- HV
- Jan 26, 2021
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How Much CBD To Lower Cortisol Levels Do You Need?
Many people have spoken about going into “flight or fight” mode when they’re stressed out or threatened. While this is just a saying, there is a hormone called cortisol, also known as the stress hormone, that’s responsible for this type of reaction in stressful situations. Cortisol was an essential hormone when humans were hunting for meals every day and running from predators because it allowed an extra boost of energy in that high-stress situation so we could either outrun the predator or catch the prey.
How cortisol works
Nowadays, cortisol can be triggered by things beyond hunting for our meals. Stress can be something we experience all too often, especially with the world we are currently living in. Those with a busy lifestyle are also more prone to high cortisol levels because they’re not getting the relaxation and downtime required to lower those levels.
While cortisol is good in high-stress situations to trigger our flight or fight and get us out safely, too much of it can have detrimental effects on our health including developing long-term chronic diseases. These health effects can include poor sleeping habits, high blood pressure, and even gastrointestinal issues. Chronic cortisol release can also result in diabetes, obesity, and other autoimmune issues.
CBD and cortisol
CBD has been highly studied as a way to fight against these high cortisol levels. The results have been encouraging because they’ve found that CBD interacts with your endocrine system to regulate hormone production. Your endocrine system is a variety of glands that produce the hormones in your body and these hormones are powerful chemicals that sustain major effects on your body.
CBD is a cannabinoid that interacts with your endocannabinoid system, which is a complex system that manages psychological processes such as mood and appetite. This endocannabinoid system in your body is also involved in managing endocrine processes. In short, with all of these systems working together, by stimulating the endocannabinoid system, CBD and other cannabinoids can directly affect hormone levels in the body.
Since the endocrine system is in charge of managing stress and thus producing cortisol, CBD can be used to directly manage cortisol production. By using CBD, you can avoid the psychoactive effects of THC and gain the benefits of regulating hormone production.
How to use CBD to lower cortisol levels?
There are many ways to ingest CBD available on the market today. There are oils, capsules, drops, tea, vapors, candies, and more. Make sure the product you buy indicates how many milligrams of CBD is in a serving; for example, if it comes in capsule form and the bottle says there are 5 mg per capsule.
When calculating how many mg of CBD to take for treating any symptoms including lowering cortisol levels, there are a few aspects to factor in. You will want to consider your body weight, your condition, your treating, and the concentration of CBD in whatever form you are taking it in. It’s important to discuss this with your doctor before taking anything to make sure that it is safe for your specific health issues.
The recommended dosage
It’s recommended that anyone taking CBD for the first time starts small with somewhere between 20-40 mg the first time and gradually increases it by 5 mg every week. You can keep increasing it until you feel that your symptoms are being properly treated because it takes different amounts for everyone and there is no exact science on the amount to ingest.
Keep track of your dosages every day and the corresponding symptoms of what you are trying to treat to figure out what works for you. Some studies have shown that 300 mg is most effective for the short-term effects of CBD on anxiety but always start small first.
If you ‘re using a product that is mostly CBD with very low levels of THC, then you should not experience any side effects that you would from ingesting THC, such as the stereotypical high that people associated with cannabis.
Conclusion
Overall, CBD can be an effective way to reduce cortisol levels by lowering the body’s inflammatory response to stress. This in turn can reduce anxiety, depression, and insomnia, which can lead to a much healthier lifestyle!