How CBD Oil Reacts With Your Body: A Guide To Help You Make The Best Purchase

CBD oil has gained momentum all around the world in recent times. According to Dawn Mackeen from New York Times:

The CBD industry is flourishing, conservatively projected to hit $16 billion in the United States by 2025.

This billion dollar momentum is a result of CBD’s potential to relieve chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and other illnesses such epilepsy. 

So what is CBD? Cannabidiol or CBD is one of the many chemical compounds found in the cannabis or hemp plant. It is non-psychoactive- a property that has helped it earn a reputable image around the globe. 

The CBD oil is made by extracting cannabidiol from the cannabis or hemp plant. This oil contains high CBD levels which are diluted by adding carrier oil such as coconut. It can have varied formats such as in the form of tincture or oil or capsules. 

As a consumer, you will also find its multiple types in the market such as full spectrum, broad spectrum and isolates. These types vary in terms of CBD concentration. For example, CBD isolate contains only cannabidiol and no other chemical compounds found in the cannabis plant. 

CBD oil interacts with our body’s system to produce neuroprotective effects such as helping with inflammations and chronic pain. In recent years, it has been established that it has the potential to fight antimicrobial resistance too. 

In this short guide, we will take a brief look into how CBD oils interact with our body’s internal system to produce positive effects. 

We hope this little guide helps you build the confidence to buy the best CBD oil product in the market 🙂

An Effective Anti-Seizure Drug

The anti-seizure effect was established in the late 19th century by American and British scientists. In a 1973 study by Ivan Izquierdo and colleagues, the rat’s susceptibility to seizures was downregulated by CBD. 

This result was later supported by a study conducted by the Epilepsy Therapy Screening Program, funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke in 2017. 

Since these studies were strong evidence to support the anti-seizure properties of CBD oil, Epidiolex got approved in 2018. The first-ever FDA approved-cannabis derived drug in the United States of America.

What is it used for? To treat two rare forms of epilepsy found in children called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome.

Neuroprotective Agent 

Two important points here before we dive into the neuroprotective nature of CBD:

1. Our body has an endocannabinoid system or ECS. 
2. CBD is one of the many phytocannabinoids found in the cannabis/hemp plant. 

ECS is responsible for our body’s homeostasis state. It keeps our major bodily functions such as sleep, digestion, mood, sleep, stress, inflammation, chronic pain, etc in check. 

CBD interacts with ECS to produce various neuroprotective effects on our body. As the leading ECS proponent Dr Rachel Know says, “it is the human body’s innate cannabinoid-driven circuitry”. 

It is as if nature knew that people would consume CBD and decided to give – “why not give the human body a system to process it?”. Pretty cool, right?

So how does CBD protect neuron damage? One of the ways is by inhibiting the release of Glutamate (an excitatory neurotransmitter). This process generates a protective response by the body. This response is triggered by the CBD-induced retrograde signal transmission in the ECS. 

This neuroprotective mechanism of CBD has helped in the treatment of not just epilepsy (as mentioned earlier) but also in multiple sclerosis, Parkison’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease. 

These neuroprotective properties give CBD anti-inflammatory powers. That’s why Nabiximols is used all across Europe to treat the spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis. 

We believe it is getting crystal clear as to why CBD has made a name for itself in the world. Wait, there’s more!

The Antimicrobial Potential

According to the World Health Organization:

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death. 

AMR has become a global concern. The regular meds that we’ve been using for ages are becoming ineffective. In the wake of AMR, CBD’s antimicrobial properties have come as a ray of hope. 

According to a 2021 study by Mark Blaskovich and colleagues, CBD has emerged as a prototype of antibiotics strong enough to work against the dangerous pathogen N.gonorrhoeae. 

With this discovery, scientists are also trying to use CBD as a topical therapy for nasal decolonization of Staphylococcus aureus. S. aureus is responsible for skin and soft tissue infections such as boils, cellulitis, etc. 

Alright, so CBD oil has value after all. It has properties ranging from anti-inflammatory to anti-anxiety. The one pertinent and significant question remains:

Is CBD Oil Safe?

Yes and no!

CBD oil is generally considered safe. There have been no serious or life-threatening reports of side effects. However, according to Harvard Health, it has the potential to cause sleepiness, dry mouth, and in very rare cases, liver issues. 

Also, the question of safety should be viewed from the lens of quality. The market is filled with a variety of CBD oils. Since there are no regulations like we have for prescription medication, the chances of low potency products are high. 

So what can you do as a consumer? Our suggestion would be to look for a broad-spectrum CBD, manufactured in a cGMP facility following strict FDA guidelines. 

At Ozia, we ensure purity and quality in every batch we produce. Our vegan & gluten-free CBD formulation is bound to help you with your health concerns. If you place an order today, you can get a 25% coupon for your first order by signing up on our website.  We also just launched our BRAND NEW OZIA CBD MINTS that are great for on-the-go stress & anxiety relief. 

If you wish to learn more about the CBD spectrum, head to our previous blogs and learn more. Simply click here and begin your CBD journey today 🙂

References

Blaskovich, M. A. T., Kavanagh, A. M., Elliott, A. G., Zhang, B., Ramu, S., Amado, M., Lowe, G. J., Hinton, A. O., Pham, D. M. T., Zuegg, J., Beare, N., Quach, D., Sharp, M. D., Pogliano, J., Rogers, A. P., Lyras, D., Tan, L., West, N. P., Crawford, D. W., & Peterson, M. L. (2021). The antimicrobial potential of cannabidiol. Communications Biology, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-01530-y

Knox, D. R. (2017, November 5). The Endocannabinoid System. Medium. https://medium.com/mcba-medcom/the-endocannabinoid-system-b2e1b6487881

Li, H., Liu, Y., Tian, D., Tian, L., Ju, X., Qi, L., Wang, Y., & Liang, C. (2020). Overview of cannabidiol (CBD) and its analogues: Structures, biological activities, and neuroprotective mechanisms in epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 192, 112163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmech.2020.112163

MacKeen, D. (2019, October 16). What Are the Benefits of CBD? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/16/style/self-care/cbd-oil-benefits.html

WHO. (2020, October 13). Antimicrobial resistance. Who.int; World Health Organization: WHO. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance