What is CBD? Benefits, Uses, Hemp and Cannabidiol

CBD is a word that’s appearing much more in the news and in our daily lives, but what is it, what does it mean and what does it do?

In this article, we’re going to provide the definitive answer to what is CBD? Along with the benefits – and the uses of CBD.

But first, here’s the quick takeaway answer, then we’ll dive into more details to answer all your questions…

What is CBD?

Cannabidiol, or CBD, is a compound present in cannabis and hemp. The compound is non-intoxicating by nature. CBD oils, edibles, and various other products are gaining immense popularity as a means to control stress, anxiety, pain, and other disorders.

Cannabis is, of course, typically associated with drugs that involve getting high, however, CBD can be extracted from the plant to make medicinal products that are available – without the smoke or high aspect of CBD.

If you just simply want to begin your journey with CBD or need further supplies, then click here to get started.

For those looking for more information and benefits, let’s dive into more of the details, starting with the primary chemical in CBD…

The chemical in cannabis that gets an individual high is known as THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). These days, we can opt for cannabis-derived CBD products that have little to no THC content …for relief from our symptoms without getting stoned or high.

It’s not only the THC and CBD; cannabis produces a number of medicinal compounds known as cannabinoids. We’re getting more and more familiar with them slowly – as different States begin to legalize the use of the substance.

Up until this point, these compounds seem very human-friendly and represent a safe remedy to many of our ailments. Mechanism of action of CBD in the brain and body

The human body has a set of distinct receptors that bind and react to the cannabis compounds called cannabinoids, like CBD.

These receptors are found throughout the system and make up the endocannabinoid system (ECS), an intricate signaling mechanism that enables our bodies to maintain a state of balance, known as homeostasis.

In other words, the endocannabinoid system maintains balance by regulating the communication traffic in our body. Cannabinoids like CBD engage with this system, in the same fashion as the natural compounds known as endocannabinoids secreted by the body.

In the body, CBD triggers the activity of the cannabinoid receptors and stimulates the production of the body’s natural endocannabinoids.

Surprisingly, CBD also influences activity beyond the endocannabinoid system. It has also been found to engage with dopamine, opioid, and serotonin receptors. This ability of CBD to affect such a variety of systems throughout the body indicates that it can open new doors in the field of psychiatry and medicine. Disorders that CBD can treat

CBD is a compound with great medicinal properties, therefore it’s not surprising that it’s recently emerged as a trendy “cure-all”. However, since there’s no current supervision over the components of CBD oil – or the therapeutic claims associated with them, people are bound to be skeptical.

The medicinal benefits linked with CBD are either proved through anecdotal evidence, previous research, or animal studies, however clinical studies on human subjects have finally started filling in some of the gaps around CBD’s highly boosted benefits.

Here’s what we have understood until now about CBD’s potential medicinal applications:

CBD and Anxiety

If you were to ask around, you might actually find a friend, acquaintance, relative or colleague who uses and recommends CBD for stress relief and anxiety.

There’s also significant scientific research to back up their claims. Research suggests that CBD might be beneficial for symptoms of depression and anxiety, mostly due to the impact it has on the body’s serotonin system.

For quicker relief of acute anxiety and stress, it’s possible to vaporize high-CBD strains that also contain a mixture of botanical compounds. You can also try a clean, laboratory tested CBD oil. Direct ingestion of CBD might also help relieve the symptoms of anxiety …but the results are not that speedy.

CBD and Pain

According to scientific research, CBD has been found useful to help with two kinds of pain; inflammatory and neuropathic.

For other sorts of bodily pain, CBD is not that effective. The cannabinoid THC which is known to cause euphoria like state also tends to impart pain-relieving properties, so if that’s why you want to use CND, then it would be beneficial if you opt for a product containing both CBD and THC.

You can consider starting with a minimum dose of THC (2.5 to 5mg), which is likely to impart little to undetectable effects, in order to observe if it increases the pain-relieving power of CBD.

“The cannabinoid THC which is known to cause euphoria like state also tends to impart pain-relieving properties“

Not only does cannabis help provides additional strength or even replace a course of opioid painkillers, but it also appears to strengthen the effects of opioids – enabling some patients to reduce their daily dose of drugstore painkillers.

CBD and Insomnia

The way CBD affects the human sleep cycle wasn’t as fully understood – until now. It seems like dosage plays a key role; higher doses tend to have greater efficacy than lower doses.

For instance, a study revealed that a 160mg dose of CBD induced an overall longer sleep duration, whereas 25mg of CBD had no significant effect on insomnia symptoms.

CBD and Epilepsy

For children suffering from epileptic seizures, a number of treatment options bring along a list of adverse effects that negatively impact an individual’s quality of life. Therefore when CBD began exhibiting promising results as a potential treatment for seizures – and with minimal side effects too, then scientists began paying closer attention to this as a medication to help sufferers of epilepsy.

The FDA approved a CBD based medicine in 2018 called Epidiolex for treating two forms of epilepsy; Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

“CBD began exhibiting promising results as a potential treatment for seizures”

Even though anecdotal confirmations and primitive studies exhibit promising results, scientists haven’t yet found a solid explanation backed up by science …of what actually makes CBD help reduce seizures. Difference between hemp CBD and cannabis-derived CBD

CBD is derived from both hemp and cannabis. The composition of the molecule remains the same no matter what the source plant, however, there are some important differences between cannabis and hemp-derived CBD products. Hemp-derived CBD

Here’s a quick overview of the pros and cons of Help derived CBD…

Pros:

• Hemp is legal in the US federally, and hemp-based CBD products are generally available for buying online as well as in grocery stores and pharmacies.
• Hemp produces very small levels of THC, this makes it much more of an attractive choice for people who wish to avoid THC altogether.

Cons:

• Therapeutic compounds produced by hemp are of a more limited spectrum when compared to high-resin cannabis.
• Hemp products are largely unregulated.

Regarding Cannabis-derived CBD, let’s look at a few of the pros and cons of these…

Pros:

• Therapeutic compounds produced by cannabis are of a wider spectrum and also in greater abundance as compared to hemp.
• Cannabis-based CBD products are strictly regulated.

Cons:

• Cannabis-based CBD is available only in the states with legal cannabis, rendering it unavailable to customers located outside the legal states.

In general, the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to both Hemp-based CBD, and Cannabis-based CBD. To finish

We hope this guide on what is CBD has provided you with some of the answers you were looking for. For more information why not get in touch with us, or if you want to try some remedies of CBD then visit our store to get the latest products and information surrounding their use!