Key Takeaways

• Hemp For Fitness is a ‘tried & true’ American hemp brand proudly paying customer-by-customer dues since early 2014 after passage of the 2013 Farm Bill. 
• They provide safe legal access to American-grown cannabis compounds for both individual customers and businesses (white label options). 
• CBDA is typically found and enjoyed in raw cannabis juicing, but modern extraction methods in the wake of the 2014-2020 epoch have delivered disruptive innovations. 

Introduction: The Wholesale Embracement of Hemp

Our mainstream cannabis industry is recruiting armies of everyday people, transforming them into hemp-inspired shamans. 

Isn’t it great, both consumers and entrepreneurs alike!

Before roughly 2012 cannabis (a.k.a Marijuana & Hemp) was just, ‘This illegal plant that gets you stoned or you can make shirts with it.’ 

People had read and heard plenty concerning THC, but that was about the length and breadth of public knowledge. Fast forward to mid-2020 and cannabis is a massive catalyst for global change due to the emergent science studying interactions between the human Endocannabinoid System (ECS) and phytocannabinoids.

This includes their acidic and active forms: CBCA & CBC, CBGA & CBG, THCA & THC, and so on the list goes, along with a host of terpenes and flavonoids which consumers are becoming attenuated to as well. 

So, out with it…

Are you a fellow sinsemilla sorcerer interested in the raw acidic precursor to Cannabidiol (CBD) – namely CBDA?

Perhaps a fellow naturalist necromancer seeking to unlock and wield the mighty cannabacean medicine cabinet to obey your whims?

Or, hey, how about a Spagyrist?

The word stands for a plant-based alchemist interested in harnessing/extracting the full spectrum of nutrients found within certain species.

That’s exactly what the owner of Hemp for Fitness is, a wonderful spagyric Persian! Afterall, in the cannabis world, full spectrum and extraction technologies rule the roost.

Dispensaries across America are now filled to the brim with products based on old and new extraction techniques which deliver a smorgasbord of cannabis concoctions and concentrates.

We’ll definitely discuss that with more depth momentarily, but for now, let’s get into what you really came for — the lowdown on CBDA. 

NOTE: If you’re only here to Get CBDA or Buy CBDA, then head to the shop. They plan on unveiling a range of delivery methods over time. See what they have for you or use their Contact Form to connect with one of their representatives. 

That said, let’s get this topic off the launchpad. 

What is CBDa, Where’s It From, And Why Does It Matter?

The cannabis plant is an ingenious being; brilliant beyond measure in its ability to mold the building blocks of cannabinoids and produce a huge array of powerful compounds. 

The ‘A’ at the end of cannabinoids like THC-A or CBG-A stands for an extra carboxylic acid. For the chemistry nerds among us it’s typically expressed as COOH, the molecule being composed of a carbon, two oxygen, and a hydrogen atom.

Hence when exposed to sunlight, heat, or just time, the compounds lose the more unstable acids and become ‘decarboxylated’ – so, from CBDA to CBD.

What: How CBDA Is Made By Cannabis In Nature

There are hundreds upon hundreds of unique compounds in cannabis, so in a syringe of high-quality HFF full-spectrum hemp plant extract you’ll find:

• Phytocannabinoids – typically the focus is on active or decarboxylated CBD content with a multitude of other potential cannabinoids in smaller amounts.
• Terpenes or Terpenoids – in some products they’re added for the experience (often a citrus or flowery aroma) while in others they’re naturally-occuring. 
• Flavonoids and Waxes
• Aldehydes, Ketones, Ethers and Esters
• Vitamins & Trace Minerals
• Sugars, Omega Fatty Acids & Protein…

You know, plant stuff!

It really comes down to the method by which you go from raw biomass (and all that that entails), to an extract or concentrate. 

However, there are a relatively small amount of core or major cannabinoids found in most cultivated cannabis. Humans are a picky bunch and we’ve been curating the evolution of cannabis characteristics to suit our fancies predating written history — cloth, rope, seed, extracts, etc.

Today all bets are off. It’s about everything simultaneously; from leaf to root! Regardless, in cannabis the biosynthetic pathway to cannabinoids begins the same.  

In one of the earliest stages of the plant’s life, a compound called Geranyl Pyrophosphate (GPP) will either bind with olivetolic acid leading to CBG-A or divarinic acid to create CBG-VA. 

For now, to save time, we’ll leave the ‘V’ family of cannabinoids out of the conversation.

Then, depending on the type of cannabis you’re working with, environmental conditions, and farming pressures, the plant employs enzymes or synthase to convert CBGA into some variation among the three main cannabinoid lines in their acidic forms:

1. THCA – Tetrahydrocannabinolic Acid
2. CBDA – Cannabidiolic Acid
3. CBCA – Cannabichromenic Acid

From there the plant can perform a wondrous amount of terpenophenolic tricks. 

Generally speaking, once you apply heat, lots of sunshine, or just time to these plant compounds they break down (thermal decarboxylation), lose their acidic carboxyl component, and become what we tend to call their ‘active’ forms. 

So, from THCA to THC, or from CBDA to CBD. You get that by now. It’s FAR more complex than that, but you didn’t come here for a collegiate-level course on cannabis chemistry. 

Where: How To Get CBDA

Obviously you can find copious amounts of CBDA and other acidic cannabinoids in raw high-CBD strains of cannabis vs. decarboxylated edibles. This is why juicing has become such a gargantuan quasi-underground niche in the fitness and health world. 

Here’s the secret — acidic cannabinoids aren’t intoxicating, so you get all the benefits of the cannabis medicine cabinet and the acidic cannabinoids with none of the psychotropic impacts. 

THCA is just stupendous nutrition until you heat it! 

And no, your digestive system doesn’t activate it. To fully decarb THCA into psychoactive THC, you need to reach 212-degrees fahrenheit (100C). The human digestive system operates at about half to less than half that.

Here’s a quote directly from the European Industrial Hemp Association’s (EIHA) paper on Decarboxylation of THCA to active THC looking at the impacts of THCA levels in hemp foods:

“Taking the combined trendline into account, it would need 3 hours at 100C to convert THCA fully into THC and 4 hours at 98C. At high temperatures above 160C only about 10 minutes and at 200C only seconds are needed to convert THCA fully into THC.”

In comparison, your average lighter is hitting the cannabis flower in a pipe or whatever at 3,590.6 degrees Fahrenheit…or 1,977 C.

CBDA, like CBD, is also a non-intoxicant. Furthermore, it doesn’t get through the blood-brain-barrier as easily as the activated, decarbed form. 

The point here is that if you have access to fresh cannabis flower you have access to CBDA. 

• But maybe you don’t want to juice cannabis.
• Maybe the only cannabis flower you have access to is dried out and decarbed.
• Maybe you don’t want to use any of the mixed ratios in dispensary products — e.g. 100mg CBD + 100mg CBDA + 15mg THC. That’s just one example.
• Maybe you don’t have access to legal cannabis dispensaries at all. 
• You might be looking for a discreet, safe, and legal online purchase instead. 

If you’d rather have a bottle of CBDA pills, have a CBDA-infused topical in your gym bag, or be able to simply add a scoop of CBDA powder to your morning smoothie…

We need to briefly chat about extraction. 

CBDA Extraction: The Way of Water

First, let’s look at the traditional way of getting your hands on CBDA, literally. It’s called water hash. Until I began researching for this article, I’d never heard of it. 

One of the best Water Hash 101-style articles on the subject is written and published by Ed Rosenthal, a leading authority in cannabis horticulture.

Here’s a stitching of some quotes to paint a picture for you.

What is it?

“Water hash is a favorite method of making concentrates employed all over the world. Its name comes from the water process used to collect glands from the trim, leaf, and buds. On a fundamental level, the process works because cannabinoids are not water soluble, meaning that the desired resins are not damaged by contact with water and ice.”

What does it produce?

“Water hash can be loose granular resin or pressed into traditional hashish.”

It’s like kief, a fine granular natural concentrate you can press together in the palms of your hands.

Not black gooey resin; but a powder that sort of packs together. 

Okay, but how’s it made?

“All water hash methods use water, ice, and agitation to separate resin glands… Water and plant material are placed in a bucket lined with filtration bags, similar in composition to the screens used for making dry-sift kief. Like those screens, the bags filter the glands by micron size, separating the hash… The material is stirred to knock the trichomes free, and while the plant material floats in the top bag, the glands (which are heavier) sink and are collected in the lower bags.”

How powerful can this crude method be?

“Water hash varies in color and can be many shades of white, brown, red, even purple. When extracted from the finest-grade material, the potency of water hash can test as high as many solvent hash products, with up to 80% cannabinoid content.”

Pretty interesting! Along with this there are a number of basic DIY methods using coffee filters, blenders and jar shakers and so forth.

Those are the crude methods, but how about something modern and cutting-edge?

For that we can turn to modern innovators and startups in the cannabis scene like Hemp for Fitness who are taking the technology to another level completely.

• New water-based commercial extraction processes that are clean, ecofriendly, and well-regulated. 
• Minimal post-processing requirements with no leftover chemical-based solvents. 
• What you end up with is a viable, vibrant, and potent phytocannabinoid ingredient like CBDA.
• Using fresh American biomass reduces the drying/storing burden on new hemp farmers trying desperately to keep up with demand in a quickly evolving marketplace. 
• Everything is tested in house as well as by third parties in accordance with state and federal laws.

Why: CBDA Is An Increasingly Big Deal

If you’ve followed the cannabis industry to any degree, you recognize the name of Dr. Raphael Mechoulam. He’s hailed by many as one of the godfathers of modern cannabinoid medicine and scientific research dating back to the 1960s. 

He’s one of THEE most prominent names behind the 21st century transformations we see around us, etc., etc. 

The man’s a big deal… 

Anyhow, as a presenter at the CannMed 2019 Convention he announced that his recent research had been focusing on where everyone else wasn’t, namely on the unstable acidic forms of cannabinoids. 

Corporations, ‘Big Pharma’ and their ilk don’t like unstable cannabinoid acids that break down easily. They prefer compounds that are easier to work with. 

So, the good doctor and his team decided to try and stabilize CBDA so it could be studied like its more stable active counterpart CBD. They succeeded, and created a stabilized version named HU-580 which shows immense therapeutic potential for conditions like depression. 

Here’s the key – acidic forms, once stabilized, can be substantially MORE POWERFUL than active forms. 

Wait a sec….that means for medicines you would only need to take a tiny fraction of the stabilized CBDA derivative to see the same impacts as decarboxylated CBD.

Whoa! 

And just like that acidic forms of cannabinoids went from a fringe thing juicers and old school water hash makers were after to headline news across the medical cannabis world. 

What brought you to this very article?

According to Health Europa reporting on the subject, 

“Derived from CBDA, HU-580 is naturally occurring but very unstable, and is much stronger than CBD with no side effects. Results showed it has great nausea-reducing effects, and that HU‐580 may be even more potent than CBDA in reducing stress‐induced anxiety.”

Here’s a short video where the doctor provides a preview of the speech he would soon be giving at the convention. 

Of course that’s a synthetic derivative of an acidic cannabinoid directed towards folks dealing with serious issues. And the doctor is focused primarily on high-level medical corporations and the established order creating cannabis-based medicines. 

Not necessarily you, just someone looking to have some CBDA on-hand or to include in your product. That’s where sources like Hemp for Fitness come into play over the following decade: 2020 to 2030. 

Wrapping Up

Everyone would love to have you join the conversation. Leave a comment below

Otherwise, if you’re here to Buy CBDA or Get CBDA, head to the shop. Or, if you’d rather chat with a specialist first, feel free to call or use their Contact Form. Cheers, and thanks for your time.