Cannabidiol (CBD), along with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is one of the two most common compounds found within the marijuana plant. However, where THC is responsible for getting you high, CBD does not have any psychoactive properties.
In 2018, the Farm Bill made hemp-derived CBD legal at the federal level. This has seen huge levels of interest in the product, both from the public and scientific communities.
One of the reasons for this is because of the apparent health benefits. There have been many claims about what CBD can do for you, but it’s important to separate those that have been backed by science from those looking to make a quick buck from CBD sales.
Of course, more research is needed before CBD can be recommended by medical professionals as a natural alternative to traditional medicine. But as more evidence is published, the excitement around this interesting product continues to build.
So, with this in mind, here are 5 CBD oil benefits backed by science help you understand more.
1. CBD Oil Has No Adverse Effects
Firstly, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a Critical Review Report on CBD. It states that to date, there is yet to be any significant evidence that suggests taking CBD oil will cause public health-related problems.
Considering all the attention it’s getting, this is huge news for CBD oil. Here’s an extract from the Critical Review Report to explain:
“In experimental models of abuse liability, CBD appears to have little effect on conditioned place preference or intracranial self-stimulation. In an animal drug discrimination model CBD failed to substitute for THC. In humans, CBD exhibits no effects indicative of any abuse or dependence potential.
CBD has been demonstrated as an effective treatment of epilepsy in several clinical trials, with one pure CBD product (Epidiolex®) currently in Phase III trials. There is also preliminary evidence that CBD may be a useful treatment for a number of other medical conditions.
There is unsanctioned medical use of CBD based products with oils, supplements, gums, and high concentration extracts available online for the treatment of many ailments.
CBD is generally well tolerated with a good safety profile. Reported adverse effects may be as a result of drug-drug interactions between CBD and patients’ existing medications.
Several countries have modified their national controls to accommodate CBD as a medicinal product.
To date, there is no evidence of recreational use of CBD or any public health-related problems associated with the use of pure CBD.”
2. CBD Oil Can Treat Inflammation
According to CBD Kyro, CBD oil can be used to treat inflammation and for pain relief. Dr Sunil Pai, MD, founder of the Sanjevani Integrative Medicine Health Center and Phivida Clinical Advisor, was interviewed by Business Insider and explained how this is the case, particularly in the case of professional sports players.
According to this interview, 99% of former NFL players have Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Athletes develop this disease if they suffer multiple concussions and traumatic brain injuries.
However, with the use of CBD oil, they may be able to reduce pain and inflammation:
“Published cannabinoid research on pubmed.gov presents compelling potential outcomes. When a regular and therapeutic dose of cannabidiol is administered, systematic reductions of inflammation occur. Beyond chronic pain and arthritis from sports injuries, inflammation is widely accepted as a primary precursor of major disorder groups, from; diabetes, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis to brain, breast and prostate cancer.”
3. CBD Oil Can Improve Sleep
According to Daily CBD Mag, CBD oil can also be used to improve sleep and treat several sleep-related disorders, including sleep apnea and insomnia.
Evidence from this study, in the case of sleep apnea, seem to back up this claim. Here is an extract:
“Cannabinoids have effects on both the central and peripheral nervous systems, and the exact mechanism of decreased apnea/hypopnea index with cannabinoids is unknown. Here, we hypothesized that intranodose ganglion injections of a cannabinoid will attenuate 5-HT-induced reflex apnea and increase upper airway muscle tone. We show that dronabinol injected locally into the nodose ganglia suppresses 5-HT-induced reflex apnea, and increases phasic, but not tonic, activation of the genioglossus. These data support the view that dronabinol stabilizes respiratory pattern and augments upper airway muscles by acting at the nodose ganglia. These findings underscore a therapeutic potential of dronabinol for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.”
4. CBD Oil Can Treat Epilepsy
The Epilepsy Foundation explains that CBD oil can be used to treat epilepsy. Here’s what they had to say:
“Cannabidiol, or CBD, which does not cause psychoactive effects but has shown some positive effects on certain body systems. This is the part that has been effective in reducing seizures in some people with epilepsy.
Early evidence from laboratory studies, anecdotal reports, and small clinical studies over a number of years suggest that cannabidiol (CBD) could potentially help control seizures. Research on CBD has been hard to do and taken time due to federal regulations and limited access to cannabidiol. There are also many financial and time constraints. In recent years, a number of studies have shown the benefit of specific plant-based CBD product in treating specific groups of people with epilepsy who have not responded to traditional therapies.”
As such, the FDA has approved the use of CBD for treating two forms of epilepsy, namely Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome
5. CBD Oil Can Regenerate Muscle Fibres
Finally, according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, CBD oil can be used to regenerate muscle fibres in the body. Specifically, they studied the effects of CBD on the degenerative skeletal muscle disease known as Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).
Here is an extract from the results:
“These data show for the first time that the phytocannabinoids CBD, CBDV, and THCV can regulate skeletal muscle cell differentiation.
In particular the phytocannabinoids CBD and CBDV produced a statistically significant increase in myoblast differentiation (in contrast to the other cannabinoids…
This means these particular phytocannabinoids or combinations thereof may prove to be useful in the treatment or prevention of chronic or degenerative skeletal muscle diseases which are caused by alteration of the differentiation process and subsequent degeneration of skeletal muscle tissue, such as dystrophies, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy.”
