In fact, CBDa is more effective. It's more than a thousand times more effective than CBD at activating a serotonin receptor that reduces nausea and anxiety. This effect is even more pronounced in chemotherapy patients who use ondansetron (OND) to treat nausea. CBD and CBDA have a lot of similarities, but since they work in the body differently, CBDA may better alleviate certain symptoms than CBD.
And science is just beginning to learn about the unique benefits of CBDA. If your definition of better means more potent, then yes, CBDa could be superior to CBD. Sometimes known as the mother of all cannabinoids, CBDA has acted more powerfully than CBD and THCA in several scientific animal studies. If you're curious to know which one is more potent, your answer is CBDA.
CBDA is the chemical precursor to CBD. In a process called thermal decarboxylation, CBDA is converted to CBD when the CBDA molecule is heated and loses its acidic carboxyl group. This decarboxylation process can occur instantaneously, such as when cannabis material is ignited and smoked or vaporized, or due to slow degradation over time if plant material is allowed to stand at room temperature. Studies have shown that CBDa can be a thousand times more potent than CBD.
CBDa is quite unstable, as evidenced by its gradual decarboxylation at room temperature. If you've been consuming CBD for a while or are researching before starting your journey with CBD oil, you may have come across some lab reports with many different cannabinoids on the list, including CBDA. Many people who manage pain on a daily basis report that CBDA is effective in treating pain and may work better than NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). However, be sure to review the lab test results for each brand to confirm that you're buying a good product that includes some CBDA.
Like CBD, CBDa interacts with the body's endocannabinoid system as a phytocannabinoid to produce a number of benefits. For people who want to consume CBDA, this means having to use more unusual or conventional consumption methods, such as topical creams and tinctures, and joining the trend of raw cannabis juices. One reason is that the bioavailability of cbda versus cbd is higher, meaning that it could be metabolized faster and with less effort. Studies show that CBDA can act as a COX-2 inhibitor, making it ideal for reducing inflammation and pain.
I generally recommend starting with a reliable CBD product that contains the broadest spectrum of natural terpenes, flavonoids, and at least a small amount of CBDA. If you want to try CBDa directly, you can experiment with certain ingestible oils, as well as tinctures, creams and other topical cannabis products. In other words, if they take raw hemp oil and incorporate it into their products without heating it, “CBD oil” may contain CBDa. We know that CBDA has a higher bioavailability in humans, with 5 to 11 times better absorption in humans than CBD when taken orally.
Research on the benefits and potential uses of CBDA may not be as extensive as that of CBD, but it remains promising.