How Does CBD Oil Work?

In the last three or four years CBD oil has become very popular all over the world.

CBD, aka cannabidiol, is a cannabinoid compound found in the cannabis plant. It has some very interesting properties and lots of people have given CBD extracts rave reviews and find it helps them in many different ways.

Unfortunately, there are now a myriad of businesses selling CBD of poor quality or who do not know anything about health and well-being but know how to do a nice marketing exercise.

Trying to find information that is trustworthy and reliable on CBD products is a minefield. There is little, if any, regulation and enormous confusion with people not knowing where to turn to for reliable support and advice. 

Unwitting and vulnerable customers are often conned into parting with their money for a very low-grade product that does nothing to help them. 

We set up CBD One to counter this problem and our aim was to have a business based on integrity and honesty, run by myself, an osteopath, and my brother. 

Because I am a qualified osteopath and have two practices in the north-west of England I do my utmost to handout reliable, helpful and educated advice and support.

We also have our blog which hopefully gives you some reliable information about CBD, a podcast called ‘Working With Nature’ and go live on social media regularly. 

What Is CBD Oil?

CBD is extracted from the cannabis plant. When the plant is harvested it is dried and then processes are used to extract all the magic cannabinoids and other compounds from the plant. If this is done respectfully with nature in mind you can end up with a very powerful, high-quality product.

The key with a CBD product is to look for full-spectrum CBD oil. 

This simply means that the product you have bought does not just have CBD in it, it will have other cannabinoids that are useful, it will have terpenes, which are essential oils that give the product its smell, and it will have flavonoids (these have antioxidant effects) which give it its distinctive taste. 

Between the cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids you will get the potent Entourage effect which is the synergy of all the compounds working inside your body.

How Does CBD Oil Work?

CBD works by interacting with your endocannabinoid system. 

The endocannabinoid system is found throughout our bodies and is thought to be intertwined with our central and peripheral nervous systems.

These nervous systems play an active role in the management of some of our bodies core functions and are responsible for keeping us in a steady state of internal, physical, and chemical conditions, a process known as homeostasis.

We are still learning a lot about how cannabinoids interact with your body, in fact, we have only scratched the surface of their potential for human health. 

There is lots of research and more still to be done but it is worth noting that in 1990 there were approximately 200 research papers about cannabinoids and now, in 2021, there are over 20,000 pieces of research.

There has been an explosion in our understanding and knowledge and yet we have only just scratched the surface. We still have much to understand and much of what it does and how it happens is still somewhat of a mystery to us. 

Is CBD The Same As Hempseed Oil?

Hempseed oil is in widespread use as a very healthful oil that can be used in cooking, on salad dressings and even taken in capsule form. 

It has omega-6 and 3 in it, antioxidants, gamma-linolenic acid and is high in B vitamins and Vitamin D but it does not contain cannabinoids.

It is made by using extraction methods such as cold pressing to obtain the oil from the pressed seeds. 

Therefore, hempseed oil is not CBD oil. It will not contain any cannabinoids. Or at least they will be in such tiny amounts they are classes as non-detectable. 

The important thing when looking at a product and its label is to see if it tells you the CBD content levels, preferably in the number of milligrams (mg) and if it does not, then it is probably a poor quality hempseed oil masquerading as something it is not.

Does CBD Oil Make You High? 

CBD products will not make you high or stoned because they have naturally low levels of the psychoactive cannabinoid THC in them. 

CBD is non-psychoactive which means you can safely take CBD and operate heavy machinery and function quite normally in your day-to-day life.

It will not make you drowsy or sleepy or have any distorting influence on your perception of real life.

Why Do People Take CBD Oil? 

People use CBD for a myriad of problems because it has such a widespread effect on your body. 

It can influence many areas of your health in a positive way. 

I take CBD much like one would take a multivitamin because I know that it is good for me. Rather than looking for a specific ‘effect’, I use CBD as part of a balanced diet, very much as I do with multivitamins and minerals. 

I am aware they are good for me but do not expect them to suddenly make me healthy.

Following good health behaviour is important and I consider the use of CBD to be part of the ingredients list of good health. We know that cannabinoids can be beneficial to us and they are also safe (though the use of THC is illegal and I would caution using it) so why would I NOT use them?

CBD is a healthy food supplement that helps your body function well, just like a healthy diet does, so I take it merely for that reason.

Does CBD Oil Have Any Side-effects? 

CBD’s safety profile has been assessed by the World Health Organisation and they found it to be very safe. 

It is far safer than much of the pharmaceutical drugs that doctors hand out freely, some of which have the risk of heart attacks and internal bleeding and others can be highly addictive. There are no such concerns with CBD.

If you take too much CBD too quickly it may give you a headache or it may give you loose bowels, but the simple answer to this is to take less CBD!

Some people actually like the ‘loosening’ side effect to help combat their constipation. 

However, these are mild side-effects and most people most the time do not even experience these. CBD is remarkably safe and it is non-addictive and is not habit-forming at all. 

To Summarise

Full-spectrum CBD oil is the highest quality you can find. It is very good for your body and it is safe.

It is non-addictive and comes with very low risks - if you compare taking one ibuprofen, which can increase your chance of a heart attack in the month you have taken it by 30%, and then look at CBD where there is no such risk attached then you can see how safe it is.

Will it help you is always a question we find difficult to answer but one thing that we can reassure you of is that it is extremely safe, therefore, it is a low-risk option for getting potential gains. 

Truly you have nothing to lose, therefore, it is certainly worth trying. And while some people get hung up on the cannabis word, it is nothing like the cannabis sold in the coffee shops of Amsterdam!