If you know me very well, then you also know that marijuana is not my herb of choice. Undoubtedly, cannabis is a sacred plant, and its uses for healing are many. And it’s been disrespected and abused, as well.
I have resisted talking about it long enough; cannabis just has too many useful properties to be ignored. And while medical marijuana is semi-legal in many places, let’s just talk about the legal version here… CBD Oil.
Over the last several decades, the need for natural alternatives to traditional western medical practices have come to the forefront. People all over the world are becoming more aware of the side effects and addictions that can occur from the continual use of specific pain medications.
Large companies that manufacture these pharmaceuticals have understandably pushed back against these inquiries, because it affects their bottom lines. But the news is out, and the public has found a way to treat itself. CBD oil is growing in popularity by the day, and as laws become a bit looser in regard to its parent plant, increased availability will eventually make CBD oil a household name.
That being said, what can it do that could help YOU?
A Little Bit About CBD Oil
In recent years, researchers have discovered that Cannabidiol has some useful effects, but the viewpoint of the public and government agencies put some hefty restrictions on what can be done with it.
Mainly because it comes from the hemp plant.
CBD and hemp are (or should be) in a different category than marijuana, because they lack the psychoactive properties that are found in THC (the plant chemical that gets you high).
Cannabidiol is extracted from the plant matter and then added to a carrier oil that can be used to deliver its benefits. The potency and appearance may differ widely due to the various formulas and amounts used by different companies, and unlike its close relative that is typically hybridized to have higher amounts of THC, the plants that produce CBD are grown strictly as Nature designed them.
What are the Primary CBD Oil Uses?
Please take into account that in this country, it’s illegal to make medical or health claims about any substance, whether or not that substance is legal itself. And I am CERTAINLY not making any claims here, just reporting on what has been found to be many individuals’ experience.
That being said, if you search “what is CBD oil used for” you may be surprised to find that it is amazingly versatile. Each person can probably find a different way to make CBD a nice addition to their lives.
Pain Relief
Pain can be an extremely distracting and unpleasant thing for anyone, and let’s face it, it’s just plain depressing! If you have a full day ahead of you, trying to get stuff done could end up wearing you out very quickly. When most people come up against something like this, they’ll tend to take a pain reliever of some kind, so they can go on with their day.
But some of these over-the-counter meds can have some nasty consequences.
Having my stomach bleed doesn’t sound so exciting to me (or maybe, it’s TOO exciting..). As dramatic as that may seem, if you tend toward that kind of reaction to those categories of drugs, you may be very happy to find effective pain relief that doesn’t damage your digestive system.
Reduces Inflammation
Anti-inflammatory medication is pretty easy to get, but studies have proven that CBD is able to help bring down all sorts of inflammation in the body. This is very important because inflammation is at the root of many health issues.
Multiple Sclerosis
MS is a debilitating disease that can severely limit how a person functions and completely change their quality of life. Dealing with this disease takes a lot of time and effort, but using CBD oil has shown some encouraging results. Most of the patients responded well with little or no side effects at all, with only 3% reporting any negative effects during the study.
This is because of the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of the Cannabidiol. Some CBD users have reported that symptoms like muscle stiffness, general pain, and even pelvic muscle function benefit greatly from taking the CBD oil.
Testing will be moving forward in the near future to see how far these positive effects can go.
Schizophrenic Episodes
Although this is a promising discovery, how CBD interacts with the mind of a person suffering from schizophrenia is currently unknown. The good news however, is that the people who have been treated with CBD oil have experienced far fewer side effects than when their brain chemistry is manipulated using pharmaceutical methods.
Epilepsy
Epilepsy typically causes seizures, and some of the most vulnerable sufferers of the disease tend to be children. Drugs can be expensive, and for some, many of the drugs used to treat epilepsy can lose their effectiveness as a tolerance develops. For this reason, there is a lot of testing being done on young people living with Epilepsy.
Roughly 7 out of 8 children given the CBD oil were reported to have reduced their seizures by 50% or more. They suffered fewer sleep disruptions and mood changes. The few that did report side effects were mostly experiencing some drowsiness.
Stimulates Appetite
If your health condition requires you to take harsh meds that upset your digestion, then this could be of particular interest to you: When CBD binds to cannabinoid receptors in your body, it stimulates appetite. Obviously, you have to have good nutrition to get well, and it’s hard to get food into your body if you have no appetite.
Making the THC varieties of cannabis available to those patients had a profoundly positive effect on their quality of life.
CBD differs a bit from the other cannabis products, but CBD has been found effective at increasing the appetite. It can also reduce food sensitivities in some people. Being able to eat normally makes life much easier.
Nausea
Pretty much everyone has experienced severe nausea at one time or another. Whether from motion sickness or reactions to certain foods, studies have proven that CBD is extremely effective in the relieving nausea. (Doses of CBD should be closely monitored when being used for nausea, because the studies have also remarked that too high a dose of CBD can actually produce a vomiting and nausea response in most people.)
Irritable Bowel
Intestinal inflammation can be really unpleasant. People who have to deal with this inconvenient condition are usually having to go to the bathroom multiple times in a day during a flare, with every trip an urgent matter.
Fortunately, the anti-inflammatory properties of CBD oil can help to reduce some of the symptoms associated with the condition.
The process that produces the effect hasn’t been completely figured out, but scientists believe that it could be that something in the CBD interacts with the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma. (Whew! that’s a mouthful.)
Neuro-degenerative Diseases
Mad cow disease is a frightening neuro-degenerative disease where protein particles (called prions) form in parts of the brain. Other cells simply die, and the brain begins to malfunction.
According to researchers, CBD oil has the ability to shield the brain from some of the dangerous effects of mad cow disease. Though research is still in the early stages, the lives of the test mice were extended (though they did not survive the testing).
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is debilitating. The swelling and pain associated with RA can make it difficult to walk, drive a car, write, use tools, or play a musical instrument. Pain meds that are strong enough to help also have dangerous side effects, and tend to create
addiction in the people who must take them daily. CBD has been found to reduce both the swelling and pain of RA.
Insomnia
Many people struggle with getting restful sleep. When you spend hours lying awake at night, just to pass out for 3 or 4 hours, and then have to wake up to the expectations of work, children, the public, and various stresses, you can easily become depressed, anxious, and irritable.
Studies involving CBD oil uses have all remarked about its effectiveness at creating drowsiness. Most people tested were fine with the effects of the CBD and reported that they were able to get to sleep more quickly and sleep for longer periods.
Relaxation (Stress Relief)
Anxiety disorders are some of the most common reasons that people visit their health practitioners. When this anxiety is brought to their doctor’s attention, the result will almost always include some form of pill intended to suppress their (over) reactions to stimuli. Many of these drugs have wildly unintended side effects that can result in various conditions from reduction of sex drive to sleepwalking.
Using CBD oil can bring a feeling of calm and well-being. True, some people have reported an unwanted increase in appetite, but that is a long way from the dangers of sleepwalking, or intense withdrawal – including brain shock and tremors – from harsher medications. A bit of hunger seems far more preferable.
Diabetes Symptoms
Diabetes can be dangerous if left unchecked. Changes in your blood chemistry can be disastrous, and cause all sorts of problems brought on by malfunctioning organs. It has been previously believed that nothing can be done for those who suffer with the type 1 (auto-immune) version of this disease, but it’s recently been discovered that it can be stabilized, if not reversed.
When doctors administer CBD oil to early sufferers of the disease, it limited the destruction of import cells in the pancreas (the cells that help produce and regulate insulin). This could mean a huge step toward prevention of type 1 diabetes has been made, but further study is needed to establish how this kind of treatment can be used, and when treatments can be most effective.
Some “long-acting” insulin medications have caused neuropathy symptoms that unfortunately seem unaffected by the cannabinoids, but a change in medication brought relief.
So now that you have more information, it’s up to you to decide if you wish to try the socially acceptable form of this ancient healing herb.
This CBD oil contains naturally occurring cannabidiol, terpenes and other cannabinoids to promote overall well-being.* The cannabinoid content of all CBDPure products complies with the federal law of the United States.
