How Do Fast-Acting Edibles Work?

TiME is On Our Side

Wana’s R&D team spent a full two years looking for the perfect partner to get our edibles up to speed. At last, we learned that industry-leading tech company Azuca had recently developed an innovative “nano-encapsulation” technology known as TiME.

TiME – which stands for Thermodynamic individual Molecular Encapsulation – works by enclosing teeny tiny cannabinoid molecules in a thin, water-soluble layer. This is helpful because the human body is made up of around 70% water, while cannabinoids like THC are actually very fatty. As we know, water and fats don’t tend to mix, so it’s hard (and time-consuming) for your body to absorb the cannabinoids in traditional edibles.

With TiME, however, the water-soluble layer acts as a kind of disguise that tricks your body into thinking the THC is more watery than it is. This makes absorption much easier and faster, so the cannabinoids hit your bloodstream – and, as a result, start making you feel high – in around 5-15 minutes.

Is “Nano” a Relative Term?

We mentioned above that TiME utilizes a technique called “nano-encapsulation.” If you dive any deeper into what makes other fast-acting edibles tick, you’ll see the first part of that word – “NANO” – a lot.

“Nano-particles” are central to how most edibles companies try to speed up their products. The idea is to break larger cannabinoid molecules into super small pieces – so small, that they can actually slip between the cells comprising your mucus membranes and slide straight into your bloodstream. In theory, this is a pretty ingenious method!

The problem is, for something that means REALLY SMALL, “nano” is a surprisingly broad term. By definition, a particle must be smaller than 1000 nanometers to officially be labeled “nano.” But typically, only particles smaller than 100 nanometers are able to sneak between your cells and into the bloodstream.

If you see the term “nano” on a label or website, you can be pretty sure the product is at least intended to be fast-acting. And breaking molecules down into smaller pieces DOES make them easier to absorb – so it’s likely that these products will have a faster-than-average onset time, often in the 30-minute range. But if a company’s definition of “nano” doesn’t take that 100nm threshold into account, the product’s onset might be more accurately described as “brisk” than “fast.”

The good news is, the encapsulated particles in Wana Quick gummies are just about as “nano” as you can get, at only about 2.5nm in size. That’s how we can guarantee they really are some of the Fastest Edibles in the West… and everywhere else too.

Encapsulation v. Emulsion

We’ve told you how Wana Quick achieves its speed, but nano-encapsulation is just one of the many techniques canna companies – and even many mainstream pharmaceutical brands – can leverage for faster onset times. The other big one is called “nano-emulsion.”

An “emulsion” is what happens when you manage to blend an oil-based substance and a water-based substance into one cohesive mixture. Ever make your own vinaigrette? When you add vinegar, oil, and your other ingredients to a bottle, the oil separates and rises to the top. But if you shake the bottle vigorously, you can achieve a temporary emulsion, mixing all the molecules together into one delicious dressing.

When a canna company uses a nano-emulsion to create faster absorption, they typically use an “emulsifier,” such as a fatty egg or soy substance, to form loose hydrogen bonds between the fatty nano-molecules of THC (the oil) and the water molecules in your body (the vinegar). These bonds can temporarily help with faster absorption, but they’re not very strong and usually break apart during digestion.

Despite the fragility of hydrogen bonds, nano-emulsion is often an effective way to speed up onset times, especially when used in beverages. In fact, nano-emulsion powers the fast onset of Wana’s brand new sparkling hemp drinks – which, by the way, can be ordered straight to your door in most states.

That said, Wana Quick Gummies are made using a slightly different technology. Rather than establishing those loose hydrogen bonds, TiME’s nano-encapsulation creates a much stronger shell made of water-loving particles joined by very strong covalent bonds. Think of a nano-emulsion as covering the THC molecules in a stuck-together Post-Its, and a nano-encapsulation as enclosing them in a Kevlar body suit.

Combined with the super small 2nm size of our nano-particles, nano-encapsulation allows for rapid absorption, just as with nano-emulsions. But because our encapsulations are so strongly bonded together, they also allow Delta-9-THC molecules to reach your bloodstream fully intact, unchanged by the metabolic processes that impact most other ingestible cannabis products. As a result, the effects you feel from Wana Quick are really unlike any other edibles experience – a lighter, more cerebral high that many people associate with smoking. That’s a topic for another blog post, though.