CBD OIL 101 + WHY I LOVE USING IT ON THE DAILY + WHAT BRANDS I LOVE
Happy Friday everyone! I SO hope you all had a wonderful and beautiful week. My week went by pretty fast and I am still debating on weather I should take a small trip to Denver next week. Not sure because I would only be going for a holiday party I was invited to and literally fly in and out. While I don’t mind these kind of trips, and they do offer a some sort of-live in the moment-kind of feel, which is what I am always looking for, it does affect my sleep afterwards. Basically I am still weighing the odds.
On another note, a lot of you have been asking me about CBD oil and why I started using it. I am SUPER excited to share with you all why I started using CBD oil + all of the health benefits that it has.
WHAT IS CBD
CBD or cannabidiol is one of over sixty compounds found in cannabis. While THC is what gets the most attention in the media due to its mind altering effect, CBD is actually non psychoactive. There are multiple species of cannabis that naturally contain CBD. CBD can be extracted from the cannabis plant and also made synthetically.
HOW DOES WORK
CBD interacts with many different receptors, proteins and other chemicals in our brain. These interactions create changes in the activity of neurotransmitters, hormones, and other cells in our body + brain. Through all of these interactions CBD appears to be able to affect many of the body’s functions, from sleep to emotional stability to helping with inflammation, pain and SO much more.
CBD has also been linked to playing a role in the growth of new brain cells, a process that is known as neurogenesis.
FIVE AWESOME HEALTH BENEFITS
ANTIPSYCHOTIC EFFECTS
Research has shown that one of the many benefits of CBD is producing antipsychotic effects like many of the pharmacological antipsychotic drugs. CBD also helps prevent psychosis in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. I am bipolar and have been off traditional medication for over three years and treat it completely holistically. I’ve talked about this on the blog many times, you can read more here. I did start to incorporate CBD oil and products into my daily routine during the summer when my brother was visiting and it was life changing.
REDUCE ANXIETY
Due to the anxiolytic -like effects of CBD it has been shown to reduce anxiety in patients and also help with panic disorders, OCD, social anxiety disorder and PTSD. CBD can reduce both mental + physical symptoms of anxiety.
PAIN & INFLAMMATION
One of the most common benefits from CBD is that is acts like a natural pain relief. It has also been linked with chronic inflammation. This is great for that time of the month, when you have cramps, ladies. Oh and for all of you athletes CBD helps with muscle recovery.
INSOMNIA
CBD has the ability to reduce anxiety, this can all be helpful when it comes to sleep issues and improving your sleep quality. Helps improve insomnia and improve REM sleep abnormalities. My insomnia has diminished and I sleep more calmly, going to sleep is longer a problem and staying sleep isn’t either.
NAUSEA
Cannabis has been used for a long time to help relief the effects of nausea and vomiting which is why they prescribe medical marijuana to cancer patients going through chemo. CBD has an anti-nausea effect and helps suppress vomiting.
HOW TO PICK YOU CBD OIL
Knowing the difference between good quality CBD oil and bad can be life changing. CBD oil can can be made from both hemp and marijuana. The difference is that marijuana dispensaries normally sell CBD oil that is derived from cannabis strains in states where it is legal. (California, Colorado, Nevada, Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, and DC) When you buy it online and it is not regulated by the government then that is when it is made from hemp.
When buying your CBD oil it is important to check the following things:
how the extraction process is – it is really important to understand the extraction process and also understand what it is that they are extracting. The most advanced extraction process is known as CO2 in which they remove the fats and lipids to create pure CBD oil.
the cost- if it is cheap it probably means it is low grade and you don’t want to consume that. Companies need to charge higher prices in order to continue to produce high quality oil.
REAL LIFE
As I mentioned above I tried CBD for the first time while my brother was here and I fell in love with calming effects it has. While my bipolar disorder is balanced, I still have really bad insomnia that is affected by whatever is going on in my life, at times I like this because it lets me know if something is bothering me and I can learn to deal with it. The thing is that any change even if it is minor affects me in some way or another. TRUTH be told, I don’t like change, unless I feel like I had some say. The awesome thing about life is that things are constantly changing and basically the universe is giving me the finger and telling me I need to learn to adjust. I’m okay with that. CBD has helped with the anxiety of the unknown, of change of just basically life sometimes. I don’t get cramps during my period anymore, which is awesome. I also realized it helps with motion sickness a theory I tested out when I was with my friend and we were driving to all sorts of different mountain destinations, I get car sick easily if there are a lot of curves and just circles. I’m hands down a HUGE fan. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
MY FAVORITE BRANDS
PAPA BARKLEY – I really like their 1:30 THC: CBD and their 3:1 THC:CB
They have great tinctures with wonderful blends, sadly you can only get these in California, I had a friend pick some up for me a couple weeks ago after another friend recommended it.
2RISE NATURAL – offers high quality hemp oil. All of their hemp is grown in Colorado. I like their FULL SPECTRUM CBD OIL TINCTURE and their capsules. PLUS you can order it online which is pretty cool. Legal in all 50 states.
PUREKANA– Their vanilla + mint CBD oil is amazing. They also gave vegan CBD gummies which I love having in my purse at all times.
SOME OF MY FAVORITE PRODUCTS WITH CBD
NOTPOT – Is CBD chocolate and it is insane. I really like this product it uses hemp derived CBD oil + ashwagandha and they use raw cocoa and maple syrup. The ingredients are on point and so good. I love this. I like to eat one before I go to sleep or even before I travel. They ship nationwide, which is great.
Therapeutic Treats – They have insane chocolates, their strawberry sea salt is insane, pomegranate vanilla is alas unreal. I’ve tried them all and I have a stash in my fridge of maybe five bars at time. I know. Each little chunk or piece has 15 MG of CBD. They use hemp derived CBD again making legal to ship nationwide. They also have supplements that you can get.
Alright babes, there you have it, why I started to use CBD, all the wonderful health benefits and for those of you still iffy. What it is and how wonderful it can be for your health. What are you thoughts..? Would you be interested in trying CBD oil products? Drop a comment below, I would LOVE to know your thoughts.
That strawberry sea salt from Theraputic Treats sounds awesome! And the pomegranate vanilla…yum. Going to check these guys out. Thanks for sharing!
Let me know what you think Serena! I am obsessed with their chocolates.
Super interesting read. A friend was recently telling me about this. My son suffers from anxiety and ADHD and she was asking if it’s safe for kids? What are you thoughts?
Interesting enough I was talking to a friend of mine whose kid has autism and he was telling me how much CBD oil has helped, they use the one from the hemp plant. Of course I would def say speak to your doctor or healthcare practitioner before hand. I’m bipolar and have ADHD and between cutting out sugar + CBD it has helped SO much. Hope this helps.
I’ve heard CBD oil is also great for animals (if you get the stuff made for them) We fly overseas three times a year and our dog comes with us – she’s a therapy dog for me and while she does great on the planes, we’ve been told that CBD oil can help if she were to ever get nervous!
For sure Dana, I also travel with my cat since he is an emotional pet and while he is super chill, sometimes he gets a little too anxious and I def have bought CBD oil for him.
I never heard of this before. I would love to try it after a stressful day at work (everyday). Would it show up on drug tests though?
I’ve never heard of CBD oil, so this was very informative. Who knew one thing could help with so many different ailments/difficulties?
I have heard of CBD and how it can be helpful for pain relief, but I haven’t ever got round to trying it myself. I’m on tons of medication as I have a chronic back issue among other chronic illnesses. Sometimes I am in so much pain, it hurts to exist and I just can’t cope. Even with all the pain medication and I’d rather not be hooked on strong pain meds for my whole life and some of them will actually make me more sensitive to pain when they are meant to be pain relievers. This post is really interesting and has spurred me on to research some more into CBD!
Annie, thank you so much for sharing this with us and honestly you are so strong. I was on a lot of medication for over six years and they would cause side effects it was bad. I honestly didn’t want to live, I felt like I was a robot and just letting my life pass by. I felt like a passenger in my own life, if that makes any sense. I started use a more holistic approach to my bipolar disorder + PCOS and IBS and little by little was able to get off everything (with a doctor) I was on and now treat it with food, exercise, self care and CBD oil plays a huge role. Read into it and hopefully you find some relief. Tons of warm vibes your way. XO
Thanks for your post on CBD oil! I started taking CBD last November 2017 for my fibromyalgia. It has helped some with the pain but more so with my depression, anxiety and ibs! There’s actually a Facebook group called cbdoilusers that I’ve learned a lot from! Wishing it will come legal here in Texas but that seems a ways off!
hi julie! I am so glad you were able to get some help from cbd. that is amazing. it is such a healing plant.