Zen 500 MG-Bar

I hope you’ve got a sweet tooth because I’ve got the golden ticket to some scrumdiddlyumptious knowledge about an edible this week! Not just any edible either, but the strongest chocolate bar I’ve seen on the shelves in Missouri! The 500mg chocolate bar from Zen will have you saying, “Namaste right here on the couch, you guys go on without me,” if you eat the whole thing like I did! Before Encycloweedia Bricannabis delves into review mode let’s take a minute to look at the differences between inhaling and ingesting cannabis.  While smoking produces a more immediate effect, eating your THC comes on slower but can have longer lasting effects. It’s also healthier on your lungs to eat your cannabis rather than smoke it, but if you’re like me the two often go hand in hand. On days I eat edibles I smoke noticeably less flower since I am already floating through the day. Alright Zen, let’s look at what happens once you’ve T-ATE-C an edible.

First let’s examine the differences between smoking and ingesting cannabis. When THC enters your body via smoke your lungs absorb it and pass it into your bloodstream. The effects can be felt almost immediately as it comes on within minutes or even seconds of inhaling. When you eat something infused with THC it has to be digested before your body can absorb the goodness that is inside. Feeling the effects of an edible can take as long as several hours. For some people edibles are readily absorbed by their endocannabinoid system and a very small dose can leave them feeling similar to a person that has to eat larger doses to feel anything at all. Just like smoking our bodies will all handle eating THC differently. Personally I have to eat between 30-50mg to notice that I’ve eaten an edible, but consider 100mg an ideal dose if I’m wanting to eat as my main form of medication that day. One thing I love about infused chocolates or hard candies is letting them melt in my mouth. I like to think just a bit of the THC is absorbed sublingually as the candy melts, but in the very least it breaks the food down to a more liquid state which makes for quicker digesting.  There is a chemical difference in what happens to THC when it is smoked or eaten. Here comes the science! The THC will be converted into either Delta-9-THC or 11-hydroxy-THC. Delta-9 is the THC inhaled by smoking and 11-OH-THC is the resulting chemical compound when we eat our cannabis. 11-OH-THC is more potent than Delta-9 and appears in higher amounts in the bloodstream than Delta-9 when THC is ingested rather than inhaled.  This explains why edibles can produce much stronger effects than smoking cannabis.

When I heard a review was needed for a new chocolate bar I readily volunteered. There are some things a man knows he was born to do, and I promise you my talents were not put to waste. Even though it was my day off I accepted the responsibility of working late into the night and well into the next day exploring the effects of this edible. I thoroughly enjoyed this confection inspection and ate the entire candy bar over the course of three hours. I had a Friday night Dungeons and Dragons game as a player and not the Dungeon Master for once, which meant my brain wouldn’t have to focus on running the game. You know the Zen bar went on the table for my snackage that night! Before I started on a piece of Zen I devoured a spicy chicken sandwich and some fries. When eating edibles, if you want to get the most out of them, pair them with a fatty food. THC and CBD are fat-soluble so they will break down better when combined with fat making it easier for your body to absorb them.  Isn’t science cool?! After dinner I devoured half of the chocolate bar, about 250mg of THC. The Ghirardelli chocolate melted in my mouth. I enjoy tasting marijuana in edibles and was not disappointed with the cannabis infused chocolate tastiness that coated my mouth. The flavor was mostly milk chocolate with the cannabis mixing in just enough to let you know it’s there. Within the first hour I could feel myself begin to float, and decided to finish the chocolate bar in its entirety! After three and a half hours my D&D game came to a close but my float down the chocolate river had only begun. I selected something to watch and within minutes was having some of the best sleep of my life on my living room loveseat. I awoke about 4am and wobbled to my bed. Though I was groggy from sleep most of the wibbles were caused by a magical treat Willy Wonka would want to wield among his wares. I slept soundly once again until 8am. Over the course of my Saturday I only smoked two bong bowls as I was already happily floating along. I highly recommend this candy bar, but advise you not to eat it all at once unless you’re prepared for a long lasting body high that can be intense for those unfamiliar with edibles or THC. Well Zen, I’ve said my peace. Check out the Zen chocolate bar yoga-na love it!

Joking and Toking:
I normally feed my dog breakfast around 7am, but thanks to this snack making me sleep in I was running a little chocoLATE! He didn’t mind sleeping in a bit more before breakfast though.