As someone who is well-informed on your own health, you are probably aware that what you put into your body affects your gut microbiome. In recent years, the effect of microbiota on our immune and digestive systems has been highlighted by many major scientific and health organizations. In particular, the recent flood of cannabidiol (CBD) products claiming benefits has caused some concern over adverse side effects. Many will be relieved to hear that at effective doses, CBD has the ability to decrease gut inflammation and regulate the microbiome, the latter of which attenuates many ailments and can increase overall health.
The Effective Dose Problem
A key issue in many of the studies showing negative results from CBD usage is that the effect was only seen in high doses (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences). This may worry people considering using CBD for the myriad of positive effects associated with the extract. However, this same study shows that at smaller doses, CBD is actually beneficial in mice guts (a large proportion of CBD studies are still done on smaller organisms). Following our advice on minimum effective dose and utilizing our Dose Finder Kit, you can easily circumvent the possible detriments of overusing what is currently known to be a mostly harmless substance. As the old adage goes, anything can cause problems at high enough doses.
Positive Effects of CBD on Gut Health
In a cursory search, most research articles actually laud the health benefits of CBD on:
- Gut microbiome
- Attenuating inflammation
- Treating alcohol use disorders where the gut is already aggravated (NIH)
If you know anything about fecal transplants (a lot less gross than it sounds for the uninitiated), just the transplanted gut microbiota from CBD treated mice diminished the impact of multiple sclerosis in untreated mice (ScienceDirect). In simple terms, CBD was given to donor mice and then the gut bacteria were transferred to the digestive tract of untreated mice, which also received the benefits despite not being given CBD, indicating the positive effects were mostly from increasing gut health.
Much research has been done on the ever-growing field of CBD, and if you would like to safely partake in the positive effects including finding your minimum effective dose, visit our website, and start reaping the benefits today.