8 out of 10 Germans are affected by stress. most likely you are one of these people. whether it is an ungrateful boss or an angry mother-in-law, stress affects us all in different ways.
Chronic stress can do more than just affect your mental condition, it causes symptoms such as headaches and hypertension, chest pain and palpitations. Sure, you can take anxiety medication, but why not try to relieve your symptoms with natural remedies?
CBD is still in its infancy, but research shows that CBD can significantly reduce stress when taken regularly.
Read on to learn more about the use of CBD for stress reduction.
Stress can seriously affect our health if we allow it to remain in our lives.
What is CBD?
In short, CBD is an oil derived from the cannabis plant.
CBD is officially called cannabidiol and is considered to be one of over 100 different cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant.
Cannabinoids are found in the leaves and flowers of the cannabis plant, where they are extracted and separated.
After extraction, CBD is a colourless crystalline structure at room temperature in its purest form. CBD can be extracted from either the marijuana plant or the hemp plant. Both are strains of the cannabis plant, but CBD extracted from the marijuana plant tends to be stronger and more effective than that of the hemp plant.
It is known that CBD offers advantages in pain therapy, stress, anxiety, epileptic seizures and much more.
Is CBD getting me "high"?
One of the best known cannabinoids is called tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC, which is the chemical in the cannabis plant that gives a mind-altering sensation, unlike CBD, which is not psychoactive to 100%.
Both CBD and THC bind to specific receptors in your brain, but CBD binds directly to those receptors where THC does not, which is why you will not feel drowsy or mentally sluggish.
Because of the way CBD binds to your receptors, it may take a little longer before you feel the effects.
When the effects of CBD are felt, you will feel a wave of relaxation in your body.
Is it possible to use CBD in stress situations?
Daily stress can endanger your social life, mental and physical health, CBD oil is a natural way to reduce the daily stress that keeps you from living your best life.
a study conducted in 2010 showed that CBD helps reduce anxiety in people with social anxiety disorder (SAD). this study found that CBD not only helped reduce current anxiety but also altered the initial brain response to that anxiety. scans of the brain showed changes in blood flow in regions of the brain associated with stress and anxiety.
A research study carried out in 2014 showed that appropriately dosed CBD oil has an antidepressant and anxiety-relieving effect.
A study from 2016 came to a similar conclusion, which investigated the effectiveness of CBD especially for PTSD and insomnia. What they found was that CBD significantly reduced anxiety caused by PTSD and contributed to a healthy sleep pattern.
Am I stressed or scared?
Before you decide which medicine is right for you, it is important to understand exactly what your body is going through.
You have probably heard that the terms stress and anxiety are used synonymously, but these are two very different things. stress and anxiety have many of the same physical and emotional symptoms. both can put a heavy strain on the body.
It can be difficult to tell the difference between the two, but it is important that you understand and recognize the problems you are facing.
Stress is what your body shows as a reaction to a threatening situation and fear is a reaction to this stress.
Once you have identified which disorder, if not both, is clouding you, you can properly begin treatment. CBD oil is good for treating stress and anxiety, but some anxiety disorders may require additional medication or therapy.
How exactly does CBD work under stress?
1. CBD & the hypothalamus
This specialized region of the brain has a number of receptors on its surface that examine the cortisol level in the blood.
Normally, when there is an influx of cortisol in the blood, these receptors react to the adrenal glands to stop the production of stress hormones.
When we are chronically stressed, the hypothalamus is less sensitive to cortisol, which means we need much more cortisol to produce the same response, which effectively allows us to stay stressed for a long time.
CBD increases the hypothalamus' ability to recognize cortisol, triggers the shut-off valve much earlier and prevents stress from lasting too long.
2. CBD & oxidative damage
One of the main reasons why stress causes so much destruction is the so-called oxidative damage.
Higher blood sugar and increased stress due to metabolic activity can lead to the formation of free radicals that can damage tissue throughout the body.
Normally, this dissolves by itself when we switch to rest and digestion mode in a relaxed manner, but of course these free radicals remain when we are stressed over a longer period of time.
CBD oil is rich in antioxidants that help neutralize free radical molecules and protect the body from their harmful effects.
3. CBD for rest & digestion
When we are stressed, cortisol causes norepinephrine to take control in the brain, leading to the involvement of other stimulating neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin and glutamate.
It causes us to fall into a fight or flight state in which brain activity increases dramatically.
The counterforce to this system is another neurotransmitter called GABA.
We need GABA to act as a brake pedal in the brain to slow it down and relax; this is one of the primary neurotransmitters involved in the nervous system for "rest and digestion" and is the key to reducing the stress response.
Many of the best antianxiety drugs work by increasing GABA activity in the brain to slow us down significantly and relax us.
In a recent animal study, some mice received a compound that blocked GABA and this caused them to have hyperactive seizures, and CBD was found to completely inhibit these effects, suggesting that it may regulate GABA and promote relaxation.
Are there risks?
Research on the long-term health effects of CBD is limited, as CBD research as a whole represents a new concept.
Research specifically on CBD oil has not found any negative side effects, unlike drugs like Xanax, which cause a variety of negative side effects including: dizziness, memory problems, speech disorders, vomiting, vision problems, loss of sex drive, weight changes and more.
Bottom line:
CBD oil is a great daily supplement. it has a number of positive effects and can make a great contribution to improving our overall quality of life. it acts directly on the hypothalamus of the brain, protecting us from oxidative damage and encouraging our brain to slow down and recover.
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