Is CBD oil good for Diabetes? As the popularity of CBD grows, so does it many use cases. Due to it’s anti-inflammatory properties,  many people are now asking, is CBD oil good for diabetes?

One of the problems that we have with CBD, and understanding it’s health benefits are that the research is still very limited. Due to it still being a very new product, human trials we have into CBD are limited, with the majority of the research taking place on animals.

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. Blood glucose is your main source of energy and comes from the food you eat. Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, helps glucose from food get into your cells to be used for energy. Sometimes your body doesn’t make enough—or any—insulin or doesn’t use insulin well. Glucose then stays in your blood and doesn’t reach your cells.

Over time, having too much glucose in your blood can cause health problems. Although diabetes has no cure, you can take steps to manage your diabetes and stay healthy.

What is CBD?

CBD is also known as cannabidiol, which is a cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant. Unlike other elements found within the plant, CBD doesn’t get you high and is not psychoactive. This is what makes it safe and legal to take in the form of your choice. You can find many different forms of CBD available to help with pain, such as oils and gummies.

It does this, as well as providing a host of other beneficial effects, by promoting homeostasis within the body. This is essentially a healthy balance of all the elements needed to promote healthy living in humans.

CBD pain relief comes from its ability to promote the activity of CB2 receptors in the body and reduce pain and inflammation. It also reduced the stress levels in the body, helping with the anxiety that comes with physical pain too.

CBD User Guide

The endocannabinoid system?

Many of us know that our body is full of transmitter systems, what many of us may have never heard of is the more recently discovered endocannabinoid system. The endocannabinoid system regulates and controls many of our most critical bodily functions such as learning, memory, emotional processing, sleep, temperature control, pain control, inflammatory and immune responses, and eating. The endocannabinoid system is more commonly referred to as the ECS.

The human body naturally produces endocannabinoids with the help of consuming foods like fatty acids found in nuts and fish. The 60 cannabinoid molecules found in cannabis also can bind to cannabinoid cell receptors and the corresponding molecules (agonists) in the human body.

These functions of the endocannabinoid system all contribute to homeostasis, which refers to stability of your internal environment. For example, if an outside force, such as pain from an injury or a fever, throws off your body’s homeostasis, your ECS kicks in to help your body return to its ideal operation.

Homeostasis, from the Greek words for “same” and “steady,” refers to any process that living things use to actively maintain fairly stable conditions necessary for survival.

How to use CBD for diabetes, Is CBD oil good for Diabetes?

The main benefits of CBD when treating diabetes-related health problems are reduced inflammation and improved blood glucose control.

In 2016, the University of Nottingham researchers showed that CBD in combination with another cannabis compound called tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), helped lower blood sugar levels and increase insulin production in people with type 2 diabetes.

Nerve damage, known as diabetic neuropathy, is a common complication from diabetes. Symptoms can include pain and burning sensations, especially in the hands and feet. An animal study on rats found that CBD can increase the development of nerves and nervous tissue, possibly alleviating nerve pain. Although the effect CBD has on nerve pain hasn’t been studied in humans, rodent studies are considered an important indicator of what might be found in human studies.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you take CBD?

The most common way to consume CBD is by placing CBD oil directly under your tongue. This is due to the fact that CBD can easily be absorbed underneath the tongue through the thin mucous membranes there.

What are the side effects of CBD?

There are several potential side effects of taking CBD. These are:

  • Dry mouth.
  • Drowsiness.
  • Dizziness. This is maybe due to CBD  relaxing the walls of blood vessels and lowering blood pressure.
  • Diarrhoea
  • Changes in your appetite
  • Nausea.

Is CBD a drug?

Due to it’s link to marijuana, some people may be worried that if they are taking CBD, they are taking a drug. The first thing to know is that in the UK CBD is completely legal.

When thinking about a drug, we typically think of narcotic or pharmaceutical agents. CBD has, at times, been leveraged in pharmaceutical formulas but is not a narcotic or medically controlled drug.

Is CBD addictive?

Once question we are often asked is, is CBD oil addictive? The answer is that CBD does not have an addictive effect, as it is not psychoactive. In the UK, CBD is made exclusively with the hemp plant, which does not contain THC. THC is the main psychoactive compound that is found in marijuana.

Does CBD increase your heart rate?

Adding CBD into your daily routine can help reduce your heart rate, as well as helping to improve your resting heart rate. The impact in the first few days may be steady as the body gets used to the effects of CBD. It may provide a sense of calm to the mind and could help reduce the heart rate and blood pressure, too.