7 benefits of CBD oil. What are they?

What are the benefits of CBD oil?

Before we move on to the 7 benefits of CBD oil and answer the question of what are the benefits of CBD oil, we need to explain what is CBD oil is in the first place.

Let’s begin with the basics – what is CBD?

There’s no doubt that CBD is number one in the wellness industry at the moment.

CBD is the short name for Cannabinoid – a chemical compound from the Cannabis Sativa plant, which is also known as marijuana.

It occurs naturally as a substance that’s used in products like oils and is known to provide a feeling of relaxation and calm.

It’s very often mistaken by its cousin, Delta-9-TetraHydroCannabinol (THC), which is the major active ingredient in marijuana, giving you the “high and dreamy feeling”.

CBD is not psychoactive. CBD oil won’t get you high!

The cannabis plant has two main components – CBD and THC.

CBD is the non-psychoactive part of the plant and will not make you feel any effects like euphoria. THC is the chemical responsible for most of marijuana’s psychological effects, but we won’t get into that. 

Below you can get our FREE Printable 7 benefits of CBD oil. 

7 benefits of CBD oil

What is CBD oil?

CBD oil is an extract from the Cannabis Sativa plant, other words, CBD oil is made by extracting CBD from the cannabis plant, then diluting it with a carrier oil like coconut or hemp seed oil.

There’s some controversy behind cannabis products like CBD oil because of recreational marijuana use. However, growing awareness about the health benefits of CBD oil gives great potential in the medical uses of CBD.

Let’s move on to the 7 health benefits of CBD oil, which by the way, are backed by science: 

1. CBD can relieve pain.

Many people use CBD oil to relieve pain. My wife uses CBD balm which is applied topically with a great effect, lowering her endometriosis and fibromyalgia pain.

By understanding how CBD works, we can help overcome the stigma associated with it.

Marijuana has been used to treat pain since 2900 B.C. Recently, scientists discovered that CBD is helpful in pain relief.

The combination of CBD with THC may be effective in reducing pain associated with diseases like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis but I witnessed the benefits of CBD oils alone, without THC.

Let me give you two examples from my life to show you the benefits of CBD oil on chronic pain.

My wife was a bit apprehensive at the beginning but after my experience with CBD oil at work, she gave it a go, and that changed her point of view entirely after my experience with CBD oil at work…

I work as a caregiver to a young adult who suffers from cerebral palsy. He’s incredibly fragile. He breaths through a tracheostomy tube, simply put, a tube inserted in his throat.

Aside from that, the spasms caused by his chronic illness can be pretty painful.

This boy used to react to the world around him with extreme anxiety when worried, and excitement when happy. In the year 2018 alone, I had to intervene and resuscitate him 26 times!

His chronic pain caused by cerebral palsy’s spasms wasn’t helping, driving his anxiety, and in return, causing more pain.

One day his respiratory nurse told his mum about the benefits of CBD oil. She used it on her own anxious daughter for months, and it worked wonders.

The boy’s mum did not hesitate and gave CBD oil a chance. I was present and observed the magical changes that occurred, whilst working with him 50 hours per week. It was incredible!

We had to bear in mind that the benefits of CBD oil wouldn’t be visible for 3 to 4 weeks.

It took precisely one month before we noticed any changes…

It worked!

“My boy” hasn’t stopped breathing since and that was 2 years ago. His pain reduced too!

His stress leveled drastically dropped, anxiety vanished, he became less challenging, which benefitted all of us – me as his caregiver, his mum, and himself.

I told my wife what happened and to my surprise, M did not hesitate, buying herself CBD balm that she could apply topically.

It wasn’t CBD oil but cram, however, it worked very well for her endometriosis and fibromyalgia pain.

I applied it to her skin every single day thinking it would take at least a month before she notices some positive effects.

My friends, it took 4 days before her anxiety level dropped. Yes – she became more sleepy, to begin with, but that was the only side effect of CBD.

Her fibromyalgia pain became less intense after just one week and improved further.

The benefits of CBD oil with the boy and CBD balm with my wife showed similar results. It worked! 

2. CBD oil benefits mental health.

I gave you already two examples of CBD oil having stress levels and anxiety. But what about depression?

Anxiety and depression are two of the most common mental health disorders that can have devastating impacts on health and well-being.

CBD oil can change the way your brain’s receptors respond to serotonin, a chemical linked to mental health. It helps:

• reducing stress
• decreasing physiological effects of anxiety, such as an increased heart rate
• improving symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• inducing sleep in cases of insomnia

According to the WHO (World Health Organization), depression is the single largest contributor to disability, whereas anxiety disorders are ranked sixth.

Depression is usually treated with pharmaceutical drugs, which can cause a number of side effects. Some of them can be dangerous.

In my wife’s case, depression made her feel suicidal. She even attempted to commit to it on four occasions in the past.

M was put on Prozac as a teenager and left on them for 18 years!

PPIs made her feel like a zombie, she constantly slept and did not worry about her job. She felt somehow absent.

Unlike filled with side effects drugs, CBD oil has shown to be a good replacement as a treatment for both – depression and anxiety, allowing people to take a safer, holistic, natural approach.

Many qualities are linked to CBD’s ability to act on the brain’s receptors for serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates mood and social behavior.

Sleep can be disrupted for many reasons. In my wife’s case, it can be pain or anxiety but it also includes depression.

After taking CBD, according to Sâmia Joca from the Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy; “Surprisingly, CBD seems to act faster than conventional antidepressants!”

Faster than antidepressants and with lesser side effects? This is great news!

If you take pure CBD, it’s pretty safe, therefore you shouldn’t worry about any serious side effects. CBD oil can only benefit you, it should not harm you as antidepressants could. 

3. Benefits of CBD oil with addiction.

Let’s face it. There is an opioid crisis! It’s not the patient’s fault, but those doctors who over-prescribe them!

The United States is struggling with an opioid epidemic, claiming more than 300,000 lives since it began. That’s unacceptable! This is where CBD comes in handy…

Unlike the “classic” marijuana, CBD comes from the cannabis plant. Unlike pot, it does not produce a high.

The researchers found that, compared to a placebo, CBD reduced drug-induced craving and was associated with it anxiety. The results lasted for about a week after taking the CBD medication.

Because the benefits of CBD reduce opioid cravings and anxiety – it minimizes factors strongly associated with relapse to opioid use.

But can you take CBD and paracetamol at the same time to gradually get off the painkillers?

Whether you are suffering from period pains, a hormonal headache, or other chronic pain, you will probably want to know about taking CBD and paracetamol together.

Well, the good news is, that there are no interactions between cannabis and paracetamol.

Sometimes your pain can be so severe, you might think of taking both – painkillers and CBD oil. You may be unable to concentrate on anything.

While CBD can act as natural pain relief, you might feel that you need a little extra help.

The combination of paracetamol and CBD oil may help you with:

• Period pain
• Endometriosis flare-ups
• Headaches
• Chronic pain
• Fibromyalgia
• Arthritis Pain
• Cancer pain

Eventually, you will be able to get rid of painkillers entirely.

4. CBD oil may reduce acne.

Acne is a common skin condition that affects more than 9% of the world’s population.

The effects of CBD on receptors in the immune system may help reduce overall inflammation in the body. In turn, CBD oil may offer benefits for acne management.

CBD oil may help reduce various types of acne because of its ability to adjust how the body creates sebum. Sebum is a waxy, oily substance the skin makes.

Sebum helps protect your skin from the outside world.

It can mix with dead skin cells, dirt, and other pollutants becoming trapped inside a pore. This clogged pore then becomes acne.

Many things affect acne, such as excess sebum production, hormonal imbalances, and genetics. Some other factors, such as diet, stress levels, and some medications, may also increase the severity of a person’s symptoms.

CBD oil additionally has anti-inflammatory properties.

Even though CBD oil products may not be marketed for people with body acne, they have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties which may provide some additional benefits.

Aside from acne itself, CBD oil can also help other skin problems such as psoriasis and itchy skin conditions.

5. Neuroprotective benefits of CBD oil.

Scientists research the positive properties of CBD oil on various neurodegenerative disorders, which are diseases that cause the brain and nerves to deteriorate over time such as:

• Alzheimer’s disease
• multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Parkinson’s disease
• stroke

Researches show that CBD oil may even reduce the inflammation that can make neurodegenerative symptoms worse. More research is needed to fully understand this but it’s looking good so far.

One of the most studied uses for CBD is done in treating neurological disorders such as epilepsy and multiple sclerosis.

According to healtline.com, one study found that Sativex reduced spasms in 75% of 276 people with multiple sclerosis who were experiencing muscle spasticity that was resistant to medications (26Trusted Source).

Another study gave 214 people with severe epilepsy 0.9–2.3 grams of CBD oil per pound (2–5 g/kg) of body weight. Their seizures reduced by a median of 36.5% (27Trusted Source).

One more study found that CBD oil significantly reduced seizure activity in children with Dravet syndrome, a complex childhood epilepsy disorder, compared to a placebo (28Trusted Source).

Summarizing the neuroprotective benefits of CBD oil, it may ease symptoms related to epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease, and also reduce the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

6. Cannabis oil for epilepsy.

Are there any cannabis-based medicines for epilepsy?

Yes, at the moment there is one cannabis-based medicine that has been licensed for treating epilepsy in the United Kingdom, called Epidyolex. It contains pure CBD.

Epidyolex is a cannabis-based medicine available on the NHS in the U.K. This medicine allows thousands of people to be prescribed the drug, including children with severe epilepsy.

Clinical trials have shown the treatment could reduce the number of seizures by up to 40% in some children when used in combination with Clobazam.

There are some other and rare types of epilepsy that are difficult to treat but Epidyolex, which is available on the NHS, can treat people with disorders such as Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

It is possible that specialists could prescribe CBD for people with other types of epilepsy, but this would be on a case-by-case basis under exceptional circumstances, where other treatments have failed.

NICE has announced that some people might be able to access Epidyolex by taking part in clinical trials.

If you ever notice some CBD products sold online or in health food shops, know that they are NOT licensed as medicines, and selling such products is not allowed.

It is also not allowed to make any claims about its ability to treat any condition. It’s unlikely that they will be made to the same standard as real medicines. You cannot guarantee their quality. Don’t use them! 

7. The benefits of CBD oil with muscle spasms.

If you remember, I mentioned at the beginning the boy I care for, and his cerebral palsy.

Aside from his muscle spasms and nerve pain caused by cerebral palsy, there are other autoimmune conditions that can be helped with the use of CBD oil.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of them. MS affects the entire body through the nerves and brain.

As well as with cerebral palsy, muscle spasms are one of the most common symptoms of MS. They can be so strong that they cause constant pain in some people.

Studies have shown the benefits of CBD oil in the use of general chronic pain and their researchers compiled the results of multiple systematic reviews covering dozens of trials and studies.

Their research has shown substantial evidence that CBD oil is an effective treatment for chronic pain in adults.

Coping with stiffness, aches, cramps in muscles is a norm for 2.5 million people around the world who have multiple sclerosis.

But there are also 15 million people with spinal cord injuries and they also suffer from the same symptoms, chronic pain, limitations in their movement, and all that robs them of sleep.

Conventional medications can reduce some discomfort, but taking them rarely provides complete relief. Besides, oftentimes, these drugs cause side effects such as weakness and drowsiness.

CBD oil may be helpful here and all that without causing any serious side effects.

Benefits of CBD Oil use of treating chronic or acute muscle spasms can be found in drugs such as Valium and Flexeril. But again, they have side effects.

Additionally, certain muscle relaxant medications can be highly addictive and leave you at an increased risk of misuse or abuse.

CBD oil relieves people from spasticity without side effects.

If you’re considering using CBD oil instead of drugs to stop your muscle spasms, you need to be sure that it’s going to work.

CBD works in the endocannabinoid system, therefore CBD oil can reduce muscle spasms by altering the way your central nervous system communicates with your muscles. This is what makes it so effective!

CBD Oil is a muscle relaxant, it reduces anxiety, promotes sleep, and displays motor relaxant effects.

Ok. These are in a nutshell 7 benefits of CBD oil.

But is cannabidiol safe?

Side effects of CBD include nausea, fatigue, and irritability. They don’t seem serious but CBD can raise levels of some medications in your blood by the exact same mechanism that grapefruit juice does.

So, ask yourself a question, is grapefruit juice harmful?

The benefits of CBD oil are bigger than their side effects, so rest assured. Besides the benefits of CBD oil itself is this – you can regulate the dose yourself.

The boy I work with takes only 4 drops of CBD oil every morning in his mouth, that’s all. Given only one month for it to reduce his anxiety, muscle spasms, and pain, it was enough to persuade my wife to use CBD too.

Her anxiety, endometriosis, and fibromyalgia pain lowered, allowing her to cope better with her chronic illnesses.

I hope you found this post helpful, and the benefits of DBD oil allow you to cope better with your daily struggles with chronic illness.

Wishing you all the very best!