Hey everyone! I’m writing some informational blurbs for you to explore during your downtime and learn more about the cannabis world. At Rural Buds Cannabis, we are passionate about cannabis and its many benefits. While we focus on the recreational cannabis market, many of us also use cannabis for its medicinal properties. Let’s start by discussing our first topic: CBD, or Cannabidiol.

What is CBD?

Cannabidiol is one of around 113 cannabinoids in the cannabis plant, making up as much as 40% of its extract. Unlike THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), another cannabinoid in cannabis, CBD doesn’t cause a ‘high’ or feelings of intoxication since it’s not psychoactive.

CBD Uses

CBD has many medical and therapeutic uses, benefiting both mental and physical health. People often use sprays, tinctures, oils, capsules, edibles, and topicals to consume it. The potential health benefits are vast. CBD helps treat anxiety, stress, depression, chronic pain, and insomnia. It also shows neuroprotective properties.

CBD reduces pain by decreasing pain signaling, making it a natural alternative to traditional prescribed painkillers for many individuals. Another common use for CBD is improving sleep. It boosts serotonin levels, enhances mood, and lowers heart rate, reducing anxiety and stress for easier sleep. CBD also helps with PTSD by easing nightmares and lowering cortisol, which can disrupt sleep and raise blood pressure.

High cortisol levels link closely to anxiety, depression, and poor sleep, but studies show CBD can lower cortisol effectively. However, everyone reacts differently to CBD. For some, it increases energy and alertness, offering both advantages and drawbacks depending on individual needs. Choosing the right CBD form may seem intimidating, but it’s simple. It depends on your preferences and ease of use. Tinctures and drops placed under the tongue, called sublingual use, are popular for quick and effective CBD absorption. The capillary-rich area under the tongue helps CBD enter your bloodstream rapidly, making sublingual use one of the fastest methods.

CBD also works wonders as a topical. Lotions and balms provide localized pain relief and benefit skin care. I use CBD topicals for headaches from sinus pressure, applying it to my forehead, temples, ears, and neck for quick relief. After long walks or busy days, I rub CBD balm on my feet, and the pain subsides before I stand again.

CBD also treats acne by reducing oil production and inflammation, two key factors that contribute to acne formation. Inflamed pores clogged with dead skin, bacteria, and oil cause acne. CBD’s anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory effects reduce pore build-up.

From reducing pain to improving sleep and skin health, CBD offers incredible versatility and potential for improving your well-being.

How does it help with pain?

How does CBD possibly help relieve pain? Well, our bodies have what is called an Endocannabinoid System, or ‘ECS’, consisting of endocannabinoids and cannabinoid receptors. The ECS influences many bodily processes, ranging from repair and maintenance of the immune system to energy output. CBD can interact with ECS receptors in the immune system and the brain. When these receptors receive chemical signals from compounds in CBD, this causes cells throughout the body to respond. Because CBD interacts with your ECS, your brain may perceive the pain differently helping with some pain relief. Alongside this, CBD may have anti-inflammatory properties which also play a significant role in relieving chronic pain.

CBD and other cannabinoids

CBD often becomes even more effective when used with other cannabinoids like THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), CBN (Cannabinol), CBG (Cannabigerol), and CBC (Cannabichromene), creating what we like to call the entourage effect. The entourage effect is a theory that suggests the collaborative effect of combining compounds in the cannabis plant. It suggests that using them together may provide more substantial health benefits. When pairing a non-psychoactive with a psychoactive the benefits may include boosting pain relief, seizure reduction, and increased depression and anxiety relief. Using cannabinoids in combination may also help reduce the possible side effects of taking them as isolates. For example, if you have used to much of a psychoactive, using a non-psychoactive like CBD can help reduce the ‘high’ it has produced, helping you ‘sober up’ faster. I may or may not have had to use this trick a few times…

CBD remains one of the more popular natural alternatives to traditional medication, as it has wide-ranging therapeutic effects. Along with what I have described above, CBD can improve your digestive health, aid in weight loss due to its effects on appetite, control seizures and epilepsy, ease cancer treatment side effects such as nausea, insomnia, and chronic pain, as well as headache and migraine relief.

Side Effects

While CBD is generally well-tolerated, some people have experienced some side effects including fatigue, dizziness, dry mouth, and changes in appetite. While side effects can occur, they are often minimal and go away after the initial stages. CBD can also interact with other medications you are on, so double-checking with your health care professional is always the best way forward. CBD side effects can often be random and affect individuals based on their body compositions. You can limit chances of experiencing any adverse side effects by carefully choosing your CBD product. Higher quality CBD products are often more expensive, but the price is worth the quality. These products are often batch-tested and go through extensive screening for any additional contaminants that may impact your health.

In Conclusion…

If you are interested in taking CBD, the amount will depend on your needs and your body composition. It can be hard to pinpoint the exact amount for you since it varies person to person. A good way to figure out how much works for you is to start slowly and then increase the amount over time, allowing your body to get used to CBD. Similarly, when you should take CBD will depend on what you are using it for. Many people who take CBD to improve their sleep prefer to take it a few hours before bed. Others prefer to start their day with CBD because of the convenience. Sometimes we just need to play around with it a bit to see how our bodies react.

To see if CBD might be right for you, feel free to talk to our experienced budtenders to find the right product for you!