People’s perceptions and opinions about marijuana differ significantly. Today, some are okay with using cannabis to relax after a stressful day at work, while others believe that this stuff should remain illegal all around the world.
The cannabis plant is still full of controversy, and others are getting confused why there are products sold on many online shops that were incorporated with cannabis extracts, but they are legal at the federal level.
Products like cannabidiol or CBD are gaining popularity because they are essential ingredients to many health and wellness supplements in the market. You can read more information about this on sites like https://cheefbotanicals.com/ and know more about other legitimate products in the market today. There’s still plenty of confusion about the connection of CBD to marijuana and whether the former can affect your health in any way.
Differences of Marijuana from Hemp
Cannabis is one of the oldest crops in ancient civilization, and it was cultivated for industrial and medicinal uses. Many people were able to grow hemp plants because it requires no pesticides and little water to flourish. This is the same hemp plant (Cannabis sativa) where cannabidiol is extracted.
Even if marijuana and hemp are cousins since they came from the same cannabis plant species, they have a different composition, producing other effects. Marijuana has a psychoactive compound called THC, and it has mind-altering effects. Decades of selective breeding have produced crops that don’t contain THC.
The concentration of THC in marijuana is more than 30%, and it can create an addiction and a high that many users experience. Read more facts about recreational marijuana on this page here. However, some hemp plants have less than 0.3%, and in some species, none at all, which is where the CBD extracts come from.
Therapeutic Benefits to Know
- Ease Pain
Lots of studies have proven that you can use CBD oil and tinctures to ease the pain. This is a non-addictive way to treat symptoms of pain and manage arthritis. Instead of relying on opium as pain medications, patients can instead get a more relaxing alternative to find relief.
Research conducted on animals shows that cannabidiol is very effective in inflammation and nerve-based pain sensations. Ongoing studies are still in place when it comes to examining the cannabidiol’s effects on humans.
Many researchers are also exploring the anti-hyperalgesic effects and the antinociceptive properties of the cannabinoids. This means that CBD oil can block the pain receptors and detections that are present in neurons. These are used often to counter pain sensitivity.
Cannabinoids can function in different parts of the body and brain. They work on different receptors and change the message relayed by the cells. If it’s about painful sensations, then cannabidiol helps diminish the full impact of these signals.
In many cases, a bit of THC can increase the entourage effect of a CBD supplement. A bottle of oil can contain flavonoids, phytocannabinoids, terpenes, cannabidiol, and many other compounds that are found in the hemp plants. A bit of THC can enhance the effects of all of these, and it will result in finding relief in just a few hours.
- Treatment of Epilepsy
Neurological disorders like epilepsy cause abnormal activities in the brain. They can result in seizures that are often unexpected and uncontrolled. There are recent studies that show that CBD can be an effective alternative in treating epilepsy.
Patients that are about 40 years old rely on medications that are resistant to epilepsy. The various formulations of CBD were found to decrease the episodes of seizures by over 80%. Many of the patients have even completely recovered from seizures in which their symptoms never showed up for years.
In 2018, there’s research about children who took placebo pills and those who have taken about 20mg/kg of CBD oil dose. There were significant decreases in the frequency of the episodes for those who were taking cannabidiol. This is why an FDA-approved drug called Epidiolex is used to treat Dravet Syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome. Learn more about Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome here: https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1176735-overview.
- Reduction of Anxiety
There’s scientific-based research that found out that cannabidiol is effective in decreasing panic attacks and anxiety disorders. Some of the anxiety-related issues that CBD can help with are the following:
- Panic Disorders
- Social Anxiety Disorders
- Generalized Anxiety Disorders
- Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders
Small studies of patients with social anxiety disorders were found to have significantly improved. Many who are into public speaking had reduced their stress and delivered an outstanding talk when they were getting cannabidiol-infused supplements.
One of the medical doctors, Bonni Goldstein of Canna Centers in California, has stated that cannabinoids can affect the brain in various ways. It can enhance one’s creativity and cognitive functions and reduces anxiety-provoking chemicals in the brain. It explicitly targets receptors of serotonin, which are often involved in one’s current mood.
Preliminary research about the effects of cannabidiol on the brain has been promising. For one, it can prevent neuroinflammation, which is the number one cause of anxiety. It’s proven to make its users relax and sleep deeply through the night.
It’s important to know that the CBD industry is still unregulated. This means that you need to be wary of the products that you are getting. It would be best if you had a natural and pure CBD extract that comes from premium ingredients. They should have also undergone third-party laboratory tests to ensure their safety and efficacy.