At some point in our lives, time gets the most out of us. For some people, it is earlier than others, but the more we live, the more likely we become to suffering from certain conditions. Some of these conditions can cause a lot of pain, inflammation, and discomfort, including things like arthritis or overall joint pain.
During such situations, the most common approach involved the use of traditional drugs like anti-inflammatories or pain killers, but it is well known how harsh they can be for our health in the long term. For that reason, a lot of people (including myself) started to look for alternative methods of treatment.
Among them, two stand the most as very reliable forms of treatment: Medicinal cannabis and Cannabidiol-based products. In this article, we will talk about both in detail, and discuss whether they are safe or not.
Cannabis, an Ancient Method of Treatment
Believe it or not, cannabis has been used by mankind as an analgesic for quite some time, even before its introduction to Western culture. If you visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_cannabis for example, you’ll get a solid idea of what I’m talking about. Some good examples of cultures that used cannabis in their treatments include the Greek and Egyptian cultures, as well as ancient China’s.
Nowadays, medicinal cannabis has been legalized in several places all around the world thanks to the benefits it provides to our health. Recreational marijuana is also a thing, but there’s a lot of people that still believe they are both bad for the health, although they have been proved to be fairly safe.
Still, there’s one drawback to cannabis that some people might dislike: the fact that, because of its high levels of THC, it is a psychotropic plant. Consuming cannabis in all its forms is bound to get you high, and this makes it, on some occasions, an unreliable method of treatment for a lot of people.
Here’s where CBD enters the play as a non-psychotropic alternative to medicinal cannabis.
CBD and the Hemp Plant
Cannabis has two main compounds: THC and CBD. THC stands for tetrahydrocannabinol, while CBD stands for cannabidiol. These two compounds are the ones capable of influencing the body in a beneficial way, but THC is a little bit more aggressive, causing a psychotropic reaction in the body.
CBD, though, is much gentler with the body’s system, and all the products derived from it are capable of providing health benefits without getting people high because of its low levels of THC. This is mainly because most CBD medication in the market, if not all, is created using the hemp plant.
The hemp bud is a species of the cannabis plant which contains really low levels of THC, up to 0.3% of its structure. This makes the plant far more reliable, thus, making CBD products a much better medical alternative for most people.
Benefits and Safety
The benefits of cannabidiol are many. It has been claimed to be one of the best choices to deal with inflammatory diseases and pain-inducing conditions, for example, and good examples of the conditions it can treat are cancer and arthritis. Even pet owners have started to use it on their cats and dogs because of how reliable it is, and since CBD medication doesn’t contain THC, it is incredibly safe for them.
If you are interested in more details about the benefits of cannabidiol as a form of medication, you should check this article over here.
There’s something to note, though: research on cannabidiol is fairly young, meaning that there’s much to learn about it. Although it has been marked as a safe choice, it is still capable of causing side effects such as vomiting, diarrhea, and lack of appetite. Thankfully, these can be controlled by reducing the intake and dosage!
Something to consider as well is that CBD medication might overreact if you are consuming other medication, so you might want to do some research regarding the medication you take and its compatibility with CBD.
Ideally speaking, the amount of damage caused to the liver by cannabidiol is greatly inferior to the one caused by drugs, but it is known that this liver damage can be altered by combining it with other medications, so you should be cautious.
Still, it is one of the safest alternative methods of treatment out there, and as long as you are careful, you’ll be more than fine.
Presentations
Some of the most common presentations are tinctures, oils, capsules, and edibles. If you ask about the results on the CBD capsules vs oil and other products, generally speaking, they are capable of providing the same results. However, the way they benefit us is different.
Capsules, oil, edibles, and tinctures, for example, are taken by mouth so they are absorbed by our digestive system, then injected into our bloodstream. This process can take from 15 to 30 minutes, and it can last for 4 to 6 hours based on the amount consumed. The effect is between intermediate to intense, but it tends to be more on the intermediate level of strength.
Now, vaping oils and flowers are much stronger and faster to react. They might take from 5 to 10 minutes to cause and effect, but the effect is much stronger since it is directly absorbed by the lungs and redirected to the bloodstream. It tends to last less as well, from 2 to 4 hours.
Ideally, you should have in mind your condition. If your condition is too severe, smokeable alternatives are better. If not, it is wiser to go for ingestible ones.
