Data from Jointly, highlights the wider wellbeing benefits of cannabis, indicating how it can be harnessed as a healthy lifestyle choice.
"Cannabinoids are as important for the human body as vitamins - in fact there isn't a human being alive that shouldn't be benefitting from cannabis in some way. Doubtful? You just need some knowledge on the matter for the facts to become very quickly evident - so remember: when we are fighting for the cannabis plant, we are fighting for our lives, and the lives of our loved ones"
This week, the cannabis data business Jointly released fresh research reflecting the experiences of over 200,000 customers, many of whom use the plant for its health and wellness advantages.
The firm recently released its 'Theory of Purposeful Cannabis Consumption,' which is a four-step method to using cannabis as part of a healthy lifestyle.
According to the firm, the latest data support the premise that cannabis might be a partner in people's well-being.
It also explains why, according to a Harris Poll conducted in 2022, 91% of US adult cannabis users use cannabis for health and wellness reasons.
What is the ‘Theory of Purposeful Cannabis Consumption?
Jointly is predicated on the idea that deliberate cannabis usage may help people become a better version of themselves.
Its Theory of Purposive Cannabis Consumption states the 'four rules of purposeful consumption,' which are as follows:
Cannabis is a complex plant that creates a range of effects, according to the plant.
- Objectives - the second statement argues that individuals use cannabis for a variety of constructive purposes.
- Three people believe cannabis affects each individual differently.
- Circumstances - According to law four, individuals achieve their cannabis objectives more often when they set the conditions for a positive experience.
Related: Our CBD recommendation.
What is the data saying?
Data was gathered from over 200,000 users of the Jointly platform and analysed for the distinct cannabis experiences they had. This is a significant research with a budget of $200,000.
When it comes to purpose, the majority of Jointly users claimed they use cannabis to relax and refresh (22%), reduce daily stress (19%), although socialising, creativity, and increasing intimacy were also mentioned.
Consumers indicated they use cannabis to improve sleep (11%), energise and elevate (9%), alleviate daily discomfort (9%), enjoy social events (7%), concentrate and create (7%), increase hunger (6%), boost intimacy (3%), and recuperate from exercise (three per cent).
This data is backed by a New Frontier Data poll conducted in 2022, in which consumers stated comparable reasons for their purchase.
While product selection may influence the efficacy of someone's cannabis experience by 40 to 57%, variables other than product and dosage can have a comparable impact.
Jointly said that their statistics verified its third rule, demonstrating that although different individuals have varied experiences with the same product, some goods perform better in "statistically significant ways."
Consumers assessed the efficacy of their experience at 6.75 out of 10 on average, with elements such as setting, exercise, hydration, food, and sleep influencing the effectiveness of the experience by 40 to 50%.
The manner utilized may also influence the pleasure of cannabis. For example, smoking cannabis using King Palm wraps may provide a more satisfying experience than rolling papers.
By refining these factors, people become more likely to rate their experience a nine or a 10.
What this means for cannabis users
David Kooi, CEO, and co-founder of Jointly, commented: “We know that cannabis makes you more, not less. By building the industry’s first experience-based platform for purposeful consumption, we have the data to prove it.
“The theory is a framework to free the modern cannabis consumer to pursue the better life that is possible through purposeful consumption, without guilt or prejudice, and armed with data.”
Kooi added: “The data make it clear that cannabis, consumed purposefully, can be a partner in your wellbeing. Though it’s also important to underscore that cannabis is for adults only, is not for everyone, and that more data is needed on long-term impact.”
So what does this mean for cannabis users?
Consumers in the United States, where adult-use cannabis is legal in numerous states, are consuming cannabis for a broad range of reasons, many of which are directly tied to not just documented medical illnesses, but overall health and well-being.
While further peer-reviewed research is required, these preliminary results suggest that using cannabis may be perceived as a healthy and good lifestyle choice when taken deliberately by people making aware and thoughtful decisions.
Is cannabis a superfood?
Is it reasonable to regard cannabis to be a necessity? If that's the case, then why do so many foods include sugar? We asked several experts in the field of infused foods, who work to turn the herb into energy for a healthy and active lifestyle.
Scurvy was first efficiently treated with citrus juice in 1753 by a Scottish physician named James Lind. He said that if his patients drank sufficient of lemonade over the course of two weeks, they would recover completely from the lethargy, sores, and bleeding that are characteristic of this disease, which was previously considered to be caused by poor digestion and filthy water (when the real culprit was a simple deficiency in vitamin C).
Before that finding, ships could not go very far because of an illness that was crippling their crews and sometimes took their lives. After Lind spread word of a treatment, sailors began taking precautions against scurvy by bringing along kegs of fresh lime juice and lemon juice in barrels. The sickness is now so uncommon that it is nearly unheard of, yet British sailors still go by their old appellation of "limeys."
However, although "superfood" is not a legally defined phrase, it is often used to describe any food that is "thought to be extremely excellent for your health and that may even assist certain medical issues," as stated by the Macmillan Dictionary. Consequently, oranges, lemons, and limes are regarded superfoods due to the high levels of vitamin C they contain.
The foods you consume have a direct impact on your health, and foods like kale, sweet potatoes, blueberries, and wild salmon give the macro- and micro-nutrients your body needs to function properly. Superfoods are foods that have several health benefits, including boosting our vitality and enabling us to reach our maximum potential.
Broccoli, for instance, has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer, while the Omega-3 fatty acids in salmon help keep your heart healthy, and the anti-inflammatory and cancer-fighting effects of blueberries are down to their naturally occurring phytoflavinoids and antioxidants.
Let's pretend for a moment that scurvy has been updated to the present day and that millions of people throughout the globe are afflicted by a sickness that's readily cured by restoring their nutritional intake. Cannabinoids are a class of very therapeutic substances found almost exclusively in the cannabis plant, and they are the missing nutritional ingredient in this situation.
The endocannabinoid system, which is present in all people and consists of receptors that bind to cannabinoids like a lock to a key, controls various bodily functions, including the respiratory, circulatory, and neurological systems. If cannabinoids are not introduced externally (via smoking/vaping/eating cannabis) to restore the system to balance, serious or even fatal repercussions might result.
A condition that contributes to high rates of cancer and degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, and rheumatoid arthritis was first described by Dr. Ethan Russo in a 2004 scientific paper under the term "clinical endocannabinoid deficiency" (CECD). He essentially claims, with evidence to back it up, that a deficiency in cannabis is the root cause of these and many other potentially fatal illnesses.
Now, picture a world where the cannabis plant is widely utilized as a dietary supplement to avoid all of these awful, heart-breaking effects, just as how lemons and limes stopped scurvy over two hundred years ago.
A simple dietary supplement using cannabis from natural sources has the potential to save countless lives and alleviate incalculable misery if it is determined that CECD is brought on by an insufficiency of the body's own endogenous cannabinoids.
So, like James Lind with his study into vitamin C and its influence on scurvy, Russo is at the forefront of learning about one of the least known, yet most important, superfoods on the world. One key distinction in their study? Citrus fruits like oranges and limes aren't illegal drugs that may land you in prison for years if caught.
Despite the fact that cannabis's legal status has been an obstacle to a thorough investigation of its nutritional and therapeutic benefits, other doctors have followed Russo's example and begun prescribing the drug.
Dr. William Courtney is widely credited with popularising the practice of juicing raw cannabis leaves among Northern California farmers as a nutritional supplement. Courtney, who is currently in the process of opening a juicing retreat center in the Caribbean, argues that "minimum daily requirements should be established to guide worldwide adoption of raw cannabis as the single most important dietary element, similar to Essential Fatty Acids and Essential Amino Acids."
Raw cannabis is not intoxicating when juiced, but it does provide many of the same medical advantages when consumed this way. A large number of patients, however, have a hard time finding enough fresh cannabis leaves to use for juicing. Therefore, Courtney and an ever-increasing number of other activists are fighting for the freedom to consume cannabis as freely as they would any other vegetable.
Cannabis, along with its botanical relative hemp, seems to be a superfood, bestowing upon its consumers a wide range of health advantages, including anti-inflammatory activity, the ability to prevent and cure illnesses, and a plethora of calming and revitalising effects. Like blue-green algae, maca, yacon, ginseng, chocolate, matcha, and other health-positive superfoods, cannabis may be seen as a tool that can help us realise our full, bright, energetic potential.
While many companies producing cannabis-infused edibles continue to flood the market with sugary sweets, others are beginning to recognise the plant's unique medicinal benefits and devoting themselves to developing cannabis-infused foods that combine cannabis with other superfood ingredients for maximum healing and supreme vitality.
Pura Vida Health's co-founder and chief medical officer, Heather Hoffman, is a beautiful young lady who trained in holistic nutrition at the Canadian Institute of Natural Nutrition. Epilepsy was a severe problem for her when she was younger, but she is now completely seizure-free.
Hoffman told HIGH TIMES, "Since I took cannabis, I have not had a seizure." Five years have passed, and I feel completely healed at this point.
Hoffman claims that the combination of ganja and other healthy components like papaya extract, oats, and almonds in Pura Vida's power bars and granolas "helps the body better metabolise cannabis." Coconut oil "acts as a platform for cannabis to assist the body absorb it, so individuals report getting high faster and having more of an effect when they use Pura Vida products," and these products can be found in more than 100 California dispensaries.
While it may be challenging for dispensaries to stock healthful choices, Hoffman argues that doing so is essential if "we want cannabis to be what it really is—a restorative medication," and that more education is needed to ensure that patients are aware that such cannabis-infused meals do exist.
Cancer patients shouldn't be given chocolate, she said. "Sugar and corn syrup have no medicinal value."
Sugar stimulates malignant development, so keep that in mind if you're taking cannabis as therapy, particularly for those facing cancer. Functional edibles, such as "energy boost" or "super sleep" products, combine cannabis with other nutrient-dense whole foods, extra herbs, and vitamins in place of refined sugars and processed components.
This is the opinion of Sababa Snacks Collective creator and Johnson & Wales University alum Ezra Malmuth. Malmuth discovered that many of the cannabis sweets he was giving to a buddy whose father had stage 4 cancer "were not health aware, had a lot of sugar and calories and didn't taste fantastic." Malmuth was so dedicated to improving the situation that she started blending superfood elements together to create "clusters," which are little, chewable bits of dried fruit, nuts, spices, and herbs.
The combination was "like an oatmeal cookie meets a granola bar," Malmuth said. "And it tasted great while giving him exactly what he needed," she said.
Sababa Snacks' Caramel Cashew Apricot clusters won second place in the 2016 Nor-Cal Cannabis Cup, a feat Malmuth credits to the fact that "people who appreciate the significance of good cuisine are drawn to our product."
Malmuth used oats, almonds, and dried fruit to supply protein and carbs, forming a mixture of macro-nutrients that promotes the metabolic process, to go along with the 25 mg dosage of THC per cluster. These clusters are great for athletes to eat after a workout because they "reduce the inflammatory response to exercise," as Malmuth put it, "while enhancing performance."
The creator of Jambo Superfoods, Joseph Winke, has long seen cannabis as a necessary nutrient, including it into innovative takes on time-honored therapeutic foods like the company's best-seller, "Daily Ritual," a potent combination of THC, MCT oil, and ghee made from grass-fed cows. You may use this super-butter in cooking or to spread over toast in the morning for a Bulletproof coffee experience.
Winke advocates the use of medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil, a form of coconut oil that remains liquid at room temperature, because it is particularly bioavailable, meaning that "the body is able to easily process these fats, so you get a really good uptake," thereby increasing the efficacy of the THC.
We utilise real food that the body is already used to digesting, Winke said. "No HFCS, no synthetic flavours, no whey protein isolates... In humans, having an excess of cannabinoids leads to improved performance.
Like how we function better when our meals include sufficient amounts of vitamin C, antioxidants, and important amino acids.
So remember, when we fight to free the cannabis plant, we’re fighting for our lives!