CBD: Positive effects to keep you moving
With the mounting new acceptance of cannabis and cannabis-related products, more and more research is emerging to provide concrete proof and information that proves the medical benefits of cannabis products, especially things like Cannabidiol, also known as CBD oil.
Cannabidiol is a non-psychoactive property that is found in cannabis plants, and it is the key ingredient for the medicinal properties of cannabis. While you can find CBD in flower or bud form, the most practical and common use for this is in CBD tinctures, edibles and topical solutions.
I like many other athletes push my body to its limits!We are subjected to high impacts, wear and tear, injury, and fatigue from our everyday lives as human beings and athletes. At the end of a long event, or a long day of training and practice, you will feel these effects at large, and it may impact your performance thereafter.
Here I will discuss the medical benefits associated with CBD, the best applications, as well as how it can and will help you perform your very best from game-time, to recovery!
Its not what you think…..
When you think of cannabis products, your mind may immediately picture being intoxicated or loopy, which doesn’t seem very effective for athletic purposes. Rest assured, my CBD oil tinctures, salves and patches do not contain any THC (the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) so they will not get you high, and it is completely legal!
What it does offer, though, is an extensive list of medical uses that any athlete or consumer can benefit from. Here are just some of the many benefits CBD offers, specifically for athletes, as well as a comparison to OTC medications and why this natural method is better.
One of the biggest issues athletes face on a daily basis is inflammation. CBD acts as an anti-inflammatory which is a great way to prevent joint injury during physical activity, as well as reduce any pain from swelling. My CBD Salve is a great alternative to things like lidocaine or bengay.
While OTC painkillers are proven to mask most pain completely, they can put you in a fog, as well as give you a false sense of ability when you are injured or in pain. CBD is a much clearer way to combat the pain, and won’t put your brain into a fog.
Loosen up….
Sometimes no matter how long and hard we train, we still get a little nervous before a big game or event. One of the best benefits that you can get from CBD oil is some relief from performance anxiety.
CBD is notorious for its anti-depressant/anxiolytic properties, many patients with anxiety disorders or depressive disorders have turned away from harmful and habit-forming anti-depressants like Zoloft, Xanax, and Prozac and turned to the non-habit forming and all natural CBD oil.
And Manage That Pain….
Sometimes hurting yourself is just inevitable. Instead of turning to OTC painkillers like Vicodin, Percoset, or Methadone, which only help with pain, you can combat pain as well as speed up your recovery time with CBD products.
Not sold on the healing properties of CBD yet? Keep this in mind: CBD has been proven to treat and heal all sorts of medical diagnoses, from seizures to degenerative diseases like Multiple Sclerosis, and even has treated and cured different forms of cancer. If it can heal you from disease, it can and will heal you from any injury that you sustain. CBD is truly the healing cannabinoid, and it will help you get back into the game much faster than any OTC medication will. Not to mention, it is all natural and from the earth, rather than concocted in a lab.
CBD and Epilepsy
CBD and Epilepsy – How does it work?
October 02, 2018
Recently, epilepsy and CBD have been in the news as a result of the FDA finally approving a CBD based medicine for epilepsy. The medicine, Epidiolex, has been shown to reduce seizures and return a few children to near-normal function. Most significantly the drug is targeted towards those suffering from Dravet syndrome. Dravet syndrome is a rare genetic condition that usually shows up in infants, starting with fever-related seizures and progressing to other, more severe seizure types. However the drug is estimated to cost patients a whopping $32,000 a year for treatment.
Although this is a great step towards federal deregulation of CBD Oil, it proves yet again that big pharma companies are missing the point. Patients need affordable and accessible care.
Thanks to organizations like The Epilepsy Foundation, a group of parent advocates that believes cannabis should be a valid treatment option for physicians and patients dealing with epilepsy, action is being taken to encourage the FDA to deregulate cannabis so that it can be utilized in the form of CBD Oil for treatment and promote increased clinical trials and research surrounding the affects on epilepsy.
“The Epilepsy Foundation supports the rights of patients and families living with seizures and epilepsy to access physician-directed care, including medical marijuana. The Epilepsy Foundation believes that an end to seizures should not be determined by one’s zip code.”
Our family started the search for a cure to epilepsy when we realized Sasha, our lab beagle mix, suffers from cluster seizures. Before we found CBD, Sasha was on a mix of traditional epilepsy medicines including keppra and phenobarbital, but still suffering up to 10 seizures in a 24 hour period. Thanks to CBD, which she takes twice a day, Sasha has maintained a seizure free life and has benefited from increased energy.
But you may be wondering how and why CBD and cannabidiol works with epilepsy and the nervous system. Let’s break it down, starting with what epilepsy is followed by how CBD counteracts it.
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a chronic disorder that causes unprovoked, recurrent seizures. A seizure is a sudden rush of electrical activity in the brain and can happen to animals and humans.
Epileptic seizures are caused by abnormal electrical discharges, or misfiring, among brain cells. This misfiring results in convulsions of the body, sometimes severely altered senses, and often the loss of consciousness. Epilepsy itself may be caused by viruses, head trauma, or even a hormonal imbalance. Often, however, the cause of the condition is idiopathic, meaning it is simply unknown.
More importantly, no two seizures are identical. Seizure can vary in length of time and level of convulsion. The two main seizure types include Generalized seizures, which affect the whole brain, and Focal seizures, or partial seizures, affect just one part of the brain.
A mild seizure may be difficult to recognize. It can last a few seconds during which you lack awareness.
Stronger seizures can cause spasms and uncontrollable muscle twitches, and can last a few seconds to several minutes. During a stronger seizure, some people become confused or lose consciousness. Afterward you may have no memory of it happening.
Approximately 50 million people are living with epilepsy around the world, making it one of the most common neurological ailments found in humans.
CBD and Epilepsy
CBD or cannabidiol, is one of the most abundant molecular components of the cannabis plant second to THC. WIth zero psychoactive effects, CBD oil has proven to show positive anticonvulsant properties by targeting different neurological receptor systems, including the endocannabinoid receptors, calcium ion channels, glutamate receptor antagonists, sodium ion channels, and the GATA system and receptor agonists, in the brain.
CBD and the Brain
The brain contains large numbers of highly specialized cells called neurons. Each neuron connects to many others through structures called synapses. These are sites where one neuron communicates to another by releasing chemical messengers known as neurotransmitters .
A neuron’s sensitivity to a specific neurotransmitter depends on whether or not it contains a receptor that “fits” that transmitter, like an electrical socket fits a plug. If a neuron contains receptors that match a particular neurotransmitter, then it can respond directly to that transmitter. Otherwise, it generally can’t. All neurons contain multiple neurotransmitter receptors, allowing them to respond to some neurotransmitters but not others.
Brain receptors are not only sensitive to neurotransmitters produced naturally within the brain, like dopamine or serotonin, but also chemical messengers produced outside the body, such as plant cannabinoids like THC or CBD. So when you ingest an edible or inhale some vapor, you’re allowing compounds originally produced by a plant to enter your body, travel through your bloodstream, and enter your brain. Once they arrive, these plant-derived compounds can influence brain activity by interacting with receptors on neurons. But they don’t interact with all neurons, just the ones that have the appropriate receptors.
There is also evidence, mainly from animal studies and in vitro experiments, that CBD may have neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory and analgesic (pain-relieving) properties, and potential therapeutic value in the treatment of motivational disorders like depression, anxiety, and addiction