Lately, CBD (cannabidiol) products on the market have been getting so much attention because of its ability to relieve various conditions like seizures, insomnia, anxiety disorders, and arthritis pain. However, contrary to the mounting popularity, there’s still so much misinformation about CBD. So, before you go out to buy the latest CBD cream or CBD tincture, there are some things that you need to know.
1. What is CBD anyway?
Cannabidiol, also know as CBD, is a cannabinoid, which is a chemical compound extracted from the cannabis flower. It is one of the hundreds of different and unique compounds found in cannabis, along with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound, and tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), cannabis’ main compound. All strains of cannabis contain both CBD and THC – what matters is the concentration ratio between both compounds.
2. CBD doesn’t make you high
CBD does not have the psychoactive effects associated with tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC, so you can get all the health benefits without “the high.” (And, you won’t fail a drug test, either.) “CBD oil has no side effects and is all-natural and plant-derived. Prescribed medications are associated with Big Pharma, and full of additives and synthetics that can kill you,” says Dr. Cali Estes, founder of The Addictions Academy and author of I Married A Junkie: Put to the Ultimate Test by Addiction, Love, and Life.
3. CBD has a myriad of health benefits
CBD’s benefits are expansive. Not only does it help with pain relief, but studies also show that it can reduce cancer symptoms; CBD alleviates side effects and pain caused by chemotherapy, and concentrated CBD “induces cell death in human breast cancer cells.” Similarly, it relieves multiple sclerosis symptoms. In a 47-person study, those treated with oral CBD for one month “experienced a significant improvement in pain, walking, and muscle spasm, compared to the placebo group.” Furthermore, the application of CBD creams and ointments can help relieve joint pain and other symptoms of arthritis.
4. CBD can help you sleep better
Though sleep is a natural and necessary part of our lives, some people have issues falling asleep. This is an area that CBD products, such as CBD gummies, can help them with. CBD essentially enters the body and stimulates the aspect of the nervous system which stimulates the brain. Since it is a stimulus, one might think CBD might have a negative effect on someone with sleeping disorders or insomnia. However, a study by the University of São Paulo displays the good qualities that CBD can bring to a person’s sleep. Researchers gave doses of CBD to lab rats who suffered from insomnia, over a period of time. They found that CBD increased the hours of sleep and that it improved the quality of it.
5. CBD is more or less legal in the United States
While THC is still illegal throughout the majority of the United States in some form or other, the Drug Enforcement Agency recently released an internal directive regarding the presence of cannabinoids in products and materials made from the cannabis plant where they clarified the already-familiar position that cannabinoids are not illegal of themselves and that it depends on the legal source of the product those cannabinoids are in – which determines if that product falls in or outside of the Controlled Substances Act.
The directive says: “Products and materials that are made from the cannabis plant are not controlled under the CSA. Such products may accordingly be sold and otherwise distributed throughout the United States without restriction under the CSA or its implementing regulations. The mere presence of cannabinoids is not itself dispositive as to whether a substance is within the scope of the CSA; the dispositive question is whether the substance falls within the CSA definition of illegal.”
Now that you are armed with this information, feel free to go and try out the newest CBD creams, oils, capsules, topicals and gummies that the market has to offer.
