How Myrcene Can Help You Sleep Better & Relieve Pain

There’s a lot to learn about CBD and its potential to help improve both physical and mental health, but while CBD is the core ingredient in all our products, CBD alone isn't the whole story.

We believe that the next step in the evolution of CBD wellness lies in combining CBD with terpenes to produce specific, targeted effects. And because we want you to have as much information as possible when it comes to your health, we need to talk about the importance of terpenes and how they can work in combination with CBD.

With that in mind, we’re beginning a new series to spotlight some of the most important terpenes we include in our products, beginning with one of the terpenes most commonly found in nature, myrcene, which we use in both our Pain Relief and Sleep formulations.

Quick Pause: What’s a Terpene?

Before we get into myrcene specifically, let’s take a moment to pause and make sure we’re all on the same page when it comes to terpenes more generally. Even for those who have been using CBD for years to improve their health, the important role of terpenes are just now moving into the spotlight.  

First and foremost, terpenes are fragrant, essential oils secreted by a wide range of plants to repel predators and attract pollinators. They’re what give pine trees and lavender flowers their signature scent, for example, and make them key ingredients in aromatherapy treatments. That feeling of peace when you take a deep breath of some lavender? That’s the terpenes at work.

In addition, terpenes are also found abundantly in hemp and cannabis plants. (Remember, while CBD is derived from hemp, which is part of the broader cannabis family, hemp contains essentially no THC, the compound that produces the “high” feeling associated with cannabis.)

Science has identified well over 100 terpenes in cannabis plants, with about 10 terpenes most prevalently found naturally in the plant, from today’s star myrcene to other terpenes like limonene and linalool that we’ll focus on in future spotlights. Yes, these terpenes can produce some wonderful fragrances, but more importantly, scientific studies are increasingly revealing how terpenes can work in synergy with other compounds like CBD to enhance and help produce more specific effects (sometimes referred to as the “entourage effect”).

Bottom line: terpenes are natural, they smell good, each terpene is distinct in its smell and properties, and they can work hand-in-hand with CBD. And with that foundation set, let’s turn our attention to myrcene.  

Now, Onto Myrcene

As we just discussed, the most easily accessible way to know a terpene is smell, and myrcene is often found in highly fragrant fruits and herbs like mangoes, lemongrass, basil, and hops (hops, by the way, also come from the hemp family).

Beyond its perfume potential, myrcene is being shown to have sedative effects, which can help with a wide-range of ailments.

Accordingly to one of the better known studies of myrcene and other terpenes, published in the British Journal of Pharmacology, myrcene has analgesic properties, making it a candidate for pain relief. And in some of those same tests it reduced locomotor activity - more plainly put, it reduced “tossing and turning,” leading to both longer duration and deeper sleep. This is also why myrcene is being looked at as a potential way to decrease seizures at especially high doses.

In addition, the same sedative properties that make myrcene intriguing for those looking for a pain relief and sleep aide indicate that it could also be used to help ease anxiety and induce a sense of calm.

A Final Word

It’s important to note that first, there’s still a lot of research to be done around the specific effects of all terpenes, including myrcene.

Unfortunately, years of misguided government policy have discouraged scientists from studying compounds in the cannabis family, but that’s changing rapidly and we’re looking forward to more research providing us with increasingly better information. Regardless, you should always talk to a health professional before starting a new supplement and keep in mind that just as everyone’s body chemistry is unique, CBD and terpenes can work differently for you  and you need to find what works best for you.

And second, while we’ve written separately about how CBD works in the body and now myrcene, we believe that the best health benefits come by combining terpenes and CBD. Terpenes alone aren’t effective, and CBD alone isn’t targeted enough to produce specific effects, but in the right formulations they can give us the best of both worlds and a way to help us feel more like our best selves.