How CBD Enters the body
There are exciting results from recent studies on cannabidiol by scientists depicting how CBD interacts with our endocannabinoid receptors throughout the body to bring out the balancing and healing effects. Studies suggest that CBD may be able to minimize and even eliminate seizure activity, reduce anxiety and depression, manage pain, fight some cancers and provide anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects on the nervous system. This could potentially be beneficial for conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and arthritis. For non-psychoactive CBD to help with any problem it must be absorbed correctly into your system.
For CBD to work it must enter the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, it can move throughout the body thus interacting with and impacting the cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors, while also affecting non-cannabinoid receptors within your body.
There are several methods for taking CBD. The method you use to get it into your bloodstream will affect how well it works for you, it can be swallowed, put on food or in a drink, placed sublingually under the tongue, smoked or vaped, or put in a tropical cream.
There are several methods to take CBD. The method you use to get it into your bloodstream will affect how well it works for you, it can be swallowed, put on food or in a drink, placed sublingually under the tongue, smoked or vaped, or put in a tropical cream.
CBD Ingestion
The most common route of CBD oil administration is oral. When CBD is ingested, it is absorbed by the digestive system. Once the CBD compounds enter the stomach they are carried into the liver and the livers enzymes reduce the CBD compounds concentration before moving them into the bloodstream. While taking CBD by oral ingestion directly into the stomach is the easiest way to take CBD it isn’t the best method. However, studies have shown that taking CBD with fatty acids can help increase the levels absorbed through ingestion.
Sublingual Method
If CBD oil is held under the tongue for 30 to 60 seconds before being swallowed, the mucous membranes in the mouth can absorb the compounds. This sublingual method allows CBD to completely bypass the digestive system and liver metabolism, so the compounds can avoid being broken down by enzymes and reach the bloodstream more quickly.
Absorption After Inhalation
When CBD oil is inhaled, such as through smoking or vaping, the compounds are absorbed through the air passageway in the lungs, which has a large absorptive surface area. Once through the air passageway, the CBD molecules are immediately transferred into the bloodstream. Compared to ingestion, the inhalation method allows more CBD to be absorbed and offers faster absorption. Be aware this method also can lead to dry throat and coughing.
Absorption After Topical Application
When CBD oil is applied topically, or directly to the skin, it never reaches the bloodstream but can be absorbed through the skin’s surface to interact with nearby endocannabinoid receptors. Human skin, in general, has low permeability, which means it blocks most substances from entering. The skin has a particularly low absorption rate for cannabinoids, so the application of CBD balms, salves, and lotions needs to be heavy enough to overcome this barrier. It appears that when mixed with other enhancer’s such as Menthol or Lidocaine CBD travels through the skin and functions to a greater degree for relief.
Whichever method you choose it is important to use the product on a consistent basis and dosage for best results.
Republished from an article in ECHO