Alright, we all know sleep is important, but what can we do to help get a better understanding of sleep and how to improve it?
Sleep is regulated by a number of systems in your body and brain, one of them being the endocannabinoid system.
You see, the endocannabinoid system is a bit of a big deal when it comes to your body functions. It has similar cell receptors and endocannabinoids in the brain, immune system, kidney, and gut, but they do different jobs in different places.
A lot of what we know about sleep and the endocannabinoid system come from pre clinical studies, which show important roles of cannabinoid receptors 1 and 2 during different sleep cycles.
Other studies on how the endocannabinoid system works in humans come from treatment with cannabis plants and their cannabinoid compounds found in the flower. Lets delve in to how this system works and how your sleep may benefit from it!
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If you’ve every listened to trainers who work with professional athletes, they will tell you sleep is recovery, and is 50% responsible for how you play.
You can exercise and diet right, but its when you sleep, thats your body takes those inputs and actually uses them for restoration and growth.
No sleep, no bueno, thanks for playing.
Sleep can be complicated, but its important to break it down into its main components:
While these are the basic profiles of the different sleep patterns, most sleep tracking apps will break it down into light sleep, deep sleep and REM sleep, so you can how you did the night before.
Poor sleep is when you feel fatigued, low energy and groggy in the morning, and most people are probably getting poor sleep.
So whats causing poor sleep? Many things can, so here are some of the top culprits to look for:
If you interested in improving sleep, we recommend tracking it with something like an Oura ring or a whoop. A good biometric will have much better understanding of your sleep cycles, and you can track any interventions that you do.
Alright friends, it’s time we chat about that deep connection between the cannabis plant, the endocannabinoid system, and good ol’ sleep quality.
The sleep quality is largely an interplay between different parts of the brain, and the endocannabinoid system appears to have an important role in regulating sleep quality and cycles.
The endocannabinoid system is found throughout the body, in different organs, immune cells etc, but for this topic we are focusing on their role in the central nervous system.
The endocannabinoid system consists of three main components:
While these are not the only parts of the endocannabinoid system, they are certainly some of the main ones that are well studied.
Many sleep studies start with pre clinical trials where the biology of how sleep is regulated gets worked out. This can involve gene changes and drug administration while monitoring changes in brain waves and sleep cycles.
Pre clinical trials are varied in their results, but we can draw 2 conclusions from the current data:
Cannabinoids are often by many people for help with improving sleep, but robust clinical trials with important defined endpoints are difficult to perform and fund, and thus there is not robust data in this area.
However, we do have results from smaller studies that may help highlight where we are at:
The various effects of the cannabis plant on sleep seem to be mixed, and depend on the dosage, timing, and acute vs chronic use of cannabinoids.
For example, you can see the figure below on how use of different cannabinoids affects the sleep cycles through the endocannabinoid system:
Now, keep in mind, scientific research on all of this is like a beautiful symphony in progress—there’s still a lot to learn. While clinical trials are helping us have a better understanding of how these sleep-enchanting compositions play out between the cannabis plant, endocannabinoid system, and human health, more research is needed to iron out the finer details.
Sleep is critical to overall health, and poor sleep is associated with almost every known disease from cancer, to cardiovascular and neurodegenerative.
So now that you know a little about the endogenous cannabinoid system and its role in sleep, what can you do with that?
While the right cannabinoids may help get you some extra Zzzz’s, lets take a quick look at where your foundation is before adding on top:
While not an exhaustive list, this should cover the majority of issues people have with getting quality sleep.
While the scientific research suggests that cannabinoids and the endogenous cannabinoid system are certainly important and can affect sleep, how do we best navigate this based on the current research?
Depending on the reasons why you are getting poor sleep, cannabinoids may or may not be a great option for you. For example, if your sleep problems come from stress and anxiety, its possible that CBD/CBDA oil may help, even in combination with a low dose THC.
If your sleep problems are due to sleep apnea, or drinking later in the day, cannabinoids may not be able to help.
There are many hemp products on the market, so it can be a bit confusing on what to choose.
If you are high anxiety and stress, you may benefits from CBD or its parent compound CBDA (cannabidiolic acid). Both forms are found to help with stress and anxiety in pre clinical trials, and many customers are using them for relaxation.
CBDA is the natural precursor to CBD, and is what the cannabis plant actually makes. In fact, CBDA is over 500% better absorbed than CBD, making it one of the most potent cannabinoids on the market.
If taking CBD or CBDA for sleep, make sure to take it around 2 hours before bedtime. This give it enough time to calm the mind, and any wakefullness effects can be mitigated.
Many of the popular hemp products on the market for sleep contain THC, either delta-9 or delta-8. While it has psychoactive properties, you need to be careful with the dosing. Recently, delta-8 THC has become popular for sleep because it does not get you as high as delta-9 THC.
Based on the reported studies, a low dose range appears to have limited negative effects on the sleep cycle. A low dose can range from 1mg to 5mg, and will vary based on the individual.
Combination products that have THC and other non psychoactive cannabinoids are popular, in part due to the relaxing nature of the synergy between the THC and CBD or CBDA.
When choosing a product, make sure to keep the delta-9 THC low (1-5mg range), and if delta-8 it can be a bit higher (5mg to 10mg) because its not as potent.
If you are not comfortable with the effects of THC, you can try and high CBD/CBDA product with lower amounts of THC.
Remember to start with a low amount and work your way up if you are new.
All good hemp products should be tested by a third party testing lab, and come with a report (certificate of analysis; CoA) that shows the testing done and the results.
The results should have the potency (amount of cannabinoids), and test for the presence of unwanted contaminants of heavy metals, pesticides, solvents, and microbials.
Well, my fellow sleepyheads, it’s time to wrap up our cozy chat about the endocannabinoid system, sleep, and our new BFFs, CBD and CBDA. Who would have thought that our bodies have a built-in pharmaceutical company, right?
It’s amazing how these cannabinoids interact with our body—especially CB1 receptors—to help us combat various health problems. What’s even more remarkable is that, unlike THC, both CBD and CBDA don’t get us high, yet still cloak us with potential health benefits like a warm, cozy blanket.
Finding the right dose and mixture of cannabinoids that work for you will take some trial and error, and we highly recommend tracking your sleep.
While more research is always wanted, it can be slow when there is not a pharmaceutical company paying for the work. So I would not hold your breath on this one.
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