Flavonoids Fridays: Everything You Need to Know about Cannflavin B Flavor, Fragrance, and Health Benefits
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In this post:

• What do flavonoids do?
• Flavonoids and the entourage effect
• What is Cannflavin B?
• Antioxidant properties
• Cannflavin B benefits
• Cannflavin A vs Cannflavin B
• How the body processes Cannflavin B

Cannabis has hundreds of cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids that make up its incredible healing properties. One compound with a growing body of research to back it up is a flavonoid known as Cannflavin B.

Cannflavin B hides a powerful pain-relieving secret–it’s up to 30 times more effective than Aspirin (with none of the side effects.)Scientists have known about Cannflavin B since the 1980s, but only today are they considering it a viable medical treatment option. Here’s everything you need to know about the powerful pain-relieving properties of Cannflavin B and why it’s important in your cannabis strains and products.

What Do Flavonoids Like Cannflavin B Do?

There are over 8,000 flavonoids in nature, but just a fraction are present in the cannabis plant. These special flavonoids are called cannflavins, which include Cannflavin B.

Like all flavonoids, Cannflavin B is a phytonutrient for the cannabis plant that helps it mature properly. Flavonoids protect plants from UV rays, ward off predators and bacteria, and execute vital cell cycles for optimal growth. Cannflavins are also responsible for the colors and aromas of cannabis buds.

Flavonoids are also valuable to human health. In our diets, flavonoids provide important nutrients and have wide-ranging benefits from anti-inflammatory properties to cancer treatment.

These compounds aren’t essential nutrients, but they are pharmacologically active and provide medicinal benefits.

Flavonoids are life span essential (meaning they help us live longer) because they perform crucial functions in the body. These functions include regulating cellular activity and fighting diseases.

How are Flavonoids Involved in the Entourage Effect?

The entourage effect explains how the many chemical compounds in cannabis interact with each other, our bodies, and our endocannabinoid systems to produce the complex and varying effects we know and love.

Every strain has a different ratio of flavonoids, terpenes, and cannabinoids, which produce various physiological and therapeutic outcomes. Flavonoids are essential to the entourage effect, but their exact mechanisms of action are not as widely studied as cannabinoids and terpenes.

What is Cannflavin B?

Cannflavin B is a cannflavin or a flavonoid that occurs only in cannabis–specifically in the Cannabis sativa plant.

Cannflavin B and its counterpart Cannflavin A are powerful pain relievers, up to 30 times more effective than Aspirin. But because these compounds occur solely in cannabis plants, scientists haven’t been able to study their healing potential due to the plant’s illicit status.  Additionally, cannflavins make up less than 1% of the cannabis plant by dry weight, so collecting enough volume to study is a challenge.

But breakthroughs in technology are making that a problem of the past. A recently developed extraction method called “in silico” genome mining can extract and purify Cannflavin B cost-effectively, so scientists can access more of the compound for research purposes.

Antioxidant Properties of Cannflavin B

Flavonoids are potent antioxidants and cannflavins are no exception. The presence of these compounds in your body helps fight free radicals that lead to advanced aging and disease.

Free radicals are uncharged molecules that set off a nasty chain reaction in your body. This leads to a build-up of oxidative stress, which is detrimental to your long-term health. Oxidative stress is responsible for many issues, including early signs of aging, as well as strokes, heart disease, and cancer.

Antioxidants are a vital part of your diet because they fight those free radicals. Flavonoids like Cannflavin B boost antioxidant levels to help preserve your long-term wellness.

Cannflavin B and Inflammation

Cannflavin B was discovered alongside Cannflavin A  by researcher Marilyn Barrett at the University of London School of Pharmacy. Barrett identified these compounds as natural alternatives to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like Aspirin.

While research is still in the early stages, other studies have confirmed what Barrett found. A 2014 study concluded Cannflavin B reduces the production of leukotriene, a chemical messenger that promotes inflammation. A study in 2019 showed Cannflavin B has 30 times more anti-inflammatory activity than Aspirin.

Cannflavin B Benefits

In addition to reducing inflammation throughout the body, early studies show Cannflavin B has other medicinal benefits as well.

• Anti-parasitic properties: A study from 2011 found Cannflavin B had a “moderate medical effect” on destroying a parasite transferred by sandfly bites.
• Anti-cancer properties: A 2019 study of cannflavins found that isocannflavin B suppressed breast cancer cell and pancreatic cancer cell growth. It also delayed tumor growth and increased pancreatic cancer survival rates in animal studies.

Difference Between Cannflavin A and B

Cannflavin A and B are similar molecules. They both reduce inflammation by inhibiting the same pathways in the brain and are created by the same chemical reaction in the plant. The most significant difference comes from their chemical structure. Cannflavin A has a longer tail on the hydrogen structure than Cannflavin B, which affects the molecule’s ability to bond.

What Foods are High in Cannflavin B?

To get Cannflavin B, reach for cannabis! This cannflavin is unique to the Cannabis sativa plant., so you won’t find it anywhere else in your diet (except flower, concentrates, and edibles.)

What is the Best Form of Cannflavin B?

You can consume Cannflavin B through edibles, full-spectrum oils, flower, and concentrates. Cannflavin B occurs in small quantities in the plant, but scientists in Canada are working on advanced breeding and extraction methods to increase its availability.

How the Body Processes Cannflavin B

As a flavonoid, Cannflavin B attaches itself to sugar moieties in the plant. These sugars get broken down in our bodies, but they aren’t uniform. Differences in these sugars can affect how well we absorb Cannflavin B. Further research is needed to identify how our bodies absorb and process this compound.

How to Consume Cannabis to Get the Most Cannflavin B Absorbed Into Your Body

Depending on how they were prepared, edibles, tinctures, and concentrates may all contain flavonoids. High heat, however, can quickly destroy these delicate compounds, so cannabis should be evenly heated to preserve flavonoid profiles.

The Bottom Line

Cannflavin B may be sparse, but it is powerful. Early studies have shown strong anti-inflammatory and potent pain-relieving properties that can create new treatment outlets for countless people in need. Cannflavin B is only available through cannabis for the time being, but it may not be long before researchers extract it for widespread commercial use.

At ACS Laboratory, we test for 16 flavonoids, including Cannflavin A and B. As a CLIA-licensed laboratory, we can perform human trials on the bioavailability of these flavonoids, which is an integral part of pharmacokinetics, the study of drug movement through the body. These studies allow us to draw conclusions based on the actual science and not just anecdotal research.