The Results are in: CBD is Life-Changing
Over 865 studies and counting show the positive benefit CBD has already offered countless sufferers. Few maladies have been studied in which CBD hasn’t shown a benefit. To name a few of the disorders studies suggest CBD may be very effective for: anxiety (SAD, panic, social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder), sleep, trauma, PTSD, Postpartum depression, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, epilepsy, symptoms that come with autism and sensory processing disorder, schizophrenia, psychosis, OCD, traumatic brain injury, and on and on.
OFFSET ANXIETY & DEPRESSION
One of the most research validated uses for CBD is for anxiety. Perhaps not surprisingly, our customers also tell us frequently that they use CBD for their own anxiety. Studies have been done which find benefit across specific anxiety disorders: social anxiety, generalized anxiety, specific phobia, and panic.
Interestingly, social anxiety, which has responded less to conventional treatments than some of the other disorders, responds especially well to CBD in both children and adults. But, as stated above, CBD has been shown to relieve anxiety across the spectrum of disorders, even using very low dosages.
"We found that existing preclinical evidence strongly supports CBD as a treatment for generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder when administered acutely."
PAIN RELIEF
Initially noticed for its quick effectiveness in relieving back pain, studies show that CBD works across the pain spectrum to provide relief for acute injury, migraine, stomach pain and even chronic pain like fibromyalgia and neuropathy.
In our family, before we reach for that bottle of ibuprofen or Tylenol, we always consider substituting one dropperful of CBD instead of each pill we might have taken.
"In one 2020 study, researchers administered CBD topically to a group of patients with symptomatic peripheral neuropathy (a result of brain nerve and spinal cord nerve damage)...Results showed a significant reduction in intense, sharp pains and cold, itchy sensations in those who used the topical CBD compared to those who used the placebo."
SLEEP SUPPORT
Anecdotally, CBD has widespread use for sleep. Indeed, we have several customers that have told us they have found it useful for chronic and otherwise relentless sleep issues. Unsurprisingly, studies have indeed shown that CBD has a calming effect on the nervous system. CBD tends to reduce blood pressure as well as our breathing rate and, as noted above, it reduces anxiety. Once asleep, studies have also found CBD to increase deep REM sleep.
However, the wonderful thing about CBD is that it does *not* act as a sedative. CBD ought not to make you drowsy. If CBD makes you drowsy, your CBD is old (We take our CBD off the shelves before it would be old enough to have that happen). In fact, when you are awake, CBD can even help you focus, be productive, and experience sustained energy during the day.
On a personal note, we give it to our children when they are having trouble sleeping. They do not get drowsy and are alert while playing, but when bedtime or even naptime comes, they also go right to sleep and stay asleep!
Why is this? Because (and this is such an important point) CBD is not suppressive but works *with* your body to help balance and regulate your circadian rhythm.
"CBD appears to promote alertness at lower doses, and sleepiness at higher doses. The effects of the two compounds together may depend on the dose and timing. Both CBD and THC may also have benefits for chronic conditions that interfere with sleep."
AUTOIMMUNE SUPPORT
CBD is being studied, and found to show benefit, for a growing list of autoimmune disorders. Studies often explain the anti-autoimmune effect as immune suppressant, simply because they mean it acts against autoimmunity, which they characterize as an overactive immune response. That said, there are numerous theories as to how autoimmunity works and that is why, as well, conventional medicine has struggled to find effective and long-lasting treatments or even cures for autoimmune conditions.
While CBD does, indeed, suppress the autoimmune response, doctors have suggested it might be more accurate to say that CBD is autoimmune balancing. It has been found to balance out the two immune responses our body will mount, so that they regulate and fire with the proper dominant response (often inverted in those of us with autoimmune diseases). Far from being “suppressive,” CBD works with our body across physiological symptoms: modulating toward balance hormones, nervous system activity, circulation, and hormones. It is not a surprise that it would also modulate our immune system so beautifully.
Studies have been done and found to have benefit for some of the most intractable and untreatable autoimmune diseases: rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes 1 and 2, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, inflammatory bowel disease, and even celiac. More studies are quickly being churned out as the power and efficacy of CBD for autoimmune disorder is becoming more exciting and evident.
"Overall, the data overwhelmingly support the notion that CBD is immune suppressive and that the mechanisms involve direct suppression of activation of various immune cell types, induction of apoptosis, and promotion of regulatory cells, which, in turn, control other immune cells."
AND MUCH, MUCH MORE
There are dozens of studies in progress right now, which we hope will further our knowledge on CBD. It is important to note that up to the present time, most studies have been conducted with CBD isolate. CBD isolate has been shown in studies to be *4 times* less effective than CBD rich hemp extract. Our process creates a CBD oil that is even more potent than what most use to create their “CBD-rich extract,” as our process retains as many cannabinoids, terpenes, and other flower compounds as possible (you can learn more about the “FrankenCBD” many other companies make by CLICKING HERE).
So, when you read the dosages described in many studies and understand the data the scientists are collecting, it is important to remember how much less effective their artificially produced CBD is than one that is created naturally like ours (a fact they admit).
So, keep watching our blog, because studies have been done or are in progress (and finding benefit) for a huge array of disease: ADHD, autism, behavioral disorders, infant colic, reflux, heart issues, asthma, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia, brain injury, and so much more. We’ll be writing about them as they come out. Email us or message us on Facebook, for a summary of the research specific to *your* health struggle.
"Studies suggest CBD has wide-ranging benefits."
The Endocannabinoid System
Just a quick explanation of The Endocannabinoid System and why CBD works so well in our bodies on so many systems. Without getting too technical, only discovered in the 1990’s, the endocannabinoid system is responsible for maintaining balance and homeostasis in our body’s many systems. This means the ECS regulates and modulates such diverse systems as our:
- circulatory system
- temperature
- metabolism
- respiration
- digestion
- immunity
- reproductive system
- so much more than we yet know!
All of those body systems that are a part of the Endocannabinoid System have receptors that are equally responsive to our own natural endocannabinoids as well as the phytocannabinoids in the plant. The cannabinoids both within our systems and from the plant are structurally very different, and yet they can act very similarly in our systems.
Some scientists and doctors theorize that an ‘Endocannabinoid Deficiency Syndrome’ is actually at work in those whose disease responds well to CBD. In other words, that sufferers of many disorders may have a lack of endocannabinoids and a simple addition of those cannabinoids fills in for the lack and helps to properly modulate the ECS. On the other hand, plant cannabinoids do work in other ways on the ECS shown to be beneficial. For example, some effect is achieved in their ability to increase the receptor sites themselves. In truth, science still has a lot to learn about the specific mechanisms of action within the newly found Endocannabinoid System.
In short, we learned that the Endocannabinoid System interacts perfectly, like a lock and key, with phytocannabinoids. The ECS regulates and modulates (keeps balance!) for almost all other body systems. To underline just how important and unique this plant is, consider this: no other herb has an entire body system named for its affinity for that system. The system that regulates and modulates all of our systems, is named after….CBD!