Cannabidiol (CBD) has been all the buzz lately due to the many health benefits that it’s said to provide to people.
Recently, there seems to be some evidence to support its effects on lowering high blood pressure in people. Some of these claims can be supported by real medical research. However, could CBD oil be the next best thing when it comes to reducing high blood pressure?
Let’s examine the current research that we have on CBD and how it could be the natural medicine that we’ve been looking for all this time.
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What is CBD Oil?
CBD is one of the cannabinoids present in the marijuana plant, and it accounts for a significant part of the plant itself – around 40 percent. Cannabidiol does not get you high, unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the psychoactive cannabinoid responsible for the “high” people get from the marijuana plant.
CBD can be available in oil form, which is how it’s usually taken. It’s said to contain many medicinal qualities, and people have been using it as a type of alternative medication for people looking for a herbal substitute to a couple of ailments.
However, it should be noted that lifestyle improvement is still important even though you use CBD oil as part of lowering your blood pressure.
CBD Oil’s Role in Reducing Blood Pressure
In a study that was first published in 2017, it was found that CBD reduced the resting blood pressure of males in the sample that were given CBD. It was a double-blind and placebo-controlled study. It also reduced blood pressure caused by stress.
However, this isn’t the only study that was done to determine if CBD oil could assist in reducing blood pressure. In a study just this year, it was found that CBD could have an indirect effect on the reduction of blood pressure.
A sample was given either a placebo, low, medium, or high amount of CBD oil and tasked with a stressful activity; they wanted to check if it would follow the standard bell curve of effects.
What was found was that the medium level dosage had a reduced stress level response. It’s noted that stress and anxiety are linked with heart rate and blood pressure changes for the higher.
This means that there could be an optimum level of CBD dosage for people that experience hypertension. Again, more studies have to conducted regarding what the exact dosage should be.
High blood pressure is no laughing matter. It can weaken the blood vessels in your body and at times, even cause more extensive problems if left untreated. For example, clots in vessels going up to your brain can cause you to have a stroke, which can change one’s life overnight. Most of the time, high blood pressure does not even have symptoms.
If more research is done on CBD oil’s role in reducing blood pressure, it could have the potential to become a way for people to switch out synthetic medication for more natural methods.
Why Could CBD Oil Be Lowering Blood Pressure?
Some researchers have been suggesting that the reason CBD oil is said to be lowering blood pressure is the way it also reduces anxiety and stress with human consumption. It also has anti-inflammatory properties that improve cardiovascular health in adults.
However, there still needs to be more research done to determine it’s exact effects on humans.
Anecdotal Evidence
Apart from the scientific and medical studies, there also seems to be a lot of anecdotal evidence pointing to the lowering of blood pressure due to the consistent use of CBD. However, the main issue of anecdotal evidence is that it isn’t accurate
One can repeat stories about the significant effects of CBD oil on reducing their blood pressure or helping with their chronic hypertension, but if it can’t be measured, it can’t be relied on to produce the same effects for all adults. Regardless of the similarities that they could have.
Anecdotal evidence should be heeded, but it’s not a substitute to real evidence that one can garner from science.
The Major Concern With CBD Oil and Hypertension
The current research might be indicating that there’s the basis to show that CBD oil can lower blood pressure – especially resting blood pressure – but the issue will still be if it will work for patients with chronic hypertension.
There’s indeed a lot of evidence that’s indicative of the role of CBD oil in reducing blood pressure in humans, but it’s not conclusive proof that it should be the herbal supplement to go to should someone be experiencing high blood pressure.
CBD oil might lower blood pressure, but we still need to conduct more research to determine if it’s adequate to combat chronic hypertension in human beings.
The research does look promising for people who want to lower their blood pressure using a natural method. However, we still need to wait if it can be a long-term solution for everyone.
The Challenge for CBD Oil
The results of how CBD works with different medications, body types, and genetics, it’s proper dosage depending on the person, and it’s out counter indication or side effects with other ailments should all be studied more closely before it can be entirely accepted.
For now, the evidence looks excellent, but it’s still not enough.
Conclusion
Until the research is done with patients experiencing chronic hypertension, patients cannot entirely rely on the oil as an alternative to the standard medication that they use to stabilize their blood pressure.
We can still use CBD oil to help us with its other health benefits, and it does seem to contribute to lowering blood pressure, but one shouldn’t start switching it out with their chronic hypertension medication. Proper meal plans and exercise should be included in the mix.
As always, it’s still critical that you contact your healthcare professional to find out if you’re cleared to take CBD oil.
