This blog post explores the various opinions of others, on the topic of 'CBD benefits' - Nothing in this blog post constitutes medical advice or recommendations.
For a number of years, people have commented on the many claimed benefits of consuming various parts of the cannabis plant to help relieve various ailments. The Cannabis plant contains hundreds of compounds, one of the compounds that has become very popular is CBD, the non-psychoactive compound of the plant, found in the resin produced when grown.
THC is the active compound that results in a 'high' once consumed, whereas CBD does not result in any 'high' at all. It does however provide many claimed and potential benefits after consumption. These claimed benefits range from; Arthritis, pain relief (general, acute, menstrual etc), seizure relief, cancer symptom relief, mental health disorder relief, improved sleep, neuroprotective benefits and many others...
“The endocannabinoid system is a complex neurochemical network in the body that regulates various bodily functions, including emotions, pain and sleep,”
- Chantel Strachan, M.D
A quick google search will generate page after page of comments, blogs and academic studies and information on the topic, but here are some of our favourites:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cbd-oil-benefits#more
https://www.drugs.com/lifestyle/health-benefits-cbd-3516616/#
https://www.forbes.com/health/body/cbd-oil-benefits/
https://www.healthcanal.com/health/benefits-cbd-oil
The range of claimed benefits extends from basic local pain relief such as a headache or sore muscles all the way to terminal and palliative care treatments. In this blog post we will expand on a few of the claimed benefits to CBD and link some further articles, links and other publications for extra reading.
Pain Relief - Cannabis in general has been used to treat pain for thousands of years, only more recently in the last century has cannabis been outlawed and generally frowned upon by the pharmaceutical industry.
As quoted above, the human body has an endocannabinoid system, which regulates many highly important bodily functions such as; pain, immune system, sleep, appetite to name a few. A human body produces endocannabinoids, which are neurotransmitters that essentially bind to cannabinoid receptors in your nervous system. When you consume CBD, you increase the number of cannabinoids in your system.
Early studies have shown that CBD may help reduce pain by affecting endocannabinoid receptor activity and reducing inflammation. Likewise people have documented good pain relief from arthritis, nerve pain and fibromyalgia to name a few.
Whether it's reoccurring muscle pain, joint pain such as arthritis or a more serious ongoing medical condition, CBD products might offer some relief. Given the natural, non-toxic nature of CBD, many people have turned too CBD to help where traditional or toxic solutions offer no relief.
Improved Sleep - Good sleep is absolutely key to a productive and healthy mind & body. For centuries now, there is evidence of humans consuming the cannabis plant in various forms as a sleep aid. There is mounting anecdotal evidence that CBD can help assist healthy sleep patterns for people who suffer from insomnia and other sleep disorders.
When you consider traditional medicines for sleep disorders, often they are highly toxic when compared to CBD and its relatively low toxicity. CBD can be a safe alternative to various sleep medications.
Ultimately; many people have seen great improvements with various aliments while consuming CBD as documented on the internet. Often people consider CBD for various aliments because they want to try a natural, plant-based option or they're seeking an alternative to conventional treatments that have not been effective.
Furthermore; CBD can be consumed in a variety of ways; from traditional oils, modern vaporisers, capsules and even topical balms. Allowing quick and direct access to help alleviate aliments.
Anxiety & Mental Health disorders - Alongside sleep issues, one of the most widely commented benefit for CBD products is its use for Anxiety and other mental health issues. Many traditional treatments again are toxic when used for longer periods and they also have addiction problems associated, CBD has non of these risks for the user and as a result has seen growing popularity for use in managing anxiety.
Due to popularity in this area, a few basic tests have been carried out to see if CBD has any benefits over a placebo when it comes to helping anxious people.
2010 - A study consisting of 10 people who has social anxiety disorder were administrated CBD or a placebo. All the participants who consumed the CBD experienced reduced levels of anxiety. You can read more here; https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0269881110379283
2018 - This study again gave participants both CBD and a placebo before they spoke publicly. The results were one again in favour of CBD having some benefit with the following conclusion: "Compared to placebo, pretreatment with 300 mg of CBD significantly reduced anxiety during the speech." More reading is available here; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6781714/
There has also been studies on PTSD and other mental health disorders and conditions, and the results are similar to the studies mentioned above. CBD might offer great relief for someone with anxiety or other mental health conditions, however it's highly personal.
If a person wants to use CBD for anxiety or other issues, they have a few different options, such as:
- Oils
- Vapes
- Smokable CBD hemp flower
- Beverages - Water soluble CBD
- Topicals - Balms, creams and lotions
Each option has variable benefits and use cases depending on the issue needing a resolve.
The author of this blog post is not a medical professional, however if you have any questions, feel free to contact us via email or social media.