Anxiety, stress, pain. What do all of these have in common? They’re the usual symptoms you think about when someone asks about the benefits of cannabis usage.
But that’s a pretty limited view of its advantages, all things considered. With new advancements and studies being conducted every day to discover the potential uses of marijuana in medical contexts, there have been a few surprising findings that you can read more about below.
1. Marijuana Can Increase Your Focus
The typical representation of a marijuana smoker is someone who sits on the couch all day and does nothing with their life. But that isn’t the end of the story in real life. Cannabis, especially sativa and sativa-dominant hybrids like the lemon brulee strain are known to help users focus and have more energy throughout the day, especially those with ADHD and other neurological differences.
This is because they boost dopamine levels in your brain, which is a monoamine neurotransmitter and hormone that has a hand in a number of functions such as movement, learning, and memory. Dopamine is generally defined by its uplifting properties, which make someone feel more energized and motivated and allow you to be more productive in turn.
Specifically for those with ADD and ADHD, it can be used as a stimulant replacement for medication, although you should have a conversation with your doctor before going gung-ho on this option. Marijuana can give people the energy they need without the side effects of anxiety and loss of appetite for example.
2. It Can Be Useful to Treat Those With Gastrointestinal Disorders
Marijuana is known to decrease inflammation via immunosuppression and decreasing the effect of immune signaling proteins. Hemp seed oil specifically has plenty of essential fatty acids which have been suspected or confirmed in studies to reduce the effects and risk of several diseases and other conditions. These effects include nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, and constipation.
Multiple users have touted the benefits of marijuana usage on their symptoms, and while this issue is still being researched, cannabinoids can be a helpful addition to traditional medical treatments for these conditions.
3. You Might Experience Better Sleep
If you’re one of the 70 million Americans that deal with chronic sleep issues such as insomnia and other disorders, you may have tried supplements and other potential remedies without any results. But CBD, also known as cannabidiol, may be able to help. This is because it has calming effects and doesn’t produce the same ‘head high’ that THC does.
Another hormone people are likely familiar with is serotonin, which influences one’s sleep and mood, among other functions. CBD affects the serotonin system and has benefits such as decreasing cortisol levels, or stress levels, which allows it to act as a sedative and increase sleep duration.
4. Cannabis Use May Decrease Seizure Frequency
For those with epilepsy or other medical conditions that may cause seizures, there can be a difficult process in finding a medication that works. In fact, drug or treatment-resistant epilepsy impacts as many as 40% of those with epilepsy, which can have a severely negative impact on one’s daily life. But CBD may be the answer to these problems, depending on your condition.
Studies have suggested that medical cannabis usage may decrease seizure frequency and can help prevent seizures as a whole. Epidiolex is one such medication made from cannabidiol oil that can help treat specific forms of epilepsy and other syndromes. However, a disadvantage is that due to the lack of research, not every form of CBD may work for every person or every type of seizure.
5. It Can Help Lower Your Blood Pressure
For those with hypertension, monitoring their blood pressure is especially important to maintain a healthy body. That’s why researchers have been keen to discover if marijuana can have any positive effects on blood pressure and further lower rates of heart disease and other diseases it causes. Research has found that after the consumption of marijuana, users’ blood pressure decreases, and this trend continues over a span of repeated usage.
6. It May Quicken the Healing Process For Your Bones
Something you might not expect from a cannabinoid is that it can affect the skeletal system. In fact, research has shown that CBD can strengthen cartilage after bone fractures, and be useful in treating osteoporosis as well. Along with this, after treatment, it was determined that these healed bones would be more difficult to break.
More Benefits Are Being Discovered
Though it may not seem like marijuana has any more use than making you feel less stressed, there’s been plenty of research to show that that isn’t the whole picture. Not only does it have more benefits than you might assume, but there are always more studies underway that aim to find out more about how marijuana works in the body and the various other health benefits it may have.
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