There’s a lot of talk of immunity and the immune system across media on any given day. Lately, it seems as though everyone wants a quick fix to boost their immunity. Can CBD make this effort any easier? Does CBD help your immune system?
How does CBD affect your body?
To get to the bottom of whether or not CBD helps your immune system, it’s important for us to briefly discuss how and why CBD affects your body. And, of course, it’s important to note that CBD doesn’t affect everyone the same. This makes it imperative to consult your physician before you add CBD into your routine. Based on your medical history, he or she can recommend whether or not CBD is right for you. You can likely ask if they have any advice about the best CBD products for you or your symptoms.
As you may be aware, CBD goes to work in your body via your endocannabinoid system. Though THC does the same, and CBD and THC both come from CBG, CBD and THC are different. Unlike THC, CBD is not psychoactive, therefore, it will not give you any sort of “high.” CBD may make you feel good, sure, but it doesn’t even quite give you a “body high,” per se. Since CBD and THC both originate from Cannabis sativa, or the hemp plant, it’s worth mentioning there that has been some research done on the issue of immune health and cannabis use.
Studies and research on “does CBD help your immune system?”
With some digging, we discovered that a few different angles of research have already been completed concerning cannabis and immunity, as follows.
Coming from 2017, we have a holistic view from the NCBI on the health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids. You will see that the findings here indicate a few things:
- There is little evidence to suggest cannabis impacts human immunity
- Smoking cannabis or consuming cannabinoids also lend insufficient evidence for boosting the immune system
- There is some evidence to suggest that smoking cannabis may have limited anti-inflammatory effects
- There is insufficient evidence to support cannabis use for better immune health in those with HIV
Coming from 2019, however, we have a study from the Journal of Cannabis Research broken down here. Though this study also does not indicate a strong correlation between cannabis or cannabinoid use and a boosted immune system, it does suggest that cannabis use among immunocompromised patients may, in situations, boost white blood cell count. As you may know, white blood cells are imperative to your body’s ability to fight infections, pathogens, toxins, and other bad stuff.
How CBD may help specific aspects of your health
Though we just discussed that direct evidence between CBD and your immune system is still developing, we will instead revisit something we discussed in the first section: your endocannabinoid system. Let’s recall what the endocannabinoid system does and why it makes sense CBD has been shown to boost other aspects of your health, if not your “immune system” as a whole.
Review of the endocannabinoid system
Your endocannabinoid system has a direct or indirect role in:
- Memory and cognition
- Metabolism
- Stress and pain response
- Sleep
- Reproduction
Learn more about CBD and your health
Does it sound like your endocannabinoid system does a lot of different things? Valid. If you’d like to learn more about the following topics, we’re here for you. Feel free to check out:
- Does CBD Help You Focus?
- Can CBD and Natural Pain-Relievers Work for Me?
- Should You Use CBD for Arthritis?
- Can CBD Help Insomnia?
- CBD and Sex Drive
Product recommendations
And, if you’re looking for a few product recommendations relevant to the above blogs, we have a few for you below:
- Plant People Stay Sharp Capsules
- Topical of the Year: cbdMD Freeze Pain Relief Gel
- Kat’s Metabolize CBD Oil plus CBG
- Sleep Product of the Year: cbdMD Mint Drops for Sleep (also in a capsule option with melatonin!)
- CBD for intimacy
BONUS: Foolproof ways to boost your immune system
So, if CBD may help, but isn’t a “foolproof” way to boost your immune system, what is? Follow these tips and you’re sure to feel your best:
- Visit physicians and specialists regularly and involve them in conversations about CBD and other matters
- Wash your hands more often than you think, using a proper technique (≥ 20 seconds, plus soap and water)
- Try to maintain a consistent sleep schedule, with the recommended hours each night
- Eat a healthy diet full of vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, whole grains, and good fats — indulge on occasion, but strive for balance
- Get active each day, if only for a few minutes at a time
