Cannabidiol, better known as CBD, is one of the best natural remedies for soothing stress and anxiety. With the complete legalization of hemp, CBD products are becoming more commonplace and research—though in its early stages—has been finding CBD to have some other wonderful effects. In particular, research has suggested that CBD is helpful for chronic pain. To that end, here’s how CBD can help decrease inflammation.
The Endocannabinoid System
This is the way CBD interacts with our body. The endocannabinoid system within the body regulates processes like appetite, sleep, stress, and for our purposes, pain. Our bodies also naturally create endocannabinoids, a neurotransmitter that binds with the cannabinoid receptors in the endocannabinoid system in order to affect the regulation of these processes.
So, CBD interacts with these cannabinoid receptors to soothe anxiety, stress, and pain. For pain, the cannabinoids interact with the receptors to reduce inflammation. Inflammation itself is a process of white blood cells trying to protect your body from invading germs and bacteria, and this immune system is governed by the endocannabinoid system. So, the cannabinoid of CBD can help decrease inflammation by regulating the immune response and calming the white blood cells causing inflammation and chronic pain.
CBD Developments
Cannabis has been prescribed by medical experts in the past to help their patients manage pain. However, before we better understood that CBD contained the beneficial effects we wanted, this meant that the medical marijuana would contain THC, and thus the patient would experience that psychoactive “high” that cannabis is infamous for.
Now that we better understand CBD, a bevy of products such as hemp joints have removed the THC so that you can get pain relief without having to worry about getting intoxicated. This has made CBD more accessible and can be used for those suffering from less serious issues such as asthma, allergies, celiac disease, or autoimmune conditions.
Ways To Use CBD
There are many ways you can get the benefits of CBD these days. CBD oil can be consumed raw, cooked into food, or be found as capsules so that you can consume them as easily as a morning vitamin. A unique product of CBD is the topicals, however. This is a CBD product you apply directly to your skin—which is rife with cannabinoid receptors. This method may be most ideal for dealing with inflammation because it can focus on problem areas for more focused and potent pain relief.