How CBD Heals. The Natural Anxiety Relief Solution.
Between those tasty hemp seeds you love from WF's and the trippy, psycho-bending effects of marijuana is a vast, healing world of CBD.
While we know all too well the volumes of confusing info out in the market regarding CBD and just exactly what it is and what it can do for your mind and your body, CBD absolutely provides incredible benefits without the 'let's get high' silliness of previous generations.
To help guide you through the maze of insights on how CBD addresses the often times, crippling effects of anxiety, we thought we would give you some worthwhile info so you can decide on your own if CBD is a positive choice for your personal emotional and mental health.
CBD Will Not Get You High. Why Exactly?
CBD, or cannabidiol, is available in a number of ways, from gel caps and tinctures to topicals and balms and even edibles like gummies and soft chews. This powerhouse healer the cannabidiol, comes from the same cannabis plant that traditionally you would smoke, but actually only contains very small amounts (less than 0.3 percent) of THC—the stuff that has the 'feel high' psychoactive effects. CBD contains cannabinoids, which are the naturally occurring chemicals within the hemp plant that support the bodies normal inflammatory processes. Specific to alternative treatments that we support, THC-free CBD has literally 0.00% cannabidiol so that means there is zero psychoactive ingredients and is completely legal in all 50 US states.
We Are Biologically Wired to Utilize CBD.
What does that mean? It means that all of us have an endocannabinoid system in our bodies (a complex network of glands that secrete hormones) as in a whole network within our bodies that instinctively knows how to process these naturally occurring chemicals. So basically we are born with the ability to use CBD to help us naturally heal inflammation and pain and definitely anxiety.
Now the Anxiety Part and How CBD Works.
So in our years of researching all types of CBD and testing dozens and dozens of products ourselves before mastering our own THC-Free CBD series, we found out quite a bit to support that CBD truly can reduce the debilitating effects of anxiety and even some depression conditions.
What we found is the research out there suggests that increasing serotonin levels from CBD is what treats the anxiety. Like certain pharma remedies like antidepressants, CBD works by regulating serotonin levels, similarly to these mass marketed drugs and anti-anxiety medications.
Due to CBD’s rising popularity, a number of studies have examined it as a treatment for anxiety.
- A 2011 study showed that CBD reduced anxiety and discomfort during public speaking in people with social anxiety disorder.
- Another study found that CBD reduced anxiety symptoms in people with social anxiety disorder.
- A recent review of 49 studies found evidence that suggests CBD could help with generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- One study found that out of 11 patients with PTSD, 91% experienced reduced symptoms after taking CBD. 91% people, that's huge!
- In 2020 a team of doctors used CBD to treat people who were struggling with anxiety and sleep. Almost 80% of people’s anxiety improved, and almost 70% reported improved sleep in the first month, but the results for sleep varied over time. Dang that's impressive.
Please note that CBD may be safe to take with antidepressants, but check with your healthcare provider first, we are only offering our personal insight into the benefits of CBD, we are not doctors or prescribers.
CBD Lifts Your Mood + Helps You Sleep. Really.
If you are someone (like we have been) who can easily get a nervous stomach in unfamiliar situations, or you sudden attacks when you're ultra stressed or not sleeping well, or worse, you get anxiety worries about getting anxiety, CBD 'turns down' the racing heart, the shallow breathing, even that gripping 'fight or flight' sensation that can leave you literally frozen or hyperventilating. CBD will literally chill you out. It gives a sense of calm in a natural way without the horrible side effects of pharmaceutical anxiety medications.
Listen, you will still get stressed, still have bouts of anxiety, sure, but incorporating CBD (and for many, THC-Free CBD is the go-to), you will find in a very short period of time that you start to feel more like 'you' and less the overwound, worrisome person you weirdly became with this yuck anxiety stuff.
In regard to sleep and CBD, a recent research study was published in 2019 that looked at whether CBD could improve sleep and or reduce anxiety. The study involved 72 subjects, with 47 experiencing anxiety and 25 experiencing poor sleep. The subjects were each given 25 milligrams (mg) of CBD in capsule form each day. In the first month, 79.2 percent of the patients reported lower anxiety levels and 66.7 percent reported better sleep.
Pain, which may also cause sleep problems, can be helped by CBD as well. According to Frontiers in Pharmacology, they noted that there’s a fair amount of evidence to support the claim that CBD soothes pain. The authors note that by reducing chronic pain, CBD can improve sleep.
No anxiety = sleep. No pain = sleep.
Other research tells us that CBD affects the sleep cycle. A study in 2020 looked at four patients with Parkinson’s disease. It found that CBD improved the symptoms of REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), a disorder in which a person acts out their dreams. RBD is associated with poor sleep and nightmares and that it shows potential for treating excessive daytime sleepiness.
So there you have it, loads of good, solid information to help you make the right choice when it comes to choosing CBD to naturally treat your anxiety as well as pain and sleep stuff - it's all a matter of taking time to see which type of CBD works for you, trying various doses or applications and you'll soon discover like we did that treating your anxiety and anything that demands healing and recovery is 100% better when you've made the choice to bring CBD into your lifestyle for your emotional, mental and physical wellbeing.
Let us know what you think and feel free to share your comments - we'd love to hear from you! be sure to follow all our daily Gold Medal CBD updates on Instagram and Facebook.
Until next time,