What CBD Feels Like
The medical world is changing as more discoveries surface about the unusual chemical Cannabidiol (CBD). People are reporting that it helps with their chronic illnesses and mood disorders when other treatment options just weren’t working. There are even many who use hemp oil as a routine to keep their general health maintained. And you start to wonder, what’s this all about?
What Is CBD?
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a chemical found in the cannabis plant. In states that don’t permit recreational marijuana consumption, the CBD oil is extracted from industrial hemp. Industrial hemp is packed with CBD but has barely any THC content which is what makes it legal to use in every state throughout the United States, even those where recreational marijuana has not yet been legalized.
CBD indirectly interacts with a system in our body called the Endocannabinoid System (ECS). Its method of interaction with the system is the main reason it doesn’t have the same “high” effect as THC. The ECS’s job is to maintain homeostasis. This means that it regulates the body and makes sure everything is functional. This system is made up of endocannabinoids, receptors, and metabolic enzymes.
The endocannabinoids are chemicals that are almost identical to the cannabinoids we find in the sativa plant, except they are created by our brains. They also help regulate traffic in our brain and body, but only if the ECS is healthy and functioning properly.
The two primary receptors that interact with CBD are CB1 and CB2 receptors. CB1 receptors are located mainly in the brain, and regulate the functions in the nervous system. CB2 receptors are spread out all over the body and take care of everything outside of the nervous system, like the immune system.
Metabolic enzymes are important because they make sure a reaction in your brain doesn’t last forever. They are proteins that eat up the chemicals and hormones that cause reactions after they have been in use for the right amount of time, while also maintaining and repairing living cells.
It may be odd that CBD comes from the same plant as a chemical like THC, but doesn’t get you high. If it has so much involvement and interaction with our brain, what does it make you feel? What CBD makes you feel is something that many people have been searching for for years; Relief.
CBD Feels Like: No Anxiety
Anxiety is something that plagues us all, regardless if we have a mental illness. It is a natural chemical reaction, but in the world we live in it is continuously activated. Traffic, endless meetings, poverty, relationships, and maintaining a family all cause us to have stress. And then there are those who do have mental disorders who will feel the pressure of stress times a hundred because their brains are firing off too much information.
CBD redirects brain traffic using retrograde signaling. All day your brain is firing off tiny electric impulses from one neuron to the other to make sure you can go about your day. But sometimes our brains are overactive, especially during times of stress, which causes the receiving neurons to freeze up and not know how to react. When you take CBD, it calms down excited neurotransmitters that may give you the feeling of worry and suppresses your anxiety so you can feel calm and relaxed.
CBD Feels Like: No Nausea
There are many reasons people feel nausea. Pregnancy, chemo treatments, intense hunger, boats crashing against the water, and of course even anxiety can give you the feeling of nausea. For whatever reason you have it, you just want it gone. Nausea can cause severe weight loss that can, in turn, make nausea more consistent. Anyone who has ever been sick before knows how impossible it is to eat when your stomach is upside down, and some people have to feel that way for days at a time.
When studying a link between cannabinoids and nausea, they discovered that the interaction with the CB1 receptor lowered nausea in patients. The initial trigger of vomiting is the release of a bunch of serotonin. CB1 receptors reduce the amount of serotonin that gets released into the gastric system, which in turn reduces the urge to vomit. When recovering from extreme nausea, it may be difficult to get eating again. Luckily, CBD helps AIDS patients improve metabolism & increase appetite.
CBD Feels Like: Pain Managed Naturally
Age old injuries developed diseases, and just a less than perfect gene pool are all culprits of chronic pain. Many people shove as many narcotics down their throats as they can just to get a few hours of relief, only for it to return three times as strong as soon as the medicine wears off. Physical therapy doesn’t work for everyone, and some are tired of being dependent on a deadly pill, and that is why many people suffering from chronic pain are switching to hemp oil medication.
There is an endocannabinoid in our brain that we produce called anandamide (AEA). It was actually the first endocannabinoid discovered, which lead to the discovery of the endocannabinoid system. They called it “The Bliss Molecule” because of its euphoric features, including reducing pain sensitivity. This chemical is almost identical to THC. It gives the same effects, but they don’t last as long. This is due to how delicate AEA is compared to THC.
CBD elevates the levels of AEA in your body and stops the metabolic enzyme FAAH from devouring it. The enzyme is what makes the AEA not last forever for a continual natural high. CBD prevents those enzymes from doing their job while magnifying the chemical, giving it a boost to do its job in relieving pain.
CBD also helps the endocannabinoid system achieve homeostasis in areas where your body may be lacking. Patients with arthritis report pain relief when taking CBD, because the endocannabinoid system is in charge of the synovium between your joints.
The synovium is what keeps your joints moving smoothly, but when it thickens is when you start to receive joint pain. Synovium thickens because it Is getting inflamed. Inflammation occurs when the body senses something attacking, and it needs the immune system to clean up the mess. Immune cells will fill the area causing swelling and should return to normal after the risk is gone. But when they don’t, you have the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis. CBD interacts with the CB2 receptor which is in charge of regulating the immune system. Creating a healthier balance, and reducing inflammation.
CBD Feels Like No Depression
Depression is a monster that sleeps under the beds of millions of Americans, clinging onto them keeping them from daily activities and even work. Depression isn’t just being sad, it is lacking the chemical reactions for motivation that help you survive. It is a very complex disorder, affecting many parts of the brain. One thing it affects is your reward system.
When you eat, sleep, or have sex, your reward system goes off, telling your mind and body “Yes, this! We want to do this all the time!”. People with depression don’t have that. They can lay in bed for days at a time, go days without eating, months without showering, and years without being able to have intimate relationships. Everything in their world is gray and pointless because their brain seems to be color blind. CBD can bring color back into your life.
Research on CBD has shown that CBD reduces anxiety and depression like symptoms. CBD elevates the subtype neurotransmitter of serotonin, which is linked to having anti-depressant effects. And while they watched it in action in the lab, they found that CBD lifted moods very quickly.
CBD Feels Like More Energy
You may be wondering how a chemical that comes from the cannabis plant can give you energy when the popular THC is so famous for making people drowsy. But the way that CBD offers energy isn’t a fake surge or boost, it’s by helping your body allocate the nutrients your body needs, by helping your body find a natural and healthy sleep cycle, and of course by elevating your mood.
CBD doesn’t help you sleep because it makes you feel drowsy. CBD eliminates pain and anxiety which are the leading causes of disruptive sleep patterns. This natural remedy can actually act almost like a stimulant because of how CBD blocks the degradation of AEA through the CB1 receptor. This doesn’t make it impossible to sleep while taking CBD, but it makes you have the uplifting energy sensation for longer.
CBD helping with the distribution of nutrients is also a great way it helps you gain energy. The endocannabinoid system is in charge of food intake and energy balance. Making sure your body receives the right amount of nutrients as well as correctly displacing the energy.
The ECS also interacts with other parts of the body involved with nutrition such as the hypothalamus, the limbic forebrain, and the brain stem. When any of these areas are malfunction, overstimulation can occur which is when people turn to overeating. CBD can help regulate the stimulation of the ECS, which keeps you eating at a healthy volume which promotes high energy.
We have a great article that explains the endocannabinoid system, take a look!
To some, CBD feels like being normal, something they haven’t felt in a long time. To others, CBD feels like the sun is shining a little bit brighter. Trying some today could help brighten up your life, even if you didn’t know you needed it.