Understanding how CBD Oil works, benefits, side effects and why the FDA has yet to approve many CBD products, many of which are free from regulation.
At this point, you’ve probably heard about CBD oil. It’s a massive trend that spans across multiple industries–the healthcare industry, the beauty industry, the restaurant industry, and more. It seems like CBD oil is being incorporated into just about everything these days.
While CBD has been widely embraced by consumers, there are still some who remain cautious about its uses and benefits. A majority of the suspicion stems from the fact that many CBD products are not approved by the FDA and are not subject to any regulations.
Many studies prove the effectiveness of CBD in treating specific physical and mental ailments, which encourages consumers to believe in CBD. However, CBD companies may not be truthful about the contents of their products.
There is a lot of information surrounding this topic. If you need to get caught up quickly, here are a few videos that you can watch to help you understand what the buzz is about. These will answer questions like: What is CBD? What are the benefits and side effects? Is CBD safe?
What is CBD & how does it work?
First and foremost, you need to understand what CBD is and how it works with our bodies.
The most common misunderstanding is the difference between CBD and THC, which are both derived from Cannabis.
Here is a video that will help clear that up:
This video states that while THC and CBD are derived from the same plant, CBD does not have the “mind-altering, mood-altering properties” you get from THC. Cannabis actually has a lot of different chemical compounds, these are just two of them.
There are 113 active cannabinoids in cannabis. THC, the high-inducing compound, is the most common, but CBD is the next highest. This compound can be extracted from cannabis so that users can get some of the benefits of medical marijuana without the high.
CBD works with our bodies natural endocannabinoid system. It encourages this system to use more of its own cannabinoids. So, instead of directly affecting our brains and bodies, it just helps our bodies to work better.
When people take CBD oil regularly, it can help their bodies manage several different physical or mental illness. As stated in the video, CBD helps with a process called “downregulation” that can quiet stress-related signals so that you experience less inflammation and pain.
What Are the Benefits and Side Effects?
There is a lot of potential benefits of taking CBD oil, but there is also a lot of misinformation and some mild negative side effects. Celebrity trainer and health author Thomas DeLauer created this great video:
The first three minutes of the video covers a lot of the same points that we went over in the last point. But, for the remainder of the video, Thomas explains what exactly is happening in the receptors and what benefits it can create for your body.
He discusses how CBD affects your vanilloid, adenosine, glutamate, and serotonin receptors. By working with these receptors, CBD can regulate temperature and inflammation, relax your body while keeping your mind alert, and help your body put its own serotonin production to better use to help regulate your mood.
He goes into a lot more detail if you’re interested in the nitty-gritty science of it all.
He also briefly touches on the effect of CBD on cancer growth in your body. It doesn’t necessarily kill cancer, but it does make it harder for the cells to grow. It reduces the body’s ability to pull vitamins and minerals from your bones. This keeps bones strong and also prevents the cancerous cells from getting the nutrients they need.
Some other benefits include reducing anxiety, depression, chronic pain, sleep conditions, and so many more. There’s also promising research to show that it can help substance abusers overcome addiction.
While negative side effects are present, they are very minor. These side effects are typically a result of CBD interacting with other medications or supplements currently in the system. This can mean nausea, fatigue, tiredness, or other similar symptoms.
Is CBD Safe?
When it comes to safely using CBD oil or supplements, your main priority should be researching the brands that you buy from. This video explains why it’s important to be cautious about these companies:
Skip to about 1:30 to pass over the “What is CBD” section. The video heavily criticizes “consumer CBD products.” To be clear, CBD itself is not under fire in this video, but the way that consumers use CBD oil and the way that companies sometimes take advantage of this craze can be harmful.
One major safety risk comes into play when people decide to forgo medical treatments and use CBD oil as treatment instead. If you think CBD oil could benefit you, talk to a doctor first and get a professional recommendation. It’s also important to talk to a doctor about how CBD may interact with medications that you’re taking or treatments that you are currently undergoing. Making decisions about medical treatment without talking to a doctor is always risky.
The other main reason for caution is that CBD products are mostly unregulated by the FDA. You can’t necessarily trust labels to tell you what is in the supplement. There is currently no one to enforce that these companies are selling what they say they’re selling.
The FDA has released several statements on this topic. They’ve made it clear that they have some reservations and will not approve the use of CBD supplements for adults or animals until further research is done on its effects. Above all else, they are committed to adhering to a science-based decision-making process.
Conclusion
The market for CBD oil is growing rapidly. It is expected to value over $20 billion by the year 2024. It is essential that more research is performed and the FDA starts to get involved so that we can have CBD products that we can trust completely.
