Cannabis is like the gift that just keeps on giving. At almost every turn, specialists are uncovering beneficial aspects of the famed plant. There are an endless amount of these factors in cannabis plants. One of the latest instances in question: THCA Sunscreen!
To be clear, this references a sort of natural sunscreen found in cannabis molecules. As we know, sunlight exposure can provide an immense amount of natural benefits to plants! But, it can also be damning if enough protections aren’t employed. Now there’s an exciting way to address this! Learn more below.
Sunlight Exposure
As a child, your parents probably stressed to you the importance of using sunscreen. This likely came before a fun beach trip, or a nice day at the park. On the lighter side of things, this prevented sunburns. But it can also prevent outcomes far worse than such a minor inconvenience.
Prolonged, unprotected exposure to sunlight over time can cause a few poor results. First, it can damage your skin permanently in the form of sunspots. Unfortunately, this isn’t even the worst of it. In extreme cases, it can lead to increased chances of developing melanoma. As terrible as this is, did you know that unprotected sunlight also poorly impacts plants?!
Sunscreen & Cannabis
This brings us to THCA as a natural sunscreen. As Riley explains in the clip, cannabis has a natural defense against UV rays! That’s because, due to its makeup, “THCA can actually absorb a higher wavelength of light!
This protects the plant, and allows it to take in as much light as necessary minus the negative impact. This makes for a healthy, functional cannabis plant. Who knew this brand of foliage was so unique!? For a more in depth chemical breakdown, watch the clip above.
All Sunscreen Isn’t Created Equal
As stated, the clip above deals only with THCA’s sunscreen-based properties for plants. But could the plant be used to affect humans in this way too? Think about your average sunscreen product. While sunscreen can do a great job at protecting your skin from sunlight, there are still things to look out for!
Much like with all commercial products, you have to look at the ingredients! Many brands fill their sunscreen with chemicals. Some of these are not organic. This may protect from the sun, but could be causing issues elsewhere. Your skin is precious, and you have to be very careful about what goes on it! That’s why we advocate for seeking cannabis-infused sunscreen! Like other products infused with cannabis properties, these are often healthier alternatives.
Arbor Vita8
Feel free to continue browsing our site while you’re here! We offer a wide selection of both products and information! Pick what best suits you! After that, be sure to visit Riley Dee’s Tik Tok page to learn more about Cannabis as a whole! She’s a powerhouse of knowledge that we are proud to be partnered with!
Clip Transcript
Weed Pro:
THC in cannabis actually blocks UV light.
Riley Dee:
I’ve been so excited to post this. Okay. So, Weed Pro is totally right in that video that the cannabis plant actually does produce THCA as a sunscreen molecule. But why is THCA good sunscreen molecule, but THC really isn’t?
And it really comes down to this concept of conjugation of double bonds. So that double bonds absorb energy. And if we have a double bond, single bond, double bond, single bond, et cetera, the more double bonds, the higher the energy wavelength that it can actually absorb. So because THCA has that extra double bond in the carboxylic acid, it can actually absorb a higher wavelength of light.
But what’s really special is the part that I’ve highlighted in yellow on the THCA UV spectrum. Now that part’s so important because that is where your UVA and UVB damage comes from, from the sun as demonstrated in the ultraviolet spectrum here. So that extra double bond allows the molecule to absorb those harmful rays from the sun and protect the planet.
