CBD & the Benefits
Plant-based remedies for anxiety, insomnia & pain relief
Plant-based remedies for anxiety, insomnia & pain relief
CBD stands for cannabidiol. It is the second most prevalent of the active ingredients of cannabis (marijuana). While CBD is an essential component of cannabis, it is derived directly from the hemp plant, which is a cousin of the marijuana plant. While CBD is a component of cannabis (one of hundreds), by itself it does not cause a high.
According to a report from the World Health Organization, “In humans, CBD exhibits no effects indicative of any abuse or dependence potential…. To date, there is no evidence of public health related problems associated with the use of pure CBD.”
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How can it help?
CBD has been championed over a wide variety of health issues, but the strongest scientific evidence is for its effectiveness in treating some of the most extreme childhood epilepsy syndromes, which typically don’t respond to antiseizure medications.
In numerous studies, CBD was able to reduce the number of seizures, and in some cases it was able to stop them altogether. Recently the FDA approved the first ever cannabis-derived medicine for these conditions, Epidiolex, which contains CBD. (1)
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CBD is commonly used to address anxiety, and for patients who suffer through insomnia, studies suggest that CBD may help with both falling asleep and staying asleep.
CBD might offer an option for treating different types of chronic pain: a study from the European Journal of Pain showed, using an animal model, CBD applied on the skin could help lower pain and inflammation due to arthritis. Another study found that CBD inhibits inflammatory and neuropathic pain, two of the most difficult types of chronic pain to treat. More study in humans is needed in this area to substantiate the claims of CBD proponents about pain control, but these are promising findings thus far.
Should I try it?
“CBD affects everyone differently but, most commonly, people tend to take CBD to help them reduce their stress and anxiety levels, improve sleep, ease everyday aches and pains, manage chronic pain, reduce inflammation, calm the nervous system and improve digestive issues.”
“While CBD is most commonly used to treat physiological symptoms, there’s a growing body of research that indicates it can also be used in the therapy of a range of mental health conditions, including anxiety. A study by the University of São Paulo found that CBD significantly reduces subjective anxiety, leading investigators to conclude that “These results suggest that CBD reduces anxiety in [social anxiety disorder] and that this is related to its effects on activity in limbic and paralimbic brain areas.”
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My findings
I struggle with a lot of back, neck, hip and knee pain (an homage to my 9-year distance running career) and started taking CBD drops in my water, tea and smoothies. I wasn’t noticing a drastic difference during the day using a few drops, so I started using an entire dropper. I also take a full dropper and let it sit under my tongue for 10 seconds and I’ve found that’s very helpful in noticing the effects.
I also really like capsules and have started taking them daily— I took one earlier for a headache and nausea and in 25 minutes I felt significantly better.
Mainly, it feels good to be treating frequent pains with a plant-based supplement instead of Ibuprofen (or other over-the-counter drugs) which can come along with adverse side effects and long-term issues.
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CBD is meant for individuals over the age of 18 years old. Please consult your doctor or naturopath before adding CBD to your routine and do not consider this post professional medical advice.
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