CBD: Everything You Need to Know
CBD has exploded in popularity in recent years, used to treat everything from anxiety and pain to insomnia and dry skin. But what exactly is CBD, and does it actually work? Read up below on everything you need to know about CBD.
You don’t have to be Willie Nelson to be curious about CBD. This chemical compound derived from marijuana has exploded in recent years, touted as cure-all for everything from chronic pain to dry skin. Just last year, the CBD industry grew a whopping 700%, and sales are forecasted to hit $22 billion by 2022. But what exactly is CBD, and is it the miracle cure people toute it as? We investigate.
What is CBD?
Marijuana contains about 100 chemical compounds, called cannabinoids, which are responsible for the plants’ numerous physical effects on the body. CBD, or cannabidiol, is the second most prevalent of these cannabinoids.
CBD comes from the hemp plant, a cousin of marijuana, and is generally cultivated as an oil, by extracting the CBD and diluting it with an emulsifier like coconut or hemp seed oil, before it’s infused in other products.
What is it Used For?
The interest in and market growth of the CBD industry in recent years has led to an explosion of products purporting to treat every ailment under the sun, from CBD creams that supposedly cure acne to infused teas to promote sleep. CBD is even used to treat diseases such as epilepsy.
However CBD is most commonly used as a treatment for pain and anxiety, issues which medical marijuana is commonly used to treat as well. This form of treatment often utilizes CBD in liquid form, either as an oil or as a tincture, or ethanol-based extract, which can be consumed straight or mixed into beverages.
Powders are also now readily available. For muscle, arthritis or other types of concentrated pain, there are also CBD pain relieving creams.
Will CBD Get Me High?
No. Unlike most other cannabinoids in marijuana, such as tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, CBD has no psychoactive effects.So separated from psychoactive cannabinoids, CBD won’t produce any of the mental effects associated with marijuana consumption, while still providing many of the benefits associated with it.
How Does That Work?
To understand how CBD works, it’s necessary to understand the body’s endocannabinoid system, a powerful grid of enzymes and receptors that affects everything from mood to appetite.
The endocannabinoid system is primarily composed of two elements: endocannabinoids, or lipid-based neurotransmitters which are involved in creating significant bodily functions such as emotion, mood, appetite and movement, and canabinoid receptors, with which endocannabinoids bind to facilitate that effect.
When marijuana is ingested, most of its cannabinoids bind to the body’s endocannabinoid receptors, producing a “high” feeling by triggering the receptors more dramatically but in the same way the body’s endocannabinoids would. CBD, on the other hand, doesn’t bind to the receptors, meaning it won’t have a psychoactive effect.
Instead, CBD stimulates the existing systems and substances in the body, inciting the body to create more of its own natural cannabinoids, and even making it easier for them to bind to the receptors, theoretically flooding the body with more neurotransmitters to increase mood, lower pain and produce other benefits.
How Effective is CBD?
While there hasn’t been a ton of research conducted on the efficacy of CBD, initial results seem promising. Research has shown that CBD demonstrably reduced anxiety in rats, while a 2011 study of people with social anxiety disorder found that participants who consumed 400 mg of CBD each day experienced lower anxiety levels than those who were given a placebo.
Research on CBD’s effectiveness on pain management is equally scant yet promising. A 2015 study in the European Journal of Pain, as well as ongoing preclinical studies, have shown that CBD reduces pain and inflammation in animal studies. However scientists urge that research on humans is necessary to demonstrate any connection.
When it comes to scientific research, CBD’s efficacy has been most widely proven as it relates to epilepsy. Numerous studies have shown that CBD works as an effective antidote to the seizures epileptics regularly suffer, reducing the number of seizures per week and in a few cases, completely ceasing seizure episodes.
In 2018, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Epidiolex, a seizure medication which contains CBD, and the first cannabis-derived prescription medicine the administration has ever approved.
