What is CBD? CBD stands for cannabidiol, which is a derivative of the cannabis plant. CBD products are becoming increasingly popular due to their many health benefits. The most common CDB product that you can find is CBD oil. However, other products, such as CBD gummies, CBD lotions, and CBD dog treats, are also available.
When you hear CBD, what do you think of? Do you instantly think that it is associated with marijuana? This is common among many people who are not familiar with CBD. However, CBD lacks any psychoactive properties like marijuana. You cannot get high from CBD products. This is because it does not contain the psychoactive compound known as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
Top Ten Health Benefits of CBD
CBD has several health benefits, and many more are still being researched. Some of these benefits include:
1. CBD For Pain and Inflammation
Studies show that CBD is effective against chronic pain. It does this by regulating the endocannabinoid system in your body. This system releases endocannabinoids such as anandamide into the bloodstream. The endocannabinoids bind to different receptors to control painregulation and maintain homeostasis.
CBD alleviates pain and symptoms of inflammation such as redness and swelling by acting on endocannabinoid receptors in the affected region. This is why CBD is recommended for people with arthritis, chronic pain, and inflammation.
2. CBD for Healthier Skin
CBD oil is very beneficial for your face if you have acne. When you apply it topically on your face, it reduces the occurrence of pimples and dark spots. This is because it reduces sebum secretion and has anti-inflammatory effects.
Due to this, CBD is becoming increasingly popular as an ingredient in topical products. CBD is also very safe and works for most skin types.
CBD can provide an anti-inflammatory and moisturizing effect. This makes it great for the treatment of psoriasis and eczema to relieve itching, redness, and dryness.
If all of that wasn't enough, CBD also contains omega-three and omega-6 fatty acids. This allows it to reduce wrinkles and signs of aging for a youthful appearance.
3. CBD for Sleep
If you have trouble sleeping at night or staying asleep, then you should consider CBD. Various factors can negatively impact your sleep. They include medications, chronic pain diseases, and mental disorders like depression and anxiety.
CBD can improve sleep in two ways; indirectly by treating the causes of your insomnia or directly. For example, if anxiety is the cause of your insomnia, CBD can treat the anxiety and enable you to sleep. It also helps reduce grogginess when you wake up and prevents excessive sleeping. It improves the quality of sleep and ensures you are back on your normal REM sleep cycle.
When your REM sleep cycle is not normal, you frequently have nightmares. CBD can minimize the nightmares by normalizing your REM sleep. You can use CBD for sleep in the form of oral medications like gummies and oil tinctures.
4. CBD for Cancer
Cancer is a debilitating and even fatal disease. The treatment of cancer can cause severe side effects such as pain, nausea, and vomiting. These side effects can make it extremely hard for patients to continue treatment.
CBD has shown great promise in helping patient manage the effects of cancer and chemotherapy. In a study conducted on 16 cancer patients, the results showed that the use of a mouth-spray of CBD was effective in reducing symptoms of chemotherapy treatment such as nausea and vomiting.
CBD also induces apoptosis, a term used to describe the death of cells. Research suggests that CBD can induces the death of cancerous cells. This might help prevent cancer from spreading.
5. CBD for Anxiety and Depression
There is a shocking rise in mental health disorder cases in the world. The World Health Organization showed depression is the most common mental disorder affecting over 300 million people worldwide. Anxiety is the sixth most common mental disorder.
Anxiety and depression can reduce the quality of life of a person. A study on students with general anxiety disorder was conducted using CBD. It was found that CBD could help combat cognitive impairment brought on by anxiety. The study further showed that CBD could reduce nervousness, discomfort, and fear of public speaking.
CBD can also improve mood in patients with depression. CBD does this indirectly by helping manage stress. The antidepressant effects of CBD are minor and research is limited. At this time CBD should be thought of only as a supplement and not a medication.
Using CBD for depression and anxiety is considered to be safe. Medications for anxiety and depression are usually associated with many adverse side-effects. CBD is not known to have many side effects and they are very minor when present at all.
6. CBD for Neurological Disorders
More research is needed but early work supports the neuroprotective function of CBD. CBD may help improve cognitive function in neurological disorders like dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. CBD does this by reducing the inflammation of neurons and binding to endocannabinoid receptors.
7. CBD for Diabetes
CBD may help prevent diabetes by reducing the levels of free radicals in your body. Oxidative stress occurs when high levels of free radicals attack the tissues in your body. That can lead to the development of chronic diseases such as diabetes.
A study on mice proved that CBD could lower the likelihood of diabetes by 56%. Human testing has not produced conclusive evidence for CBD as a diabetes treatment. More research will be needed but the potential is there.
8. CBD for Seizures
The anti-epileptic properties of CBD are a result of its ability to protect neurons. This is why CBD is incorporated in a drug like Epidiolex, used in the treatment of rare seizures like Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS).
Epidiolex is an oral solution containing 98% CBD. In studies using Epidiolex, it was proved that CBD treated seizures in 689 LGS and Dravet syndrome patients who had been taking the drug for at least 6 months. CBD lowered the frequency and intensity of seizures.
9. CBD for Heart Health
CBD can directly or indirectly reduce hypertension and other associated ailments such as stroke. It mainly prevents heart disease indirectly by preventing inflammation of the heart and relieving stress and anxiety. Anxiety and stress are some of the most common causes of an increase in blood pressure.
10. CBD for Autoimmune Diseases
Autoimmune diseases occur when your immune system attacks cells in your body. In an autoimmune system like multiple sclerosis, the myelin sheath that protects nerves from shock and damage gets destroyed, leaving nerves unprotected.
CBD is thought to alleviate symptoms of multiple sclerosis such as muscle spasms and pain by protecting neurons from damage. However, CBD is only used in patients whose muscle spasticity is not responsive to medications.
