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What is the Difference Between CBD and CBN?
Ever since the 2018 Farm Bill legalized the production of hemp, startups and well-known, established companies have started formulating CBD products. You’ve probably seen various types of CBD remedies on the market, including oils, topicals, vapes, skincare, pet care, edibles, capsules, drinks, and more.
But there’s a new cannabinoid that’s starting to gain traction, and it’s proving to be just as therapeutic as CBD. This new cannabinoid is called cannabinol, which is long for CBN.
While similar to CBD in some ways, CBN has its own soothing properties that make it a unique, relieving, and intriguing option for your health. However, if you don’t know much about CBN, you’re probably unconvinced that it’s genuinely different from CBD.
Each of the cannabinoids starts with the same two letters, and they both come from the hemp plant. Could they really be that different?
Surprisingly, the answer is yes. In fact, the cannabinoids have enough complementary differences that you might want to consider adding both to your wellness routine.
What’s CBD vs. CBN?
The differences between CBD and CBN start with their composition in the cannabis family. While you can find both of these cannabinoids in hemp and marijuana, how they originate in these plants is slightly different.
CBD is a byproduct of CBDA. When you examine the hemp plant, you’ll initially find tiny amounts of CBD and significantly higher levels of CBDA. This difference is because CBDA is the acid precursor of CBD.
It’s not until you apply heat to CBDA that it starts to break down to CBD. This process is called decarboxylation, and it’s what helps increase the CBD levels in the hemp plant.
CBN goes through a similar process. However, it originates from a different cannabinoid. CBN is the degradation of THC. In fact, CBN isn’t even naturally found in the hemp plant like CBD is. It only comes into being when you apply heat and light to the plant material to convert THC to CBN.
The costs of making CBD vs. CBN
Both CBD and CBN require you to apply some external elements to obtain high levels of their therapeutic properties. However, that doesn’t mean it costs the same amount of money to produce them.
As mentioned before, you have to apply heat to convert CBDA to CBD and THC to CBN. But to actually extract CBN to use it requires a lot of material, which can be expensive.
Ideally, companies want to get as much CBN out of the hemp plant as possible. However, to achieve that, you have to clean out all of the other components to have the CBN leftover.
This extraction process includes multiple steps that demand a higher price from CBD companies. However, the unattractive cost is why most businesses in the industry don’t provide CBN products. They simply stick with selling CBD remedies because it’s cheaper to produce.
CBD costs a little north of $1,000 per kilo, which is a significant drop from the $30,000 price tag it had three years ago. But this reduction is a result of a more efficient extraction process that yields potent levels of CBD.
Extracting high amounts of CBN, on the other hand, is not that efficient, making many extractors hesitant to mess with it. The process could cost anywhere from $32,000 – $40,000 per kilo. And they don’t want to bear the cost if they don’t have a large pool of CBD companies that will buy the extract.
What are the benefits of CBD vs. CBN?
When you come across companies like Kat’s Naturals that are producing CBD and CBN products, you have the opportunity to use therapeutic cannabinoids for your health and wellness.
Both CBD and CBN come with their own soothing properties. Some of them are similar, and some of them are different.
For example, below are just a few benefits that CBD may have:
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Relieve Pain
While studying rats, researchers discovered that injecting CBD helped decrease the pain response to surgical incision. Another study also suggests that oral CBD remedies can reduce sciatic nerve pain and inflammation.
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Reduce Anxiety
Researchers have discovered that CBD may reduce social anxiety by creating changes in blood flow to the regions of the brain that are associated with anxious feelings. In 2015, researchers also suggested that CBD could help soothe various types of anxiety, including panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Soothe acne
Researchers believe that CBD’s anti-inflammatory properties may help reduce acne. A recent study found that CBD prevented excessive sebum production and prevented “pro-acne” agents like inflammatory cytokines from activating.
When it comes to CBN, researchers and individuals have discovered a couple of unique soothing properties that CBD doesn’t have. More research still needs to be done, but so far, the results are promising.
Some of the therapeutic effects that CBN may offer:
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Stimulate Appetite
Researchers believe CBN may be an appetite stimulant. This property is very different from CBD, which could have some appetite-suppressing effects.
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Deepen sleep
Researchers and individuals who have tried CBN suggest the cannabinoid may help deepen your sleep. The cannabinoid produces a slight meditative effect that enhances your sleep so that you wake up feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. 
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Reduce inflammation
This benefit is similar to CBD. Scientists believe that CBN might have anti-inflammatory properties, but they’re still examining CBN to understand how it impacts the immune system. However, researchers currently suggest that it could have some therapeutic role in soothing inflammatory conditions.
CBD, CBN, and the endocannabinoid system
While CBD and CBN have some benefits that crossover, the reason you feel those benefits differ. It’s true that both of these cannabinoids interact with your endocannabinoid system, but they do so in different ways to produce soothing effects.
CBD, for example, binds to the CB2 receptors in your bones and blood to provide its therapeutic effects. However, CBN only attaches to the CB1 receptors in your brain—it’s the same receptors THC attaches to.
Connecting with the cannabinoid receptors in your brain is the reason why you may feel a calm, peaceful feeling when you use CBN. This relaxation leads to a deeper sleep that allows you to wake up restored and ready to go.
How do you use CBD vs. CBN?
If you decide to use CBD and CBN remedies, you may wonder what types of products you should buy.
With CBD, the answer is multi-faceted. You can buy many types of CBD products, including CBD sublinguals, topicals, skincare, vapes, capsules, and edibles.
However, with CBN, you’re limited just a bit. Because this cannabinoid only attaches to the CB1 receptors in your brain, it wouldn’t lend the best to topical formulations. As a result, you wouldn’t fully encounter its soothing properties if you bought a lotion, gel, cream, or skincare product.
But if you ingest CBN, you should experience it’s relieving effects. CBN works as an excellent vape product or sublingual, which we currently sell. And this cannabinoid may also work well as a capsule. It’d just take about 45 minutes for the remedy to produce a result since the CBN has to break down in your intestinal tract first.
The best dosages for CBD vs. CBN
Regardless of whether you use CBD or CBN products, you’ll want to use the right dosage to unleash the remedies’ effects. 
Ultimately, the best dosage is going to come down to several factors, including your environment, diet, weight, genetics, metabolism, and reason for using the remedy. This information is true for both CBD and CBN products.
However, when it comes to CBN, people tend to report that 4 milligrams are enough to feel an effect. You may want to begin with this dosage and then adjust if necessary.
The complementary differences between CBD and CBN
While CBD and CBN come from the same plant, these two cannabinoids have vast differences. Their dissimilarities start with the cannabinoid they originate from and end all the way at the dosage you should take.
However, these differences do not oppose one another. You can use both CBD and CBN in your wellness routine. And in fact, doing so would enhance their benefits.
When two or more cannabinoids work together synergistically, they cover more ground, leaving you with a better quality of life. You want to use cannabinoids that have different purposes. That way, you have a full natural pharmacy for your health and wellness.
