If there is any particular common goal amongst all of us this New Year of 2021, it is the goal of being fit and healthy throughout this year. The pandemic situation that the novel coronavirus brought into our lives led spotlight on the importance of community and health in all of our lives. And being fit has become more important than ever right now. When we talk about getting fit and getting healthy, what are the baby steps that we take towards this? A majority of us often tend to just look at what kind of workouts we need to start doing or which gym membership do we go and take, isn’t it?
Seldom do we consider our mental health as an aspect of overall health, right? All we think about is what a weighing scale displays and what are BMI levels are. When we say we need to be healthy it doesn’t just limit to the boundary of being physically fit but it also includes many other aspects of our health such as how well we are resting or sleeping, how good is our memory power, what is our levels of ability to focus and concentrate to maintain a clearer mind. Is there anything common in what we just listed above? Let’s not forget that each of the listed above aspects is all something that is regulated by our brain alone.
So if we talk about promoting or leading a healthy lifestyle, then we need to pick a particular lifestyle that ends up promoting our brain health as much as it promotes our muscle growth and weight loss. But how does one know how well a brain is doing after adapting to a healthy lifestyle, isn’t it? When we look at the BMI levels and body composition scale machine readings we know how much weight loss has been done and how much muscle growth a body has undergone, but we can’t do that kind of measurement with the brain, can we? Sure, a fitness watch can help you track vitals and also detect certain conditions like irregular heartbeat or low blood pressure. However, there exists no fitness band that will help you monitor your mental health or your physiological activity, and let us tell you that googling symptoms of what can be wrong with brain health is never really a good idea.
Several studies have concluded that it is the lifestyle that we lead that plays a vital role in understanding brain health and regulating it — meaning how well we are eating or sleeping, and how we are handling your stress. Sadly, in the present times, a majority of us find it extremely difficult to cope and fight the stress that we face every single day of our lives. And if you are someone who is suffering from anxiety problems or even depression, then coping with stress becomes even more difficult. So, what are you trying to say here is even if you don’t have something that helps you track your mental health there is always a lifestyle that you can alter to better your overall well-being. And we are not kidding. All it takes is a few drops of cannabidiol or CBD to give you that boost that you require. Okay, there might be some of you who do not know what CBD means, so let’s understand what CBD is and how it impacts our brain health, read on.
What is CBD?
Many questions storm one’s head when we talk about CBD oil: what exactly is CBD? Is it even legal? What is THC? Is it the same as marijuana?
Allow us to explain to you in simple terms that CBD is a naturally occurring compound that is extracted from the cannabis plant. It is non-addictive, it is very safe, it also improves your quality of sleep, it strengthens the heart, helps in fighting anxiety, it alters how your body reacts to pain, and it also helps in managing symptoms of several illnesses like for example Multiple Sclerosis, cancer and that too without posing any side effects.
Also, we would like you to note that CBD is non-psychoactive and it will not leave you intoxicated like THC which is what makes one feel very giggly and high upon smoking weed.
So, who should be trying CBD oil?
Let’s keep this one too very simple, CBD can be used by everyone except those people who have very severe health conditions. Even research has confirmed that there are several advantages that CBD oil provides us with that extent right from finding relief from social anxiety to even promoting diseases like a rheumatoid disease. Research says that it also acts as an alternative treatment for ailments like complicated sclerosis, epilepsy, psychic disorders, chronic pain, and even PTSD. Several studies have found out that CBD oil is a really good treatment for social anxiety and is also an anxiety calmer. So, if there is an anxiety disorder that runs in the blood of your family or if you simply fear being judged by someone or society then we recommend that you make sure to try CBD oil so that you will get over that consciousness and even depression.
How CBD impacts our brain health
Each one of us humans has something called an endocannabinoid system that helps in managing memory, a body is an immune response, metabolism and other such similar core activities by causing an interaction with our nervous system. Now, using CBD not just relaxes both of them but also provides relief from other conditions by altering how our neurons are slightly fired in our brain and this, in turn, allows a body to process the inputs given by the brain much faster. It’s almost like taking steroids but here the major differences that you are not taking steroids!
Here’s a list of things that help you understand how CBD affects our brain health:
- It helps manage stress: did you know that our human brain eats up nearly 20% of the oxygen that we take? Oxygen contains certain free radicals that can damage various parts of the human cell including DNA or even the cell membrane. Now, CBD which is much more potent than vitamin E and C has the potential of evaluating our body’s antioxidant capacity against these free radicals. In this way, it works towards undoing the damage that free radicals have done to our cells and prevents further damage as well. Therefore taking CBD notches helps with mental stress but it helps in solving the stress that the body is facing internally.
- Aging brain: There are a lot of problems that come as we age — most importantly a brain becomes weaker and becomes more vulnerable to the risk of diseases like cerebral vascular disease, cognitive impairments, Parkinson’s disease, and also Alzheimer’s disease. Taking CBD will reverse signs of aging and also it will listen to the risk of contracting such brain-related diseases.
- It reduces inflammation: we all know that inflammation is our body’s response to any injury. The injuries could be because of redness, immobility, pain, heat, arthritis, etc. CBD possesses certain anti-inflammatory properties that help reduce pain and stress.
- It helps in neurological effects: Drugs severely abuse our brain. This happens because they react with some neurotransmitters like dopamine which affects our mood directly. You see, the brain releases different chemicals that are given to every end of the nerve fiber which is done as neurotransmitters, and these other ones that communicate amongst brain cells. What CBD does is that it reacts with certain receptors in the brain in a manner that relaxation gets induced and it regulates the body’s response to stress. This is precisely why cannabis is considered to be one of the best treatments for problems of addiction all over the world. Sadly, it is legal in very few countries.
Other facts to know about CBD
CBD promises relief from pain, epilepsy, and seizure. CBD has started to gain worldwide popularity because of its short as well as long-term effects. It is very important to choose CBT from a correct merchant because there are several companies that sell synthetic or fake CBD products. There will always make it a point to check the labels of CBD products to ensure that the information is very relevant and we recommend that you always consult your doctor before using any CBD products.