Natural Health Benefits Of Cannabis
Cannabis, also known as marijuana, has various forms and health benefits that you may not even know about.
First, it contains CBD, which is a chemical that helps the brain function better. Second, it has tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is a crystalline compound that has pain-relieving properties and is one of the main active ingredients of cannabis. These substances are extracted and enhanced so that people can reap their benefits through short path distillation.
Many people have a lot of misconceptions about cannabis because of how it has been abused by many in the past. You have to understand that an important aspect of using cannabis in treatment is proper dosing. Accurate dosing is not really understood by a lot, despite it being highly important if you’ll use cannabis as an antidote to rising blood levels, or chronic pain management. Thus, without proper dosing, everything can go terribly wrong.
With the right dosing, here are natural health benefits of Cannabis that you can take advantage of:
1. Can Help You Lose Weight
Fighting obesity is no small feat. Luckily, marijuana can both help you gain and lose weight.
For those fighting against AIDS, cancer, and anorexia, marijuana is a helpful gain weight tool. With the right dosage, you can lose weight. You may be thinking about how many mg of THC in a gram will you use? One study done last 2012 on rats showed that a cannabis extract that contains THC:CBN: CBD ratio of 1.0:0.2:0.4 caused weight loss on obese rats.
However, when it comes to people, it’s best to consult with your doctor because this will depend on your weight, lifestyle, and other factors.
2. Chronic Pain Relief
The chemical compound of cannabis gives relief to chronic pain because of its chemical makeup. Chronic pain reduces the quality of life for the one suffering it.
Clinical studies have proven that smoked or vaporized marijuana can decrease chronic neuropathic pain. A study also showed that among patients experiencing chronic pain, vaping cannabis at least three to five times a day significantly decreased the extreme discomfort that they’ve been feeling.
3. Fights Lung Cancer
Contrary to popular belief, not all forms of smoking can cause you harm. Unlike smoking regular cigarettes that you can buy on local grocery stores, smoking cannabis will not harm your lungs. Rather, it can help increase its capacity.
The body has lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells that fight against cancer. These cells fight against the tumor cells that grow in your lungs. Cannabis increases the fighting power of these LAK cells so that no tumor will grow into your lungs.
4. Regulates Diabetes
For those who have diabetes, you know that one of the biggest challenges of keeping it under control is keeping your blood sugar level low.
Marijuana can help stabilize blood sugar levels, lowers blood pressure, and even helps improve overall blood circulation. In addition to this, it also helps suppress some of the inflammation of the arteries which might lead to cardiovascular disease or even a stroke. Marijuana also keeps blood vessels open which improves overall blood circulation. CBD cream also helps relieve pain that feels like tingling in the hands and feet of diabetic patients.
5. Helps Fight Depression
Depression is a complicated mental problem that should not be taken lightly, and many people are suffering because of it. Cannabis has a compound called endocannabinoid that can help stabilize mood, which helps ease depression. One of the causes of depression is the imbalance in the levels of serotonin in your brain. THC also acts as an antidepressant by increasing the serotonin in your brain.
However, high doses of THC can have the opposite effect and increase the feelings of sadness. Consult with your doctor regarding this type of medication; avoid self-medication.
In addition to depression, since THC can help balance the moods of a person, it can also help people with autism who are prone to unpredictable, violent mood swings.
6. THC Helps Control Seizures
Epilepsy is a disorder in the central nervous system that causes brain activity to act abnormally, which might cause seizures.
Research shows that cannabis can help reduce seizures effectively. Ongoing studies are still being done regarding this but the outlook is very hopeful.
7. Helps ADHD Patients
Some of the things that a person with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) struggles with is concentrating impulsiveness and the inability to sleep properly.
Last 2015, a study by German researchers concluded that patients treated with marijuana improved their concentration, sleeping patterns, and even lowered their impulsivity. Others are also considering this as a safe alternative to Adderall and Ritalin.
8. Fights Against Alzheimer
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that ultimately leads to dementia. It’s also one of the main causes of heartbreak in the family with elderly people.
Increased levels of Amyloid protein (Aβ) is connected with the cognitive decline of a person who has AD. What cannabis does is that slows down Aβ aggregation. In addition to that, the endocannabinoid in cannabis also contains anti-inflammatories that fight brain inflammation, which leads to AD.
9. Fights Liver Diseases
If you’re a struggling alcoholic, you know that the liver is one of the organs that will suffer the most in the long run. Famous deadly liver disease from alcoholism is liver fibrosis.
CBD in marijuana kills hepatic stellate cells (HCS). These cells cause the progression of liver fibrosis in the body.
10. Fights Against Addiction and Abuse of Other Substances
In dealing with substance abuse, cannabis can actually be helpful because it takes the place of the harmful drug.
A word of caution, anything that’s abused will always be harmful. Thus, be careful in the amount of dosage that you’re taking cannabis in. If you abuse its use, then it’ll just lead to addiction as well.
Conclusion
Cannabis has earned a bad reputation because of how people have abused it in the past. However, it has a lot of natural health benefits that you should know of.
Take it in moderation and consult your physician for further details and clarifications.