Stressed and Sleep Deprived? This Plant Could Help
Since becoming a proud owner of a woman-owned business, I’ve grappled with the newfound schedule - stress, sleepless nights, long days... and did I mention stress? Many women (and men) are struggling with the same issues of chronic stress and lack of restful, rejuvenating sleep. Whether you own a business or not, you’re a parent or even a student, the battle to relieve stress and improve the quality of our sleep is something we nearly all experience. Having a deep knowledge of the notorious hemp plant has helped me tremendously.
How are stress and sleep connected?
Stress and sleep is the perfect example of “catch-22” in action. Sleep disturbances not only promote increased stress but elevated stress levels have a significant impact on sleep. Cortisol, the master stress hormone, is known to decrease slow wave sleep (SWS), the type of sleep believed to be responsible for brain restoration. Sleep deprivation also seems to be related to cortisol spikes.
How the hemp plant provides a solution.
The industrial hemp plant, a strain of Cannabis sativa, is Mary Jane’s non-psychoactive sister. Unlike marijuana, it contains virtually undetectable levels of THC, the psychoactive cannabinoid. Instead, hemp contains the cannabinoids CBD, CBC, CBV, CBN, and CBG.
When you take full spectrum hemp products that contain these cannabinoids, they interact with receptors in the Endocannabinoid System (ECS). These “lock-and-key” ECS components are spread throughout the body, specifically the nervous system and immune system. Generally, CB1 receptors are mostly found in the nervous system with CB2 predominant in the immune system.
By regulating the CB1 receptor-dense nervous system, hemp’s cannabinoids can influence sleep and stress in a number of ways.
1. CB1 receptors are found in the HPA axis, the master regulator system of stress.
The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is a cross-talk between these parts of the body in response to stress. The stimulation of the HPA axis causes the adrenals to release stress hormones. In animal studies on CB1 receptors in this regulatory system, results indicate that CB1 activation decreases cortisol production. Hemp cannabinoids are agonists of CB1 receptors, A.K.A they’re the key that fits into the CB1 lock, stimulating its activity. In this way, cannabinoids prevent cortisol from spiking and stress getting out of hand.
2. Hemp cannabinoids are powerful anti-inflammatories.
The body’s natural response to infection and injury is to ramp up inflammation. While this isn’t inherently bad, inflammation that gets out of control can be harmful to the body. So, there are bodily systems in place that act as regulators.
One of these systems is cortisol secretion. Cortisol, as a natural steroid, helps to keep inflammation in check by playing a part in resolving the inflammation. As natural anti-inflammatory compounds, cannabinoids can team up with cortisol to fight inflammation and reduce the need for cortisol in the body.
3. Cannabinoids acts on receptors that promote healthy sleep.
Cannabinoids modulate an important neurotransmitter important for sleep, serotonin. This neurotransmitter, also known as the happiness hormone, is important for a myriad of physiological functions, including sleep. In neurons responsible for initiating the sleep cycle, researchers have identified serotonin receptors known to play a critical function in helping you catch some Z’s.
If you’re backed up on sleep, adenosine A1 receptors will help signal your body to compensate for it with fluctuations in your deep SWS. As active promoters of these receptors, cannabinoids may promote enhanced restorative sleep, especially if you’ve been deprived of it.
Hemp cannabinoids also act on GABA receptors, the neurotransmitter renowned for its anti-anxiety properties. By enhancing GABA activity, cannabinoids can help increase repairing SWS and decrease the amount of time you wake up during the night. It might also help relieve some nighttime anxiety that can put a prevent you from dozing off.
Why sourcing the best full spectrum matters for stress and sleep.
Sleep and stress are so intimately connected. By targeting body systems that both reduce stress and promote healthy sleep, cannabinoids may seriously help, especially if you’re sleep-deprived and stressed-out, like myself.
In your perusing through the CBD market, you’ll typically find most CBD products are in CBD isolate form. Hemp plants are processed and filtered to completely remove all the other compounds and extract only CBD. Full spectrum hemp products, on the other hand, contain all of those lesser know, yet-still-beneficial cannabinoids (CBC, CBV, CBN, and CBG), along with a plethora of other health-promoting compounds.
To make the most of your use of cannabinoids, you’ll want to ditch CBD isolate products for hemp products that include the full spectrum of cannabinoids as well as terpenes, flavonoids, and sterols. These phytochemicals work in synergy to produce The Entourage Effect, a phenomenon where the compounds in a plant work together to produce an overall more beneficial effect than the isolated compounds by themselves. Essentially, full spectrum hemp products that are concentrated with CBD give you more bang for your buck.
This is exactly how nature intended us to use hemp, instead of stripping, processing, and adulterating the plant.
For bonus points, opt for organically-grown, pesticide-free full spectrum hemp products that are extracted using Supercritical CO2 technology and cold chromotography purification. These manufacturing processes remove any impurities and trace amounts of THC without toxic chemical solvents while avoiding heat that could possibly denature the other potent nutrients.
Heather Atwell is a Certified Cancer Health Coach, and the Founder and President of Salus Nutraceuticals, the operating company that produces PhytoLogica products. PhytoLogica manufactures a full-spectrum, bioavailable hemp CBD products of the highest-quality, designed with the health of your body in mind. Ms. Atwell has a tremendous amount of experience and an incredibly strong passion for natural & organic medicine, to learn more about Heather and her work with PhytoLogica, visit https://phytologica.com
