More and more people are using CBD to fall asleep faster and get better rest. Today we will find out if CBD really works for sleep.
In recent years, there have been a lot of scientific and simply interested people involved in the study of cannabidiol and its use in medical interests. Some people have used CBD to help with their own sleep detection at night. However, according to experts, we are still not completely sure how CBD products affect our dreams.
What Is CBD?
CBD is one of hundreds of cannabinoids derived from hemp leaves. It has been proven to have anti-inflammatory and pain relieving properties. Some people say CBD can serve as a worthy antioxidant, antiemetic, and also an excellent antipsychotic.
More than two-thirds of the adult population suffer from sleep problems, which means that many, over time, go so far as to study CBD and use it to treat sleep problems. There have also been studies looking at CBD in this direction and how it might affect sleep disorders or problems like sleep apnea. However, there is no evidence that CBD is 100% effective in these cases. To be more precise, these studies are not enough and to put all the dots over the i additional ones are required.
Best CBD Brands for Sleep: Our Top 10 Picks
Slumber Sleep Aid
Technically, this company does not produce CBD products that help improve human sleep. Instead, the sleep product line primarily contains CBN, a minor cannabinoid that is derived from the hemp plant and also has therapeutic benefits for improving sleep and calmness.
The company offers a wide range of products that include various oils, soft gels, chewing gums, capsules and topical preparations of Slumber Sleed Aid. There is also a wide range of flavours to choose from with different fruit themes, including raspberry, watermelon, plum, strawberry.
Their wide range of products includes sleep products containing only CBN as the active ingredient, and products with additional ingredients including melatonin and CBD which can help create an “entourage effect”, meaning they are more effective than any ingredient used separately.
Joy Organics
The company offers several products promoting a productive night’s repose. They offer melatonin softgels that contain enough CBD, CBN and melatonin to put you into a wonderful and colourful sleep. Among their products you can also find chewy sweets with a mixture of berries for those who prefer to indulge in goodies before bed.
Kanibi
This company strives for unsurpassed excellence in the eponymous oils creation , chewing gums, which are infused with CBD. This manufacturer’s hemp oil is purely extracted from 100% organic hemp grown in the United States of America, which is infused into products without the use of artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
Each of their products has gone through laboratory tests to prove the safety and effectiveness of their product. All test results are publiсly available.
Green Roads
If you are looking for a brand that you can trust 100%, then this company is positioning itself as a quality guarantee in the market. The brand promotes products that were created with the help of professional pharmacists who can vouch for their product if suddenly it does not bring the desired result.
Depending on your preferred formulation, Green Roads has the perfect sleep aid, including CBD oil tinctures, capsules and gummies. Whatever you choose, they will find something to surprise you with.
Soul CBD Sleepi Gummies
This brand’s insanely effective chewing gums have been created to help you fall asleep quickly and wake up fully awake. You can forget about morning sleepiness. The products are made exclusively on the basis of a natural recipe and ingredients grown on an organic farm. Take one in your mouth and sleep like a baby in 30 minutes.
If chewing gum isn’t enough for you to get enough rest, there are other products specifically designed to help people who struggle to fall asleep, including capsules and high-potency CBD sleep oils.
CBDfx
These guys sure know how to surprise with their range and rich selection of CBD sleep products, starting with a line that includes chewing gums, capsules, smoking blends or special oils. At the same time, the brand did not reduce the quality at all, despite the richness of its choice. Their products are exclusively organic, do not contain GMOs and contain only natural ingredients.
CBDistillery
Here is a true veteran of the CBD industry. The company offers an impressive range of diverse CBD products that are used for various purposes, including sleep improvement. They offer their customers both Full Spectrum CBD and Isolate, as well as a large variation in CBD content in products and referral methods.
Natural Stacks
The company has been pleasing its customers for 9 years now and was created as a mass producer of natural supplements to help people improve their brain activity and increase their daily tonus. All this comes together with increased concentration, calmness and good mood. Natural Stacks also offers a couple of CBD supplements that have been specifically designed to reduce stress and promote restful sleep.
Koi CBD
While Koi CBD only has one product in their selection designed specifically for sleep, they have an extensive line of products that address many additional concerns, including pain relief, recovery, focus, and promoting wellness.
Just CBD
Just CBD has made itself a name by providing friendly customer service and knowledge of major sales reps. They believe in providing the best products to help improve the mental and physical well-being of their clients, and they believe in complete transparency by posting their lab reports online to clients.
Is CBD Approved by the FDA?
Еhis issue is currently highly controversial and only one product with CBD has been approved by the FDA, and three drugs have been approved that contain synthetic cannabinoids.
Epidiolex: This CBD product is a prescription drug that is used to treat children with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome, two serious seizure disorders.
Cesamet: Made from a synthetic cannabinoid called nabilone. It helps control nausea and vomiting and is most commonly used by cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Marinol and Syndros: Both products are made from the same synthetic cannabinoid called dronabinol. Dronabinol helps curb nausea and vomiting for people with undergoing chemotherapy and treats appetite loss of people with HIV.
How CBD Affects Sleep and Health Conditions
There have been many large studies that have focused on the use of CBD for sleep disorders and other pathological conditions. There is evidence that there are positive aspects to the effects of CBD.
CBD affects a receptor network throughout the body that controls pain, metabolism and memory, and is called the endocannabinoid system. The system likely plays a role in regulating sleep-related chemicals such as serotonin and the sleep-wake cycle.
Experts are still not sure exactly how CBD affects sleep. However, there is increasing scientific interest in CBD as a way to treat certain sleep disorders and health conditions that can affect sleep.
Sleep Disorders
There have been several small studies that have looked at the effects of CBD on various sleep disorders.
Insomnia: While drowsiness is a known side effect of cannabidiol, research results for treating insomnia have been mixed. Animal experiments show that its effectiveness may be dose-dependent. CBD at different doses results in different effectiveness. At high doses, insomnia cannot be leveled out, but at small doses, the chance of success is quite large.
Sleep Apnea: Scientists have found that CBD shows quite positive results in the treatment of sleep apnea. The thing is that cannabinoids prevent long pauses in breathing during sleep of animals. However, human studies are still at an early stage.
Narcolepsy: Research on this topic is still at a fairly preliminary stage to get the whole picture right. However, some decisions regarding this are not far off, you just need to wait.
Anxiety
Over 60% of people who take CBD use it to treat anxiety. CBD may have a positive effect on some of the cannabinoid receptors involved in anxiety, but more research is needed to confirm this.
PTSD
People who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder often stumble upon sleep problems that are accompanied by frequent nightmares and insomnia. These difficulties can lead to a complete lack of rest and exacerbate the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
CBD may be especially helpful in preventing nightmares due to PTSD. Cannabinoids decrease the activity of the amygdala, the part of the brain that controls panic and paranoia. The study of this condition under CBD still needs further research.
Pain
As far back as the Middle Ages of our millennium, CBD had anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties and was helpful for some of the symptoms of chronic pain. While numerous studies have explored cannabinoids as a potential pain reliever, the results have often been unreliable or insignificant.
Types of CBD Products for Sleep
There are a wide variety of CBD products that are used to treat sleep disorders. These include nasal sprays, chewing gums, capsules, e-liquids and topical formulations. Let’s dwell on them in more detail:
Gummies and CBD capsules
This type is extremely convenient to use, thanks to the verified dosage introduced into each capsule and chewing gum. This method of administration is a good choice if you don’t like the earthy aftertaste that other CBD tinctures can have.
However, CBD in chewable form and capsules can take much longer to absorb than oil as it has to pass through the digestive tract before being absorbed into the bloodstream. For faster absorption, it is recommended to take it on an empty stomach and best of all an hour before bedtime.
Tinctures and CBD oil
Absorption of this type is much faster than chewing gums and capsules, since they immediately enter the bloodstream and are introduced into the blood vessels under the tongue. This is probably the best option if you are looking for a longer lasting product.
Another advantage of CBD oils is the variety of concentrations, which gives you control over the dose. You can use a small dose and then increase it to a higher dose if necessary. For CBD to work, all you have to do is hold the oil under your tongue for 20-25 seconds before swallowing.
Liquids for electronic cigarettes
The main benefit of CBD liquids is that they kick in almost immediately, producing an instant feeling of calm and relaxation. However, the effects are not very long-lasting, and there are some health risks associated with vaping, including gingivae disease and other dental, heart and breathing problems.
How Much CBD Should You Take to Improve Sleep?
Studies have shown that 300 mg of CBD per day can be safely used for six months, and higher doses for a slightly shorter time – up to 3-4 months. However, more research is needed to find out how much CBD you should individually take to sleep better or enter deep sleep more quickly.
CBD appears to work very closely with dose when it comes to sleep, meaning that certain doses may help the user fall asleep more quickly, while others may entirely prevent sleep. Until the experts determine the best dosage of CBD for the body, the answer may only depend on your own tolerance.
Doctors who use CBD to treat epileptic seizures usually start with the lowest possible dose and gradually increase the values as needed. If you plan on taking CBD, start with a small amount and see how you tolerate it. Once you are sure that your body can handle it, you may want to consider increasing the dose up to the recommended dose.
It is important to work closely with your healthcare provider if you are considering CBD sleep therapy, especially if you are already taking other supplements or prescription pharmaceuticals.
CBD Safety and Side Effects
It is generally accepted that taking CBD to improve sleep is considered safe, although experts warn that the substance research is scarce and needs to be studied in more detail for the long period.
Common side effects that accompany CBD use are generally mild and may include dry mouth, diarrhea, drowsiness, and loss of appetite.
Drug interactions are fairly unexplored and it is not clear whether it is safe to combine over-the-counter drugs with CBD products , so it is always a good idea to communicate closely with your healthcare provider about this topic.
There are also special population groups, which include the elderly, children and pregnant women, the impact on which also remains rather vague.
Since the government does not regulate the production of CBD, it is difficult to say whether a particular product is effective or safe. Some of them could potentially be contaminated with substances harmful to health, such as heavy metals, pesticides and other harmful agents.
If you are interested in using CBD for sleep, talk to your doctor before doing so. It can help you weigh the pros and cons of taking CBD based on your medical history.
Conclusion
Based on the information above, thoughts on the use of CBD for the treatment of pathological conditions associated with sleep are very ambiguous. Someone says that CBD has a positive effect on sleep, and someone says that it is even more difficult to fall asleep after it. There are few studies that support such data, and it is also impossible to lean on the shoulder of the scientific community.
Those people who want to try this method of therapy, bypassing traditional methods, should definitely consult with their doctor in order to conduct therapy based on the current state of general health, previous diseases and the advisability of using CBD.
All that can be said is that your fate is in your hands. Each person will be able to understand how well this or that type of CBD therapy suits him only by experimenting on himself. For the rest, time will tell.
Frequently Asked Questions about CBD for sleep
When should You take CBD for Sleep?
Experts have not determined the optimal time to take CBD for sleep. One study suggests that people take the capsules in the afternoon, but it’s not clear if that was the ideal time. Everyone will have to experiment on their own with different times to find the time that works best.
How much CBD Should you take to Fall Asleep?
Several studies claim that 300 to 600 milligrams of CBD can help with insomnia and other sleep problems. The FDA is currently investigating which doses are most beneficial for long-term use.
Is it Better to Take CBD Gummies for Sleep, Vape CBD, or Use It in a Capsule form?
Scientists aren’t sure if one form is better than the other. Because CBD products are not regulated, it’s hard to tell which ones contain the claimed amount of cannabinoids. This makes it difficult to determine which form is better and which is worse, as product quality often varies.
That being said, while research on CBD vaping is limited, studies on nicotine vapes or e-cigarettes show that they contain harmful aerosols and that batteries can catch fire or explode, which can lead to injury.