Ever since the legalization of cannabis in the some American states, Cannabidiol (CBD) oil has gained popularity.
This is particularly in the face of its many benefits, some of which include depression and anxiety relief, insomnia relief, pain alleviation, oxidative stress and systemic inflammation reduction, as well as its ability to combat and even cure cancer.
It can made in the laboratory or extracted from industrial hemp or cannabis. It’s important to understand that Cannabidiol percentages can depend on the nature of the plant itself.
For instance, medical marijuana hybrid plants tend to have higher CBD oil volumes when compared to the same quantity of dry hemp plants.
Interestingly, this does nothing for the molecular structure of the oil. They’re essentially the same even though they’re from different plant sources.
In this comprehensive guide to CBD Oil Nootropics, we’ll be exploring some of the following:
- What CBD Oil is and how it’s different from hemp oil
- CBD oil benefits and merits
- Quick introduction to your endocannabinoid system
- What causes brain and neurodegeneration
- What CBD oil does as a nootropic and how it improves cognition
- Why you should take CBD oils to improve brain health
- CBD oil and its impact on your overall sense of well-being
- How to take CDB oil and various CBD forms
- CBD oil side effects
- Our conclusion and recommendations
About CBD Oil Is And How It’s Different From Hemp Oil?
One of the other reasons CBD is rapidly becoming popular is because of its ability to neutralize the hallucinogenic effects that another popular hemp or cannabis related compound known as THC produces.
These oils are usually obtained from specific parts of the plants. For instance, hemp plants have their stalk, leaves and flowers as key sources of CBD, while cannabis only has the oils available in the leaves and flowers.
Most people often confuse hemp oil with CBD oil. Please understand that there are two completely different substances. Sure, they may both be products extracted from the same plant, but their functions and chemical compositions are vastly different.
CBD Oil Benefits And Merits
CBD oil for instance, has far more powerful brain enhancing properties than hemp oil, which may even lower brain functions and put you in an altered state of mind. As a result, it has been suggested as a possible treatment option for people in the early stages of dementia related ailments such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
Other benefits of using CBD oil includes pain relief, tumor shrinking, cancer cell death, and stress relief. It has also shown considerable results as a treatment for patients suffering from conditions such as epilepsy and depression, thanks to its considerable mood altering properties.
It may also help with stopping nausea, and minimizing the effects of schizophrenia. People suffering varying forms of anxiety will also find its soothing properties welcoming, resulting in improved moods and lower anxiety.
For epileptic and seizure prone patients, CBD oils have been found to reduce the rate at which brain cells get excited –condition that can trigger an epileptic episode-, and increases GABA levels, thus resulting in fewer or non-existent episodes.
Its neuroprotective properties makes it great for minimizing oxidative damage to the brain –a condition commonly observed in people suffering from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s- as well as inflammation.
Quick Introduction to Your Endocannabinoid System (ECS)
While it’s true that the body is incapable of producing its own cannabinoid oil, it has a system that makes it easy for it to be properly and efficiently utilized by the body.
This is what is referred to as your Endocannabinoid system. This is a network of receptors solely designed to help you obtain the full benefits of using CBD oil.
This system often works in a manner similar to your neural receptors: one group sends out signals, and the other receives and utilizes those signals so your body can enjoy the oil’s benefits.
That’s not all it’s good for though. It also plays a role in various bodily processes such as hormonal balance, reproduction in women, memory, stress and pain detection, body metabolism and appetite.
Ultimately, your ECS is designed to ensure your nervous system works optimally by maintaining the balance and improving your health.
What Causes Brain and Neurodegeneration
Because CBD oil plays a critical role in improving cognition and enhancing your brain health, we need to first understand why you should be taking this to improve your cognitive abilities.
As you age, your brain, just like all your other body parts, starts a gradual process of deterioration. This usually presents physically in the form a neuron damage. While there are many causes of brain neuron damage, one of the key reasons is inflammation and oxidative stress.
While this happens more frequently in older people, no one is immune to it. This is even more so in the wake of terrible stress, and the perpetual exposure to toxins in the water, the environment and even the foods we eat.
So, no matter how young or old you are, as long as you’re exposed to the same factors, your brain might need all the help it can get.
The results of exposure to these factors often trigger some or all of the following:
- High cortisol levels resulting in persistent anxiety and stress
- Lower serotonin levels
- Mood swings and depression
- Lowered neuroplasticity, resulting in a reduced capacity to form new neural connections in the event of disease or injury
- Reduced cognitive ability which affects your memory, mental recall and learning process
- Increased possibility of negatively impacting the brain cells’ mitochondria, causing slower brain cell regeneration
- Increased likelihood of oxidative stress and progressive damage to the brain
The great thing about CBD oil is that it can help prevent or combat all these issues by eliminating free radicals which are responsible for oxidative damage.
It also improves your brain derived neurotrophic factor, this ensuring that your brain produces adequate new neurons and fixes other injured neurons where necessary.
What CBD Oil Does as a Nootropic and How it Improves Cognition
One of the oil’s major benefits is its ability to protect your brain, its neurons and help your brain create new neurons when necessary. This, combined with its antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties, makes it an exceedingly potent nootropic.
As a result, users are able to enjoy improved memory, focus, recall and mental clarity. This is important particularly as the brain tends to be less keen as we age.
Studies involving the use of the oil have indicated that it just might be effective in the treatment and relief of seizures, certain forms of epilepsy –for instance, Dravnet Syndrome, arthritis, Parkinson’s, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and many other neurodegenerative diseases.
In the case of Dravnet Syndrome, CBD oil’s potency was observed after a child with an extreme case of the condition was found to be responsive to a particular strain of CBD oil from a marijuana strain called the R4.
Courtesy of the use of the oil, the child went from having as many as 300 grand mal seizures weekly to zero. You can read all about it on CNN.
CBD oil is now officially considered a broad spectrum drug capable of providing relief and in some instance, completely reversing certain health conditions.
While lots of studies and research are being carried out on the substance, there are too many positive claims from multiple daily users with similar conditions to ignore its results.
So, while there are few concrete clinical studies regarding its effectiveness on varying health conditions, the testimonials from users makes it a possible treatment option for a wide range of health conditions.
CBD Oil and Its Impact on Your Overall Sense Of Well-Being
CBD oil’s popularity is growing in part, because of the benefits its users –first time and seasoned- derive from using it occasionally or daily. One of the first things most brain improvement enthusiasts have noticed upon using the oil the first time is an immediate ease of stress.
Many actually say they feel like they were literally shedding off years of tension that they weren’t aware of. Others said it immediately helped them perk up and turned the frown upside down to a smile.
This is not surprising given its mood enhancing properties. This is why many users often take it to combat depression, instead of becoming dependent on antidepressants. You’re also bound to fall asleep more easily and enjoy deeper, restful sleep courtesy of its relaxing properties.
This makes sense seeing as sleep deprivation has been linked to stress and depression. So, if you can sleep well, chances are you will be less irritable and sullen during the day.
It is also frequently used as pain relief for conditions such as pain from surgery, migraines, lupus, arthritis and fibromyalgia.
So, if you have any of these pains and are just plain tired of popping pills, using corticosteroids and other prescription pain meds, this natural option just might be right up your alley, given its history of providing relief for all such conditions.
The more interesting part and highly promising use of CBD oil is the treatment of cancer. There are users who have reported that their cancers went into remission when they started taking it as a form of treatment.
This is coming in the wake of studies showing its ability to induce cell death (apoptosis) in certain cancer cells, inhibit tumor growth and/or prevent cancer metastases to other parts of the body.
One of the biggest challenges cancer patients face is that their cancer isn’t often localized to one part of the body. This metastasis makes it doubly difficult to treat the patient.
However, if you can find a way to restrict the cancer to just one part of the body and are able to shrink the growth of its tumors, it is possible to be in remission and cancer-free.
Some scientists are also proposing that it might an effective treatment for manic episodes of bipolar disorder. This still remains to be seen as the science isn’t available to back up this claim.
People suffering from seizures and having epileptic fits experienced relief and an almost complete cessation of both conditions after consistent use of the oil for a minimum of 2 weeks. It’s also great for combating insomnia and restless sleep. Users have reported sleeping really well after using it the first time.
CBD Forms and Dosages
Cannabidiol isn’t just available in oil form alone. You’ll find it in the form of supplements, concentrates, extracts, sprays, topical ointments, tinctures and capsules. All of these are effective for various conditions and tend to be useful for various conditions.
The most common type you’ll find in stores are the tinctures. These tend to be highly concentrated. As a result, they are often considered the purest form of CBD oil in the market, and often recommended for those treating cancer. You’ll often find the concentration available as 100mg to 1000mg. The concentration you purchase will often be dependent on your needs.
Concentrates on the other hand, are usually pure extracts and tend to have high CBD concentrations. Most of the time, their concentration is usually about ten times the concentration of tinctures. These can either be taken orally or transdermally –rubbed on the skin.
Topical CBD ointments are meant to be applied to the skin. They are usually in the form of beauty products designed to help combat certain skin, muscle and pain related conditions.
Compared to CBD oil concentrates, their CBD oil concentration can be somewhat low, automatically making them less effective as nootropics, but good for anything requiring transdermal absorption.
CBD oil capsules are great for monitoring and measuring your CBD oil intake. This is what you might want to start with if you’re looking to build your dosages gradually.
These are about the most effective forms in which you can take your CBD oil, and get their benefits as effective nootropics. Other forms such as sprays and vapes are less effective, less pure and tend to have the lowest concentrations. So you’d have to take huge amounts of that to even get any results.
Whatever form you decide on, make sure that you identify the lab they are made in and determine the authenticity of their claims.
Now that you’re familiar with the forms, let’s take about CBD oil dosages. This is a tricky thing seeing as people take it for various reasons. This is the reason there’s no fixed dosage. However, most conditions require a daily usage of between 4mg and 300mg.
You should however, do your research before you start taking it. As a rule, you should build up to the maximum dosage over a span of time. The main thing to take not of is how your body reacts to it.
So, you should start slowly in pretty much the same way as you would gradually build up your alkaline levels. Once you reach your tolerance threshold, reduce to the last dosage before the one that pushes your tolerance threshold. If you need a general guide of sorts, check out Mayo Clinic’s dosage recommendations.
As per side effects, pure, undiluted CBD oils tend to have zero or very mild side effects. Any CBD oil with severe side effects most likely contains impurities, is sourced from impure sources or you made the mistake of taking too much.
If you’re worried about brands, simply pick a few and google their reviews. Better still, go ask in forums about the intended brands. Most of the time, you’ll get good advice from those forums.
