By Mitch Rice
Running a business isn’t all about sitting pretty behind your executive desk, reading emails, and asking your secretary for your morning coffee.
Being a businessman entails a lot of responsibilities. You need to ensure your employees are doing their job, make sure your sales are doing well, and keep your operational costs within budget.
These duties can often become overwhelming when you experience elevated stress levels. Symptoms include breathing difficulties, panic attacks, headaches, chest pains, or indigestion.
Some business owners take a few days off to unwind. Others play a round of golf with friends to relieve stress. A few consider doing yoga or other meditation exercises to relax.
There are also individuals considering alternative remedies such as CBD oil to help manage stress.
You may have heard about CBD oil in the media or during a conversation with a client. Marketers have advertised this product and how it may help relieve pain, reduce anxiety, and promote relaxation. But what is CBD, and how can it help with stress?
Learn more about CBD in this site and how this plant-based compound may help with stress management. This article also discusses how you can take CBD oil and what you need to look for when buying CBD products.
Benefits of CBD Oil for Stress
First, what is CBD? Cannabidiol, simplified as CBD, is a nonpsychoactive cannabis compound that scientists say may help provide a calming effect and relieve anxiety. Managing stress and anxiety and being calm may help with relaxation.
How does CBD relieve stress? Studies suggest that CBD interacts with numerous receptors in the body responsible for regulating fear and anxiety-related behaviors. These receptors include the CB1, TRPV1, and 5HT1A receptors.
CB1 receptors reside in your brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous tissue. These receptors may produce anxiolytic effects, enhancing fear extinction and preventing fear reconsolidation.
Meanwhile, TRPV1 receptors, found in muscle cells, vascular cells, and sensory nerve fibers, play an essential role in mediating inflammation, temperature regulation, and gastrointestinal (GI) motility.
GI motility is the food movement through the GI tract from the mouth, esophagus, stomach, intestines, and out of the body.
Serotonin 5-HT1A receptors are located in your nervous system and influence depression and anxiety behaviors.
By now, you may be saying, “Sure, but is CBD effective?” For now, research has not yet fully determined how effective and safe CBD is, specifically when used for managing stress and promoting relaxation.
However, existing preclinical evidence suggests that CBD may help manage anxiety disorders, including the following:
- Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
- Social anxiety disorder (SAD)
- Panic disorder
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Since there is little scientific proof that CBD is effective for stress, you should consult a doctor or therapist for expert advice on managing stress and its symptoms.
What to Look for in CBD Oil
There are several kinds of CBD products, such as CBD oils, gummies, lotions, vapes, and even pet products.
Before choosing a product that fits your needs, you should consider whether these products underwent third-party lab testing or are categorized as full-spectrum, broad-spectrum, or isolate.
Third-party labs perform independent testing to ensure the products are safe for consumption. Third-party testing is an industry-standard procedure to minimize issues regarding falsely labeled products.
These labs also provide certificates of analysis (COAs) showing the product’s exact cannabinoid content. COAs can also reveal whether the product possesses contaminants that can cause a health risk.
When purchasing CBD products, consider buying from brands that provide complete and updated COAs on their websites.
CBD products may come in three types: full-spectrum, broad-spectrum, or isolate.
Full-spectrum CBD oil usually contains all beneficial compounds from the cannabis plant, including tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), flavonoids, and terpenes.
THC is a psychoactive substance producing the “high” feeling often related to marijuana use.
Flavonoids are plant substances that may act as antimicrobials and antioxidants. On the other hand, terpenes are compounds that produce the cannabis plant’s distinct scent.
Combining these compounds may produce an “entourage effect.” This phenomenon is the synergistic effect of active cannabis compounds working together to provide better therapeutic results.
Meanwhile, broad-spectrum CBD oil products are similar to full-spectrum products, except broad-spectrum CBD oil has little to no THC content.
CBD isolates are made from pure CBD only and have no THC and any other cannabinoids or compounds.
Are you willing to experience the benefits of the entourage effect? Consider buying full-spectrum CBD oil products.
On the other hand, if you have an aversion to THC or its psychoactive effects, you may choose CBD isolates or broad-spectrum CBD oil instead.
Ways to Administer CBD Oil
CBD products are categorized based on the delivery method for taking cannabidiol. These methods include the following:
- Sublingual administration: Administer sublingual CBD products under the tongue to let the substance bypass the GI tract and enter the bloodstream directly.
Sublingually administered products include CBD oil tinctures, tablets, and oromucosal sprays.
- Ingestion: Take oral CBD products through the mouth so that the substance passes through the individual’s GI tract before spreading throughout the bloodstream.
CBD products taken orally include CBD gummies, chews, cookies, and capsules.
- Topical application: Apply CBD topicals to the skin. These products typically do not get absorbed into your bloodstream.
Topical CBD products include CBD creams, ointments, salves, and lotions.
- Inhalation: Inhaling or vaping CBD delivers the substance directly into the lungs, heart, and brain before spreading throughout the body.
However, vaping is often linked to health risks connected to lung disease. Several individuals have been hospitalized due to health issues associated with using vaping products.
Exercise caution and be wary of these adverse effects before using vapes to administer CBD.
Do you have a preexisting medical condition? Consult your doctor or therapist for a diagnosis and treatment recommendation before considering taking CBD.
Legality
Before using CBD, check your local laws to know whether this product is legal in your country or state. Under the United States federal law, CBD products with more than 0.3% THC are considered illegal.
As of February 2022, 37 states have enacted regulated cannabis programs. These states include Washington, California, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and New York.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that some sellers market CBD products of unknown quality and with unproven medical claims. Furthermore, the agency has limited information regarding CBD’s safety and advises consumers to consider the potential risks before using this product.
References
- Stress
- Cannabidiol in Anxiety and Sleep: A Large Case Series
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6326553/
- Relaxation and Mental Health
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/relaxation
- Cannabidiol as a Potential Treatment for Anxiety Disorders
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/
- Role of the Cannabinoid System in Pain Control and Therapeutic Implications for the Management of Acute and Chronic Pain Episodes
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2430692/
- The Role of Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1 in Common Diseases of the Digestive Tract and the Cardiovascular and Respiratory System
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2019.01064/full
- 5-HT1A receptors in mood and anxiety: recent insights into autoreceptor versus heteroreceptor function
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3927969/
- Page 260 of Healing With CBD
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AGlxnhS2SoFeOXEuysv75bd_C9pEnwsU/view
- Tetrahydrocannabinol
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/tetrahydrocannabinol
- Flavonoids as Antioxidants
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10924197/
- The Cannabis Terpenes
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7763918/
- Best Way to Take CBD
https://www.projectcbd.org/guidance/best-way-take-cbd
- Can Vaping Damage Your Lungs? What We Do (and Don’t) Know
- CBD & THC: Myths and Misconceptions
https://www.projectcbd.org/guidance/cbd-thc-myths-and-misconceptions
- State Medical Cannabis Laws
https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-medical-marijuana-laws.aspx
- What You Need to Know (And What We’re Working to Find Out) About Products Containing Cannabis or Cannabis-derived Compounds, Including CBD
Data and information are provided for informational purposes only, and are not intended for investment, medical or other purposes.
