Regular cannabis consumers often become dissatisfied with their typical smoking routines. Often, they feel that cannabis no longer produces the effects it used to, and that they may not be able to enjoy those effects as fully as they once had. Luckily, this is a commonplace problem with a myriad of solutions. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the many ways in which you can potentiate cannabis and enhance its effects.
Mangoes, Myrcene, and Foods High in Terpenes
Often, enhancing your high is as simple as eating fruit or another snack that contains the same terpenes found in the cannabis plant. Terpenes are naturally-occurring compounds found in cannabis, and they are known to potentiate its effects. Many terpenes work together with cannabinoids (such as THC) to accelerate the rate at which they travel from the bloodstream to the endocannabinoid system, where they bind with cannabinoid receptors to produce the effects we seek from cannabis consumption. Moreover, terpenes strengthen this bond between cannabinoids and cannabinoid receptors, which translates to stronger effects.
One way to potentiate the effects of cannabis is to consume foods high in terpenes specifically, those that are found alongside cannabinoids in the cannabis plant to introduce these compounds to your bloodstream, which will accelerate the rate at which THC reaches your endocannabinoid system after it enters the bloodstream when you smoke. By facilitating cannabinoids on their journey to the endocannabinoid system, terpenes accelerate their process and ensure that fewer traces of THC are left behind. This enhances bioavailability: the rate of a substance that effectively enters your body to produce its effects. Higher bioavailability translates to fast acting, more potent, long-lasting effects.
Terpenes such as myrcene help cannabinoids reach the endocannabinoid system by allowing it to take new routes to your cannabinoid receptors, bridging the blood brain barrier so as to allow them a more direct passage to the region of your brain where they take effect.
And once cannabinoids arrive at their destination, terpenes strengthen the bond between THC and your cannabinoid receptors. This binding is responsible for the effects that you feel when you consume THC, and a stronger bond produces stronger effects.
Complicated as this may sound, it’s incredibly easy to introduce myrcene into your system to enhance the effects of cannabis. Myrcene is found not only in cannabis, but also in mangoes. Consuming a mango approximately forty minutes before smoking is a tried and true method of enhancing your high.
Try High-THC Strains
When you buy cannabis from a second party, you don’t have much control over the THC content of the product you’re paying for. THC content varies from strain to strain, but even within certain strains, it technically depends on genetics and effective breeding techniques.
By growing your own cannabis which is now easier than ever, given the availability of autoflowering cannabis seeds you can ensure from the first stages of the growing process that you will end up with a high-THC strain. And because these seeds come from breeding designed for optimal THC levels, you’re likely to get higher THC content than you would when you buy cannabis that you haven’t grown yourself. Growing your own autoflowering cannabis is easy, and gives you the opportunity to choose a high-THC strain when buying your seeds online.
Take, for example, two of the strongest autoflowering strains that we have crossbred for high THC content and low-maintenance growing:
- Gorilla Glue Auto: Over recent years, Gorilla Glue has exploded in popularity due to its potent effects. Our Gorilla Glue seeds are specifically designed to grow into plants with the highest THC levels obtainable from this strain. Gorilla Glue Auto averages a staggering 24% THC content, and this balanced hybrid delivers effects that will appeal to fans of indicas and sativas alike.
- Girl Scout Cookies Auto: Girl Scout Cookies is famous for its potent and pleasurable effects, and we have crossbred an autoflowering version of this strain that averages a THC content of 22%. And high THC content isn’t the only aspect of Girl Scout Cookies auto that will enhance the effects of your autoflowering cannabis. Our autoflowering version of this strain is also high in the cannabinoid THCV, a potent cannabinoid that stimulates cannabinoid receptors in the same way that THC does. THCV is the perfect addition to a strain as powerful as Girl Scout Cookies Auto, as it reverses THC-induced paranoia, resulting in a pleasant, potent high with no overwhelming side effects.
Take a Tolerance Break
Using cannabis every day will inevitably cause you to develop a tolerance to this cannabinoid. Once your body grows accustomed to its presence in your system, THC’s effects will cease to affect you the way that they used to. One simple solution to the problem of tolerance perhaps the most common reason consumers eventually seek more potent effects is to take a tolerance break. If possible, take some time off, and avoid consuming cannabis for as long as you find feasible.
If you’re looking for a short-term break, even a week off will have a major impact on the effects that you feel when you resume smoking. If you’re truly looking to demolish your tolerance altogether, you may want to take a longer break. The amount of time that it takes for THC to exit your system and for your tolerance to drop entirely depends on how frequently you consume cannabis.
If you smoke on an everyday basis, or several times per day, it can take as long as a month to completely clear all traces of THC from your system. Though this seems like a long time, a month-long break will allow your system to effectively clear out all traces of THC, and you will be amazed at the difference when you resume smoking.
If you only use cannabis occasionally, aim for a ten day tolerance break.
You can also turn to supplements and dietary changes to help cycle traces of THC out of your system, thus reducing your tolerance. Niacin is a popular supplement for clearing THC from your system, though drinking large amounts of water is perhaps the most important: by consuming water frequently, you will effectively flush traces of THC from your system over the course of a few days.
Changing Your Cannabis Consumption Methods: Edibles, Concentrates, and More
If you find yourself increasingly unsatisfied with the effects of smoking buds, there are plenty of other cannabis products that you can turn to in order to achieve more potent effects. Cannabis concentrates contain THC levels of 60-90%, which are exponentially higher than the average 10-26% of cannabis flower. Concentrates such as hash, rosin, wax, kief, and shatter have a high bioavailability and produce exponentially stronger effects. And by growing your own autoflowering cannabis at home, you can create your own concentrate products, which will save you considerable amounts of money in the process. Once your autoflowering plants are ready for harvest, you can proceed to create your own solventless concentrates such as hash, kief, and rosin. These do not involve the use of harsh chemicals, and these concentrates are relatively easy to make. Hash can be dry-sifted using a sieve, while resin can be produced by applying heat and pressure to cannabis buds using tools that you can find at any local store. And kief is even easier to collect; simply invest in a grinder with a kief screen, and after using it enough times, you’ll find a potent mixture of trichomes underneath.
Edibles are also extremely potent, and deliver distinct, long-lasting effects that might provide a pleasant replacement for your usual consumption methods. And once again, growing your own autoflowering cannabis makes it easy to make edibles at home.
Foods To Strengthen the Effects of Cannabis: Healthy Fats and Omegas
By eating certain foods regularly, you can prepare your system to absorb THC more effectively and, in turn, you can count on your cannabis to produce stronger effects.
There are several, simple dietary changes that can lead to stronger effects from cannabis. The first involves eating healthy fats. THC and other cannabinoids are lipophilic, meaning that they dissolve in fat. When you have healthy fats in your system, THC molecules will absorb more quickly and efficiently in your bloodstream, shrinking down to a small enough size to easily cross the blood-brain barrier. Like the myrcene found in mangoes, this ensures that THC travels through your bloodstream at an accelerated rate, and as a result, less traces of THC are left behind as it makes its way to your endocannabinoid system.
In short, since THC will circulate through your system more effectively if fats are present, eating healthy fats can help potentiate the effects of cannabis. Two other essential fatty acids, Omega-3 and Omega-6, can be even more helpful. Omegas are healthy fats that are essential to various aspects of your health, and can be found in fish, nuts, hemp seed oil, meat, fish, eggs, and many more.
If you’re looking to boost your Omega levels even further, try Fish Oil supplements, which provide a balanced ratio of Omega 3 and Omega 6.
Change Your Cannabis Habits for Stronger Effects
Luckily, even when our tried-and-true methods of consuming cannabis fail to produce the effects they used to, there are various alternative methods of ingesting cannabis that can alter your habits and result in a satisfying outcome. Those who typically smoke joints or bowls might try smoking a bong. If you already smoke one, try adding ice cubes to your bong, which will make the smoke easier on your throat, and, subsequently, allow you to take bigger hits, thus inhaling more THC. You can also try sprinkling kief on top of your buds to enhance the potency of each hit.
In addition to changing consumption methods, changing the time of day that you consume cannabis may help give your everyday smoking habits new appeal. For example, say you smoke every evening at a certain time, in the same setting, using the same device. Your body and mind will become so used to this ritual that the effects of cannabis will no longer become a dominant aspect of the outcome you seek. To fix this, try changing up the time of day you smoke to earlier or later, and smoke in a different setting. As a result, you may find that the effects of cannabis are much more noticeable once you’ve changed your environment and altered your typical smoking habits. This easy change may allow you to enjoy the effects of cannabis more fully.
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Many regular cannabis consumers will, at one point or another, notice that their go-to smoking habits cease to produce the effects they once enjoyed. Don’t be concerned if this is the case; it is a commonplace problem with many solutions especially if you grow your own autoflowering cannabis. For growers, access to high-quality online seed vendors makes it easy to switch strains, find higher-THC seeds, and use your own harvests to make solventless concentrates. Autoflowering seeds make it easier not only to enjoy cannabis, but also to experiment with the cannabis you consume so that you can embrace its effects to the fullest.
