About CBD
Research links:
Cannabidiol (CBD) research is constantly showing how useful CBD is with regard to health and wellness. You'll be amazed at what CBD (and CBG) can do! Check out some of these links below (beware - CBD research is the only thing addictive about CBD!)
CBD has clinically been shown to have tremendous promise for addressing a wide range of health issues. Typically extracted from hemp, which is part of the cannabis family, it’s known for being non-psychoactive (does not produce an intoxicating “high”). Medical studies also state that CBD has a side-effect profile that is better than many prescribed medications.
Scientific reports state that CBD is one of the many special plant molecules in cannabis which are called cannabinoids. Several cannabinoids are known to have antioxidant and neuroprotective properties, and some are known to support the reduction of inflammation, reduce discomfort, increase mental focus, and support relief from serious conditions such as epilepsy. CBD is a cannabinoid that supports the endocannabiniod system (ECS) which is key in the functioning of all the nerves throughout our body. Our nerves play a major role in brain activity, digestion, mood stability, pain management, and our daily balance of sleep patterns and focus. Families are increasingly sharing positive experiences that confirm these scientific reports.
The Endocannabinoid System (ECS) plays a vital role for immune response, food intake, cognition, emotion, perception, wake/sleep cycle, bone http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24006213
CLINICAL REVIEW on non-psychoactive elements of cannabis abut the non-psychoactive chemical compounds in cann http://www.advancedholistichealth.org/PDF_Files/cannbiniods%20therapeutic%20chart%20article.pdf
CBD has been credited with relieving numerous medical conditions, such as epilepsy, anxiety, inflammation, insomnia, and pain. Here are nine medical conditions where CBD may be, or, has already proven to be, beneficial:
1. Epilepsy
In June 2018, the FDA approved Epidiolex (a plant-based formulation of CBD) to treat seizures for people 2 years of age and older with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), which are two rare forms of epilepsy. CBD has also been investigated for use in other forms of treatment-resistant epilepsy, usually in addition to conventional epilepsy medications. Results varied, but several trials showed CBD significantly reduced seizure frequency by almost 44% in most people. CBD can interact with other medications used for epilepsy and some serious side effects have been reported, notably, a decrease in liver function when given to people already taking valproate.
Conclusion: CBD is beneficial for treating certain types of epilepsy.
2. Pain
Animal studies have shown that CBD has anti-inflammatory effects and works on the endocannabinoid and pain-sensing systems to relieve pain. Unfortunately, few human trials investigating the use of CBD as a single agent to relieve pain exist, with most trials using a combination of CBD and THC to relieve pain. Notably, Health Canada has approved a combination medication that contains both THC and CBD in a 1:1 ratio for the relief of central nerve-related pain in multiple sclerosis, and cancer pain that is unresponsive to optimized opioid therapy.
An observational study of CBD treatment reported an improvement in self-reported quality of life measures for people with non-cancer-related pain but there was no statistically significant improvement in those with cancer-related pain or with neurological symptoms.
A case series of 47 people with multiple sclerosis reported improvements in pain, walking, and muscle spasms with a combination of CBD and THC.
Animal studies have shown that CBD has a positive effect on serotonin levels in the brain, and serotonin. Low levels of serotonin are thought to play a key role in mood as well as pain.11
Other research (both animal and human) has shown that CBD has anti-inflammatory effects, and it may relieve pain by this mechanism.
CBD can interact with other medications used to treat heart conditions or immunosuppressants so you should always talk with your doctor before taking CBD.
Conclusion: CBD may be beneficial at relieving pain but no high-quality human studies prove this.
3. Arthritis
Animal studies showed that topical CBD applications relieve pain and inflammation associated with arthritis with few side effects. The topical application of CBD is beneficial because CBD is poorly absorbed when taken by mouth and can cause gastrointestinal side effects. 6
Conclusion: Topical CBD may be beneficial at relieving arthritis but no high-quality human studies prove this.
4. Anxiety
Pretreatment with 300mg CBD significantly relieved anxiety in 57 healthy males who undertook a simulated public speaking test. However, dosages of 150mg CBD and 600mg CBD did not make any difference to the men’s anxiety levels.7
Beneficial effects on anxiety after taking CBD were reported in an observational study where 21 patients out of 400 had anxiety. 8
Anxiety scores decreased in a large case series of 72 patients, with 57 patients (79.2%) reporting decreased scores within the first month after CBD treatment.
Conclusion: CBD may relieve anxiety before events such as public speaking but it is not known what the optimal dose is.
5. Depression
Animal studies have shown some effect of CBD at relieving depression, possibly related to its strong anti-stress effect after either acute or repeated administration.
Animal studies have shown that CBD has a positive effect on serotonin levels in the brain, and serotonin. Low levels of serotonin are thought to play a key role in mood as well as pain.11
Conclusion: CBD may help with depression but more trials are needed.
6. Sleep disorders
31% of people taking CBD for other conditions such as anxiety or non-cancer-related pain reported improved sleep with CBD.
In a large case series of 72 people, 48 patients (66.7%) reported an improvement in sleep scores within the first month, but these fluctuated over time.
Other trials of 300 mg of CBD in people with anxiety or depression showed that CBD appeared to preserve sleep architecture, meaning it was unlikely to have any negative effects on sleep quality.
Conclusion: CBD does not appear to interfere with sleep and may help people sleep better.
7. Acne
A laboratory study found that CBD prevented human sebocytes from creating too much sebum in addition to having an anti-inflammatory effect, preventing inflammatory cytokines from activating. Because excessive sebum and inflammation are characteristic of acne, topical CBD could be an effective treatment for acne and may prevent or reduce future breakouts.
Conclusion: Topical CBD may help relieve inflammation and excessive sebum production associated with acne but more trials are needed.
8. Parkinson’s Disease
Several smalls studies have investigated using CBD to relieve symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease, with mostly encouraging results. For most studies, there were no differences across groups with regards to movement-related outcomes; however, groups treated with CBD 300 mg/day had a significantly improved well-being and quality of life as measured by the Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire [PDQ-39]).
Conclusion: CBD shows promise for improving the quality of life in people with Parkinson’s disease but larger trials are needed.
9. Nausea and vomiting
Most studies investigating if CBD is beneficial at relieving nausea or vomiting, have used a combination of CBD and THC, rather than just CBD alone. A 2016 review found the combination to be either more effective or as effective as a placebo.
More recent research points to THC being more effective at reducing nausea and vomiting than CBD.
Conclusion: CBD is unlikely to be effective by itself for nausea and vomiting. The combination of THC and CBD does seem to be effective for nausea and vomiting.
Other conditions
Many other studies, both on animals and humans, have overwhelmingly concluded that CBD has immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory properties which may make it a good choice for some autoimmune conditions or inflammation-related complaints.
In addition, more trials are needed to investigate its use for numerous other conditions, such as muscle-spasticity in multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, substance-abuse treatment, and diabetes protection.
Side effects of CBD may include nausea, tiredness, and irritability, and it may interact with some medications, such as warfarin.
References
Grinspoon P. Cannabidiol (CBD) — what we know and what we don’t. Aug 24th, 2018. Harvard Health Publishing Harvard Medical School. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/cannabidiol-cbd-what-we-know-and-what-we-dont-2018082414476
Silvestro S, Mammana S, Cavalli E, Bramanti P, Mazzon E. Use of Cannabidiol in the Treatment of Epilepsy: Efficacy and Security in Clinical Trials. Molecules. 2019;24(8):1459. Published 2019 Apr 12. DOI:10.3390/molecules24081459
Hammell DC, Zhang LP, Ma F, et al. Transdermal cannabidiol reduces inflammation and pain-related behaviors in a rat model of arthritis. Eur J Pain. 2016;20(6):936-948. DOI:10.1002/ejp.818
Linares IM, Zuardi AW, Pereira LC, Queiroz RH, Mechoulam R, Guimarães FS, Crippa JA. Cannabidiol presents an inverted U-shaped dose-response curve in a simulated public speaking test. Braz J Psychiatry. 2019 Jan-Feb;41(1):9-14. DOI: 10.1590/1516-4446-2017-0015. Epub 2018 Oct 11. PMID: 30328956; PMCID: PMC6781714.
Gulbransen G, Xu W, Arroll B. Cannabidiol prescription in clinical practice: an audit on the first 400 patients in New Zealand. BJGP Open. 2020;4(1):bjgpopen20X101010. Published 2020 May 1. doi:10.3399/bjgpopen20X101010
Shannon S, Lewis N, Lee H, Hughes S. Cannabidiol in anxiety and sleep: a large case series. Perm J. 2019;23:18–41. DOI: 10.7812/TPP/18-041
Crippa JA, Guimarães FS, Campos AC, Zuardi AW. Translational Investigation of the Therapeutic Potential of Cannabidiol (CBD): Toward a New Age. Front Immunol. 2018;9:2009. Published 2018 Sep 21. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2018.02009
De Gregorio D, McLaughlin RJ, Posa L, et al. Cannabidiol modulates serotonergic transmission and reverses both allodynia and anxiety-like behavior in a model of neuropathic pain. Pain. 2019;160(1):136-150. doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001386
Oláh A, Tóth BI, Borbíró I, et al. Cannabidiol exerts sebostatic and antiinflammatory effects on human sebocytes. J Clin Invest. 2014;124(9):3713-3724. doi:10.1172/JCI64628
Oláh A, Markovics A, Szabó-Papp J, Szabó PT, Stott C, Zouboulis CC, Bíró T. Differential effectiveness of selected non-psychotropic phytocannabinoids on human sebocyte functions implicates their introduction in dry/seborrhoeic skin and acne treatment. Exp Dermatol. 2016 Sep;25(9):701-7. doi: 10.1111/exd.13042. Epub 2016 Jun 15. PMID: 27094344.
Rock EM, Sticht MA, Limebeer CL, Parker LA. Cannabinoid Regulation of Acute and Anticipatory Nausea. Cannabis Cannabinoid Res. 2016;1(1):113-121. Published 2016 Apr 1. doi:10.1089/can.2016.0006
Russo M, Calabrò RS, Naro A, Sessa E, Rifici C, D'Aleo G, Leo A, De Luca R, Quartarone A, Bramanti P. Sativex in the management of multiple sclerosis-related spasticity: role of the corticospinal modulation. Neural Plast. 2015;2015:656582. doi: 10.1155/2015/656582. Epub 2015 Jan 29. PMID: 25699191; PMCID: PMC4325203.
James M. Nichols and Barbara L.F. Kaplan.Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research.Mar 2020.12-31.http://doi.org/10.1089/can.2018.007
Rieder CR. Cannabidiol in Parkinson's disease. Braz J Psychiatry. 2020;42(2):126-127. doi:10.1590/1516-4446-2019-0810
To make edibles and tea you need to calculate how much CBD you are using:
First calculate how much THC/CBD is present per gram of flower:
·Start by using the percentage of THC/CBD in your flower in decimal form. 10% would be 0.10, 17% would be 0.17, 23% would be 0.23….you get the idea.
Multiply this by 1,000.
This will give you THC/CBD per gram in milligrams (mg).
Example: your flower has 17% THC/CBC. As a decimal this would be 0.17 multiplied by 1,000 gives you 170 mg.
Next, calculate the dose per serving:
Grams of flower used in the recipe multiplied by THC/CBD per gram (calculated above) equals dose for the entire recipe.
Example: if 1 gram of flower containing 17% THC/CBD was used then the entire recipe would contain 170 mg (1 X 170 mg = 170 mg)
If 3 grams of flower containing 17% THC/CBD was used then the entire recipe contains 510 mg (3 X 170 mg = 510 mg).
Finally calculate how much each piece or serving contains:
Total milligrams per recipes divided by number of servings or pieces.
Example: A cake recipe that makes 12 pieces in which 1 gram of flower containing 17% was used would have about 14 mg per piece (1 X 170 = 170 mg in whole recipes divided by 12 pieces = 14.1 mg)
A cookie recipe that makes 24 cookies in which 3 grams of flower containing 17% was used would have about 21.25 mg per cookie. (3 X 170 = 510 divided by 24 = 21.25 mg).
If the cookie recipe made 42 cookie in which 3 grams of flower containing 17% was used they each would have about 12 mg per cookie (3 X 170 = 510 divided by 42 = 12.1 mg).
Now you know how to calculate the dose of your edible if you choose to use whole flower in the recipe! ENJOY!
We would love to hear your favourite recipe for CBD – feel free to share at gccbd@protonmail.com
How to make CBD brownies – or any other yummy treat…
To make CBD brownies, you must first infuse the CBD-rich flower into a butter or ghee – this will then activate the properties in the cannabis (the CBD), allowing you to cook the brownies as you normally would.
Start off by cutting up the butter and mixing it in with water and your CBD-rich strain such as hemp. Place the mixture into a pan and allow it to simmer but not boil for three to four hours. Stir every half an hour, and watch to make sure that the mixture becomes thicker as the water evaporates. The strain itself should always be floating and never “cooking” on the bottom of the pan so keep an eye on this.
After a few hours, the mixture will have become hardened due to the absence of water. At this point, let the mixture cool and prepare a colander which you can decant into. Line the colander with cheesecloth before pouring in your CBD-infused butter. Most of the butter will drain out naturally but to prevent wastage, squeeze out the rest before throwing away your CBD-rich strain, which is no longer needed.
Put the butter in the fridge until it has completely solidified, at which point you can focus on removing any excess water. Carefully detach the butter from the bowl using a sharp knife before removing a small piece, just large enough so that you can get your spatula in under to ease out the butter.
Pat the cannabutter dry if it’s wet before sealing it in an airtight container and putting it in the fridge. The cannabutter should appear slightly green, and it will be best to use when fresh. However, it should be good for a couple of weeks providing it has been made correctly.
Once you’ve got your cannabutter – you can go ahead and make your CBD brownies using your favorite recipe!
