Can CBD Support Better Sleep?

A good night’s sleep does more than help you feel refreshed in the morning. Restful sleep  improves your mental and physical health as well as your quality of life. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 in 3 adults in the United States reported not getting enough sleep or rest every day. Can CBD help with sleep wellness?

Pharmaceutical sleep medications can have significant side effects, so, in the search for more natural solutions, people are increasingly interested in learning how CBD helps with sleep support. While CBD is not a cure or treatment for sleep disorders, emerging scientific research has suggested CBD benefits for sleep. We’re going to explore some of this research and discuss how CBD might help you find better sleep at night so you can feel your best during the day.

How the Endocannabinoid System Impacts Sleep

Every animal, including humans, has an endocannabinoid system (ECS). Your ECS is a complex network of endocannabinoid molecules, their receptor sites, and the enzymes that break them down. Endocannabinoid receptors are found in your brain, organs, glands, connective tissues, and even your immune cells. 

Here’s how it works:

• Step 1: When your body experiences an imbalance, endocannabinoids are produced.
• Step 2: The endocannabinoid molecules bind to receptors to signal that the ECS needs to take action. The molecules will bind to either your CB1 (brain and central nervous system) or CB2 (peripheral nervous system, including immune cells) receptors depending on where the imbalance is taking place. 
• Step 3: Enzymes break down the endocannabinoids once they’ve carried out their function.  

The primary role of your ECS is to maintain balance, or homeostasis, in the body. When your bodily systems are not in balance, it struggles to regulate processes such as appetite, memory, immune system, pain sensation, relaxation, mood, and sleep cycles. The ECS kicks into gear when these processes are disrupted. 

And while CBD does not bind directly to the endocannabinoid receptors (like THC does), CBD does interact with it and influence it in other ways— which is how CBD and sleep are connected. Taking CBD can support your ECS to bring your body back to homeostasis so that you feel better and are more relaxed, which is critical for a good night’s sleep. CBD and the endocannabinoid system are a mighty team that helps you lead a more well-balanced life!

What the Research Says: CBD and Sleep Studies

In recent years there have been a number of scientific studies on CBD and sleep. While there is still so much to explore regarding CBD and sleep research, what we have learned so far is very promising. 

Animal studies have shown that CBD dosing appeared to increase total sleep time and that higher doses even extended the REM sleep phase. In a 2019 study, more than half of the human participants found improvement in sleep within the first month of taking CBD. An eight week long study in 2023 found that “low dose CBD supplementation may offer benefits in enhancing sleep quality in humans.”

This is exciting CBD research for sleep that offers strong support for CBD’s potential. CBD has not been officially approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat sleep disorders, and more research is needed. Still, many people report that using CBD for sleep has helped them fall asleep more quickly and enjoy better quality rest. 

How CBD Might Support Relaxation Before Sleep

Getting in those Z’s is essential to your overall health and wellbeing. A good sleep schedule is linked to health benefits such as a healthy heart, blood sugar regulation, memory, and stress management—and CBD for relaxation might be able to help. 

CBD helps with relaxation before bed because it has been shown to interact with several receptors (including CB1) that are responsible for regulating anxiety behaviors such as racing thoughts and unease that can prevent restful sleep. In a study completed in 2015, strong evidence supported CBD’s potential as a treatment for anxiety-related disorders. When our stress and anxiety is reduced, we are able to relax and fall asleep more easily. 

Managing your stress not only reduces the impact it has on your physical health, it also promotes better sleep behavior. Additionally, Cannabinol (CBN) is another compound found in hemp that has a strong reputation for helping with sleep. Some people find that it’s even more effective when combined with other cannabinoids—like CBD. 

Following a bedtime routine that includes a dose of CBD and wind-down activities such as meditation, reading, and reducing screen time, is a great way to ease your mind into a relaxed state where you can slip right into sleep.

Common Products People Use for Sleep Support

Choosing the best CBD products for sleep may depend on how you prefer to take your dose of CBD. There are several convenient ways to take your CBD before bedtime: oils, gummies, edibles, and even topicals. CBD products in any form can be used to support your ECS for more restful nights. 

• CBD oil drops are absorbed quickly with sublingual application. If you want to use CBD oil for sleep, take your tincture 30-40 minutes before your bedtime if you have trouble falling asleep. Take it right before you go to bed if you have trouble staying asleep. 

• CBD gummies for sleep and edibles take longer to make it through your digestive system and to your ECS receptors, so you might try taking your gummies about one hour before bedtime. 

• Apply CBD topicals for sleep right before you get into bed to take advantage of the quick absorption to the receptors in your skin (your body’s largest organ!). This proactive approach can help ease muscle soreness, cramps, and other aches and pains. 

It’s also perfectly okay to mix and match your CBD products if that helps you find the support and relief you need for a great night of sleep! For example, you might find that taking CBD oil drops half an hour before bed helps your mind relax and applying a CBD topical soothes aches and pains that prevent you from getting comfortable. 

Just remember to take dosage into consideration, and try one CBD product at a time first to see how it impacts your sleep before you add another product into your routine. 

What to Look for in CBD Products for Sleep

With so many CBD products on the market today, you might be wondering how to choose the best CBD for sleep. The purity and potency of the CBD, the transparency of the sourcing, the inclusion of additional sleep-enhancing cannabinoids like CBN, and the quality of the added ingredients should all be considered as you research and choose your CBD products.

The purity and potency of CBD oil should be tested regularly to ensure the quality of the CBD products put to market. At Treadwell Farms, every batch of CBD oil that we create is quadruple tested by an independent, third-party lab: at harvest, upon extraction, after manufacture, and upon bottling. 

We also test our final products with all of their ingredients. This testing ensures the quality of the cannabinoid and terpene profile and that our products are free from contaminants, including pesticides, heavy metals, and foreign matter. We publish the results of our lab tests on our website for customers to view, so you can have full confidence in Treadwell Farms’ CBD products.

Another important factor when selecting the best CBD for sleep is to look for products that contain full-spectrum CBD. Full-spectrum CBD is a whole-plant extract, meaning it contains small amounts of many of the other cannabinoids found in the hemp plant. Full-spectrum CBD also retains the flavonoids and terpenes (compounds that provide scents and flavors) that contribute to the “entourage” effect (the synergistic effect of all of the compounds in the cannabis plant). With the entourage effect in mind, look for CBD products that also include CBN, since the effects of these two cannabinoids are amplified when combined. 

Before purchasing CBD products, make sure that the company is transparent about their sourcing and the quality of their ingredients. For the highest-quality CBD, the hemp and other ingredients used to create the products should be sustainably sourced and non-gmo. 

Many of our CBD products contain additional ingredients that are selected to boost the efficacy of the CBD and to achieve specific results. For example, higher levels of the cannabinoids CBN and THC are found (and listed among the ingredients) in some of our CBD sleep products. Botanical ingredients such as valerian root, pineapple, or chamomile might also be included as they are proven to have sleep-supporting benefits. 

We do not use melatonin in our sleep products because it can have adverse effects, such as nightmares, for people with certain pre-existing conditions. We feel that botanicals are a better way to achieve the desired result without unwanted side effects!

Are There Any Risks to Using CBD for Sleep?

Like any product that you use for sleep support, you should be aware of potential side effects. Though it's often well-tolerated, some CBD side effects you could possibly experience include dry mouth, drowsiness, fatigue, and reduced appetite. 

Overall the CBD risks for sleep are low. However, it's worth considering that even though there is scientific research about the potential of CBD for sleep support, more long-term research is needed on the effects of using CBD regularly for sleep. 

It would be remiss not to mention that even though all of our CBD products are under the .3% THC maximum allowed by the USDA, THC may show up on a drug test. Since all full-spectrum CBD products contain small amounts of THC, using them may lead to a positive result if you are drug tested or if you are extremely sensitive to THC.

Conclusion

CBD’s interaction with the endocannabinoid system shows promise in promoting relaxation and balancing processes that are key to supporting better sleep. By helping the body maintain homeostasis, CBD may ease stress and anxiety, which are often barriers to falling and staying asleep. However, while initial research is encouraging, it's important to be aware that more studies are needed to fully understand its long-term effects on sleep.

If you're looking to explore natural solutions for better rest, consider browsing our range of CBD products specifically designed to support relaxation and help you find more comfortable and restful nights!

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