People from all around the world are asking the question, does CBD help with sleep? You cant’ blame them either. As the popularity of CBD and other hemp extract products continues to skyrocket more and more people are becoming willing to try CBD to see what all of the fuss is about. Can it help people to fall to sleep faster, and stay asleep throughout the night? Let us throw down some facts, and let you decide how you feel about them at the end of the article.
What the Heck is CBD?
Since there is so much talk about CBD and what it might be able to do for the human body it is not surprising to know that many people don’t even know what CBD is. They all have a general idea of what it is but are mostly wrong about it. Common myths and misconceptions point to the question of whether or not CBD is associated with THC and if CBD can get people high.
The truth is that CBD and THC are both cannabinoids that are present within the plants that reside in the cannabis genus family of flowering plants, but they are not even close to the same. THC is THC, and CBD is CBD. They do not contain each other and they do not need each other to exist.
Where THC causes a psychoactive effect on the brain, CBD does not. CBD will not get anybody “high” in the same way the THC does, however, it does have the potential to change the way that the brain reacts to certain situations and instances.
Cannabinoids and Terpenes
Cannabinoids and terpenes have a lot in common. Although the only place that cannabinoids naturally occur are in cannabis plants and the human body, they are present in order to help the host maintain balance and be able to thrive on and live. Where terpenes put of smells and tastes in order to fend off pests from eating the plant alive and to keep the bees coming around to promise pollination and breeding of the plant so the generations can keep evolving, cannabinoids keep humans in balance, and cannabis plants healthy. Both cannabinoids and terpenes can actually induce effects in humans and animals.
The Endocannabinoid System and Cannabinoids
So, there is a reason why there is so much controversy over the topic of CBD, THC, and other cannabinoids is that the way that the cannabinoids interact with the human brain and central nervous system is very intricate and unexplainable. We will try to help make sense of it.
The human body producers self-made compounds that are very much like the cannabinoids that we find in the cannabis plant. Although they are different, they have a lot of distinctly matching qualities.
The body uses these self-made cannabinoids, known as endocannabinoids, to help maintain the state of homeostasis that the body needs in order to remain healthy and alive. Homeostasis is a state of balance that the body needs to stay within so that it does not become ill. For example, body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and metabolism are all part of homeostasis. All of these factors are kept in line by way of the endocannabinoid system.
So, with this information in mind, it is easy to see that the power and influence that cannabinoids can have over our bodies is pretty impressive. If you think about it, you can see that THC and CBD actually have the ability to dictate how the brain will respond to certain outside factors such as stress, or fear.
Will it Help with Sleep?
Although there is not enough physical evidence to state that CBD will actually help, or not help with sleep it is obvious that the potential for it to be true is astounding. If CBD can help to keep the entire body in balance, there is no limit in what it could also assist with. Until further studies are done, all scientists can do is ask everybody to wait patiently until they make the discoveries that everybody wants to hear.
