CBD Oil is huge at the moment and continues to grow each year. In 2018, the market was worth around 4.6 billion USD globally. There’s no question about the appetite for CBD products, but do they actually work?
Let’s take a closer look…
The first point to make about CBD products is that they are no immediate cure or magic potion to solve all your problems. There is rarely one such solution to a problem because most problems are complex.
The good news for CBD is that initial research does look promising for its ability to combat anxiety-related issues. But it must be stressed that more research needs to be done, at a more in-depth level and using stricter tests such as randomized controlled studies.
What the being said, all evidence so far points to “CBD having an excellent safety profile“, and as such can be reasonably assumed that taking it will not cause any negative side effects.
Practical benefits of taking CBD
To put the use of CBD into some kind of meaningful context, let’s look at a sporting one. Imagine you are an athlete taking part in a 100m sprint.
It’s crucial to get a fast start off the line if you want a good time. The problem is that you often get nervous before a big event. You feel anxious and on edge. As a result, your reaction times are not as fast as normal and you are too tense to get into your flow when running.
There is the potential for CBD use in this context. Based on the research so far, it is shown that CBD can reduce anxiety in situations where many become anxious or fearful. In this study, CBD was used to see what effect it would have on those who were going to be speaking in public:
“CBD potently reduces experimentally induced anxiety or fear. CBD reduced anxiety associated with a simulated public speaking test in healthy subjects, and in subjects with SAD, showing a comparable efficacy to ipsapirone (a 5-HT1AR agonist) or diazepam.”
So, it looks like CBD has the potential to help alleviate anxiety when in the context of a, particularly stressful situation. Think match day or a specific event in sporting terms.
What about physical health?
People have been using marijuana to help with pain relief for a long time now. It is thought that THC and CBD both play a role in reducing pain and inflammation in the body.
Seeing as THC is illegal in most parts of the world, CBD products can only legally contain trace amounts of it. So it’s the CBD content that would be of interest.
Research has shown that CBD can be effected for pain relief as a result of inflammation when applied to the skin at the area where the pain is.
For example, those who suffer from arthritis. This can be a debilitating condition causing lots of pain and suffering, so any kind of relief from it would be welcomed and improve the quality of life of those with it.
In addition, it could mean that the person is able to get back to doing more physical activity, such as walking. Therefore improving their cardiovascular, muscular, and mental health.
What to look for in a CBD product
There are numerous articles out there recommending various types of CBD products. Unfortunately, the market is not regulated so almost anyone can create and sell a CBD product.
A quick Google search will show you there are thousands of products available. So who can you trust? It’s a difficult question to answer, but there are some key points to look out for:
- Lab testing – Every product should be 3rd party, independently lab tested. These test reports should be freely available for you to see on the website where you are purchasing the product. You should also be able to look-up the lab who has done the test to verify they are legitimate.
- Organically grown – Aim to find organically grown products, so as to avoid pesticides that can contaminate the product.
- Low THC content – CBD products containing more than 0.2% THC in the UK are illegal. That figure is 0.3% in the US. Most products you see are either 0% THC, which are the CBD isolate products which means that are pure CBD. There are also full and broad-spectrum CBD products, which contain all of the other, naturally occurring compounds found within the hemp plant but with very low levels of THC, usually around 0.05%. That’s practically nothing and will not have any kind of effect
In Summary
The only real way to find out if CBD is effective is to try it out for yourself. Every person is different and how it affects you will differ from how it affects someone else.
The good news is that the World Health Organisation has said that CBD is considered safe, so you can be very sure that there will not be any negative effects from trying it out in safe quantities.
In the research, some doses were up to 1,500 mg per day. The recommended dose to start with is 15 mg per day. From there, gradually work up in 5 mg per day increments until you are noticing the effects. It would be advised not to go over 200 mg per day without medical supervision.
Note: The information contained within this post is not medical guidance. Always consult with a medical professional before starting to use CBD products to confirm it is safe to do so.
