Marijuana was legalized for recreational use in 2012 …
2018 saw hemp legalized in the United States …
and since that time, Colorado universities have developed research laboratories to help unlock the endless benefits and mysteries of the cannabis plant.
What is Cannabis? It is complicated, but let’s first try to clarify the difference between Marijuana and hemp. Both are strains of the Cannabis Sativa plant.
Marijuana contains THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) which is the chemical responsible for the psychological effects. Hemp has low THC levels but is rich in cannabidiol (CBD.) This is the part of the Cannabis Sativa plant that is causing the medical community to become increasingly excited about the extensive uses and benefits.
The human body has a complex system called the endocannabinoid system. The ECS plays a key role in maintaining a balance within our bodies. This system regulates many of our essential body functions including memory, learning, temperature, pain, inflammation, immune response…and sleep cycles. The ECS has a network of cell receptors and molecules that stimulate these receptors. The molecules our bodies make are similar in chemical makeup to the cannabidiols within the cannabis plant.
The one area we’d like to discuss here is CBD and its effect on sleep.
There are so many factors governing our sleep quality. Obstructive sleep apnea is currently the most talked about. But sleep can be affected by pain, stress, anxiety, inflammation, restless leg syndrome, and insomnia — just to name a few.
There is no single solution that fits all for improving sleep, but it has been shown that the addition of CBD products to other sleep treatments may help by reducing the inflammation, pain, and anxiety that contribute to sleeplessness and therefore is credited with improving the overall quality of sleep.
Finding the right product can be overwhelming, however. There are so many CBD products out there and the labels can be confusing. A suggestion to begin your search would be to find products that are high quality, stringently tested, and completely organic.
If the label says it is a broad-spectrum product, that means there is a level of THC of more than .3 percent.
A full-spectrum product means that the level of THC is below .3 percent and yet still contains many of the beneficial cannabinoids. They are not psychoactive and do not have worrisome side effects. They are also non-addictive. Full-spectrum CBD products come in many forms: soft gels, oils, tinctures, creams, and edible gummies.
Dr. Jackie Schafer of Colorado Healthy Sleep in Lafayette, Colo., did a tour of a local company to discuss the benefits of CBD in the sleep arena. Panacea Life Sciences in Golden, Colo., is a female-owned, seed-to-product company that produces highly controlled, tested, and monitored CBD products.
For those who’d like to learn more, watch this video.
You can take our free self-test to see if you or a family member may have obstructive breathing which may be causing sleep issues.
To further discuss the need for a home sleep study, how the VIVOS oral appliance may help or if CBD could be beneficial to your sleep treatment, contact Dr. Jackie Schafer at 303-469-3344 or click the MAKE AN APPOINTMENT button on our website ColoradoHealthySleep.com.