahydrocannabinol. Recreational breeding during prohibition focused on THC almost exclusively as the main psychoactive compound driving your high. Prohibition’s easing across the country has provided opportunity to explore and understand the diverse array of compounds found in the plant. Cannabidiol has recently moved into the spotlight as another cannabinoid with medicinal benefits linked to helping with seizures, anxiety and inflammation to name a few. These cannabinoids are only two of over 100 known compounds in this one class of chemistry. The full spectrum of cannabinoids together interact with the body’s endocannabinoid system to produce some of the medicinal or recreational effects for which this lovely plant has been utilized for.
Terpenes are another class of chemical compounds that are a large component of plant essential oils and are all derived from a similar structural formula called an isoprene unit. Like a nerd with a box of legos, the molecular machinery inside of the trichome can piece these isoprene units together to form a large variety of terpenes found in nature. Cannabinoids alone are mainly tasteless and flavorless. Terpenes, along with the diverse array of compounds in the essential oil extract, provide each strain with its aroma, flavor and many medicinal and recreational attributes. Over 30,000 terpenes have been discovered so far and by some accounts this plant can make over 90% of terpenes on Earth…hence why one strain can smell like diesel and another like strawberry. Just understand that like an iceberg, much of what is there is unseen, or unknown.
Flavor, aroma and effect are the three distinguishing characteristics of essential oils. Limonene is a terpene found in high concentrations in citrus fruit giving them their distinctive fruit flavor and scent. Some strains with high limonene concentrations can be very uplifting. Take a sniff of these flowers or extracts and you’ll have a scent reminiscent of squeezing a lemon or lime. Behind this citrusy smell you’ll also find nuances from the myriads of other compounds present giving each strain its uniqueness.
Citrus essential oils have been used in many cultures to provide medicinal benefits and high limonene concentrations in your strains or extracts can be similar. The energizing effects associated with day time strains allowing for concentration are attributes of limonene in essential oils. As well, many calming and stress relieving properties have been associated with citrus oils.
We are very excited about the re-launch of our website at Trinity Terpenes! It’s been a long road since we started in 2016 and there is a lot to catch you up on. Our blog will be the place to find new information about our company, our products and of course about Terpenes!
Trinity Terpenes was founded in the heart of Southern California. Our team has years of first hand experience working in the epicenter of this Industry. By choosing Trinity Terpenes, you not only get access to the world’s highest quality terpenes, you get to experience the most advanced products on the market curated from years of working directly with California brands.
What’s New?
Our main focus this year has been on our botanical profile creations and on our online shop page. Our botanical profiles provide the same flavors and effects that you all love from Trinity Terpenes. They contain the same enhancing technology – but they have no regulated compounds. Many regions have legalized in 2018 and as a company we decided to de-risk by going legit.
We brought back some original Trinity Terpenes profiles like Kalashnikova, Blueberry OG and Strawberry AK. These were our customer’s favorite products and we’re glad to continue with them in our line up. To this we’ve also added some exciting new products like Blue Glue, Bubble Kush and Biscotti. These are just a few examples of our Strain Specific and Naturally Flavored Strains. Each product is developed to create specific effects, flavors and aromas.
Our Strain Specific Profiles are created to mimic well known strains and comes available in a Terpene Only formulation or with our T-Zero enhancing solution. Our Naturally Flavored Strains are a combination of terpenes for effects and natural flavors to produce nuanced or really in your face flavors.
Lastly, we have released our stock profiles available in our T-Ready technology formulated specifically for inhalation. We developed this technology for our high volume clients who want simplicity and consistency in their products. T-Ready is designed to add to extracted oils whereas our T-Ready for Crystalline is designed to add to crystalized extracts.