CBD has loads of uses, and you’re probably familiar with its mood balancing properties. CBD is pretty good at that, and it can make you feel super calm and stress-free. So we get that CBD does wonders for the brain, and it can make us feel good… but does it actually have physical benefits too?
Things like high blood pressure and increased heart rate are physiological byproducts of stress. It’d make sense that if CBD can relieve stress, it must also be able to lower blood pressure. Right? (Spoilers: yes it can)
What is High Blood Pressure?
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is actually pretty common. In fact, nearly half of adults in the United States have some form of high blood pressure.
Blood pressure is determined by both the amount of the blood being pumped by your heart and the amount of resistance to blood flow in the arteries. A reading is given in millimeters of mercury and it has two numbers.
- Systolic pressure (top number): This measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats. A normal, healthy systolic pressure should exist somewhere around 120 mmHg.
- Diastolic pressure (bottom number): This measures the pressure in your arteries between beats. An average and healthy diastolic pressure is around 80 mmHg.
High blood pressure is generally considered anything 130/90 and above. Stage 2 hypertension occurs when the systolic pressure is 140 or higher. Anything above 180 is considered a hypertensive crisis. The latter is extremely serious, but you probably will never get to that point unless your hypertension goes untreated for a very, very long time.
What Causes High Blood Pressure?
There are loads of things that can cause a heightened blood pressure. If your high blood pressure is caused by an external factor, this is known as secondary hypertension.
Your weight and diet are often direct risk factors for developing high blood pressure. The more you weigh, the more blood you need to supply oxygen to muscle tissue. When the amount of blood that pumps through your vessels increases, so does pressure on the artery walls. Couple that with things like high salt intake or little physical activity, and you may cause the body to retain fluid and increase its blood pressure.
And as we know, stress is a huge contributor to increase in blood pressure too. When you become stressed out, your body enters its stress response. Basically, your nervous system prepares other parts of the body to flee a situation or fight it head on. This results in increased visual awareness, sweating, heavy breathing, and higher blood pressure.
While this increase is usually only temporary, regularly engaging in stressful situations can lead to damage in the artery walls, which may cause prolonged hypertension.
There’s also stress-related habits, like eating junk food or drinking alcohol, that can directly lead to increased blood pressure, as these can alter the state of your blood vessels.
You may also have high blood pressure for no external reason at all. This is called primary hypertension, which tends to develop gradually as you get older.
Why is Healthy Blood Pressure Important?
If your blood pressure is too high for long periods of time, it can severely increase your risk for heart attack or stroke. This is because high blood pressure causes hardening of the arteries which can lead to other heart disease-related complications.
Weakened arteries in your kidneys or other organs can also result in failure of those organs to work properly. This can even lead to memory loss or dementia as you get older.
Not to mention, a blood pressure that is too low (hypotension), can make you feel dizzy, weak, or oxygen deprived.
With all of this in mind, let’s do everything we can to keep your heart happy and healthy. CBD is a great way to take the pressure off your blood pressure!
How Can CBD Help With Healthy Blood Pressure?
CBD can have both indirect and direct benefits to helping maintain healthy blood pressure levels.
In a recent study, nine healthy volunteers were given either a placebo supplement or a CBD supplement after being subjected to a series of stress tests. They found that the individuals who received CBD experienced significant reduction of blood pressure when compared to those who just received a placebo.
While the researchers aren’t exactly sure why this occurred, they attribute that it may have something to do with the calming and relaxing properties that CBD is known to convey. Physical and mental symptoms of anxiousness go hand in hand, so if you can reduce one, you can probably reduce the other.
And since CBD has proven to potentially reduce stress-related disorders, the secondary benefit of reduced blood pressure and heart rate can make CBD perfect for life’s most heated moments.
How Does CBD Work?
Your body has something called the endocannabinoid system (ECS), which is an important network that plays roles in your body’s everyday functions from sleep to mood to appetite and more.
This system uses molecules called endocannabinoids to relay information to different receptors. These can help regulate functions between your brain and central nervous system. Endocannabinoids are made by your body.
CBD is a cannabinoid, which does the exact same thing as an endocannabinoid except it is supplemented from outside your body. When you increase the amount of cannabinoids in your body, you can experience whole-body benefits such as balanced mood, checked blood pressure, or anti-inflammation.
How To Use CBD To Check Blood Pressure
If you experience symptoms of high blood pressure, like severe headaches, chest pain, fatigue, or trouble breathing, it is important to see a doctor before doing anything. While CBD might be able to help relax you, it’s important to diagnose an issue directly, especially if some other underlying issues have arisen.
Otherwise, especially during small bouts of stress, CBD can be your best friend. And since it’s so versatile, there are so many different ways you can use it.
When you start to feel upset and you need quick relief, it’s a good idea to use oil drops.
Smile’s Vanilla CBD Oil Drops are a potent combination of CBD oil and essential nutrients that will get you feeling more balanced fast. Apply one to two drops sublingually, or underneath your tongue.
There are a large amount of blood vessels and tissue underneath your tongue, which makes this a prime location to quickly reap the benefits that CBD can offer. Oil drops are the best option to alleviate feelings of stress right when they start to occur.
For persistent high blood pressure, regular CBD usage might give you the best effect. You can go for Smile’s CBD gummies as an easy and tasty alternative to oils, as these can be taken once daily for continual relief.
Talk to your doctor before you use CBD alongside any medications, but CBD is generally considered a very safe and well tolerated supplement. It’s no part psychoactive and it’s not a hallucinogen, so you also won’t need to worry about feeling high, even after prolonged use.
In Conclusion
High blood pressure, or hypertension, occurs when the amount of blood being pumped by your heart and the amount of resistance it feels in the artery walls is higher than normal. Hypertension can be caused by stress, obesity, lack of physical activity, poor diet, and much more.
High blood pressure can be dangerous for overall heart health, acting as a risk factor for stroke, heart attack, and organ failure. While it’s important to see a doctor for chronic hypertension, CBD can be used to alleviate small instances of increased blood pressure and it may even be recommended by a doctor to help reduce its symptoms.
CBD helps with blood pressure by reducing feelings of anxiousness and working to reduce inflammation. It also works with the endocannabinoid system to provide holistic benefits.
You can take CBD in a bunch of different ways, including oil drops and gummy supplements. But no matter how you choose to maintain your high blood pressure, just know that you are taking active steps towards benefiting your whole body.
And that is a reason to smile.
If you want another reason to smile, you can try using CBD oils or gummies to get a much needed reprieve from life’s most stressful moments. In addition to organic CBD isolate, Smile’s CBD is loaded with the best ingredients that nature has to offer. It’ll keep your blood pressure in check while keeping your mood calm and balanced.
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/facts.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5470879/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/
https://www.jyi.org/2018-june/2018/6/1/the-endocannabinoid-system-our-universal-regulator
