CBD Oil & Keto Diets

Keto Diets and CBD oil are kind of like Peanut Butter and Jelly for me personally. Combining this style of eating and this oil together can be downright miraculous for the body systems as a whole.

There are many therapeutic benefits of the ketogenic diet including treating obesity, diabetes type 2, epilepsy, lowering cholesterol and heart disease and so on. There are always mixtures of things when combined, create something stronger than if those two things were separate. By this I am meaning, Keto with the use of CBD Oil.

Let me clear a little confusion up about CBD and what it actually is….

Cannabidiol- CBD is a cannabis compound that has significant medical benefits but does not give people the “stoned” psychoactive effect that marijuana or THC does. The fact that CBD-rich cannabis is non-psychoactive or less psychoactive than THC-dominant strains makes it an appealing option for patients looking for relief from inflammation, pain, anxiety, seizures, spasms, and other conditions.

When CBD and Ketosis are incorporated together, a mix of homeostasis takes place in the body and can help with conditions such as:

• Epilepsy
• Depression
• Schizophrenia
• PTSD
• Alcoholism
• ADHD and more

What exactly is the Keto Diet?

Keto is short for ketogenic and this diet is centered around lowering your carbohydrate intake to 25g a day or less and increasing your healthy fats. In some ways, it’s quite similar to Atkins Diet but incorporates less protein.

When carbohydrates are drastically reduced, your body enters a state called ketosis where your metabolic machinery in your cells start depending on fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates. Fat is turned into ketones in the liver and supplying energy for all systems in the body through ketones.

If you’re interested in learning more about the keto diet specifically, please click here.

What Can The Keto Diet Do?

Many people have started this way of eating to lose weight. Pre-diabetics and diabetics have started this way of eating to gain control over their conditions.

The keto diet is very filing and easy to maintain for a lot of people and so they find it one of the easiest ways of life for weight loss.  The keto diet has shown to be helpful for patients of numerous conditions including epilepsy, Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimers, heart disease and more.

So what is CBD and How Does It Fit into the keto diet?

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a compound found in the cannabis sativa plant. It’s becoming widely researched for health benefits, having been confirmed by the World Health Organization to be safe and well tolerated in most humans as well as being non-addictive since it has no psychoactive properties.

The cannabis plant has two main compounds-

1. THC – THC is what makes you “medicated”
2. CBD- CBD is responsible for the medical benefits

Both CBD and the Ketogenic Diet can help with many systems of the body.

Many people start keto and CBD not out of an attempt to reduce symptoms, but to boost their performance and optimize their lifestyle. Athletes and health enthusiasts embrace the combination to reach their goals and boost quality of life. However, people who experience symptoms of various health conditions also use this combination therapeutically. Both keto and CBD have been well-studied and have shown rather similar outcomes, suggesting a powerful synergy between the two.

CBD and the ketogenic diet complement each other in several ways:

• If you’re obese or struggle with an active lifestyle due to aches and pains, CBD’s powerful anti-inflammatory properties can help make it easier as you start the keto diet. CBD can treat the muscle and joint pain associated with exercise, while providing relief from pain following a workout.
• CBD promotes homeostasis in the human body, which will stabilize your appetite and help curb the cravings that are common among keto newbies.
• CBD can help you sleep better and deeper, helps to fight stress, and improve your overall sense of well-being.
• If you suffer from seizures and epilepsy, CBD and keto are the best natural tools you have that support each other in managing and reducing episodes.
• CBD and the keto diet both support emotional and mental well-being. They are both effective, even more so when used together, in fighting depression and anxiety. They can also help manage the symptoms of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and ADHD.
• CBD and hemp products can add valuable nutritional value to the keto diet, including essential fatty acids, omega-3, protein, and more.

If you’re thinking about starting the keto diet for weight loss, or just for long-term health, incorporating CBD early on in the diet may help you battle keto flu. They symptoms of the keto flu are seen early when starting the keto way of eating and can include fatigue, nausea, headaches and sometimes mimic the actual flu.

Some research suggests that consuming a higher fat diet in conjunction with oral CBD helps improve bioavailability.

Some CBD/keto advocates have even gone so far as to make CBD fat bombs, which is quite a creative idea; one that never crossed my mind until doing some reading about the possible connection between CBD oil and ketosis.

Another thing to consider is that CBD and THC are lipophilic and they readily bind to fats, which can prolong their effects in the body. Hence, CBD oil and keto seems like a natural pairing, as it’s possible that the high fat intake would slow the rate of absorption of CBD and lead to a longer lasting effect.

Unfortunately, there is essentially no research available at the time of this writing that specifically targets CBD oil and ketosis. Nevertheless, CBD oil and keto is a niche topic of interest with a variety of anecdotes found across Internet forums.

People who actively consume CBD oil on keto generally report positive effects and claim it has improved their well-being. As always, we need to approach individual experiences with some skepticism since it doesn’t necessarily tell us the underlying truth about CBD oil and ketosis.

The good news is that cannabidiol is undoubtedly beneficial for a myriad of health aspects; even if you don’t follow the keto diet, CBD oil is a beneficial supplement to look into (and it’s now legal in all 50 U.S. states, unlike marijuana).

The Connection between the ECS, Cannabis, Keto and Your Well-being

The scientific and clinical research behind cannabis and the ECS continues to grow, and one thing remains patently clear: a properly functioning ECS is the basis of good health and longevity.

From the time of your conception to nursing and maturation, to fighting off pathogens and healing wounds, the ECS helps you adapt and survive in the fast-paced and ever-changing world we live in.

Moreover, research demonstrates that even nominal doses of CBD from cannabis actually stimulate your body to produce additional endocannabinoids and construct more cannabinoid receptors.

Hence, many newbie CBD users don’t notice much benefit, but by their third or fourth dose they have more cannabinoid receptors and respond more intensely.

Naturally, the best strategy is to use modest, routine doses of CBD to stimulate your ECS and its restorative properties.

If you follow the keto diet, using CBD oil in conjunction with fatty foods may prolong and enhance the effects. (Remember, this is just a supposition until more research is conducted on the topic of CBD oil and ketosis.)

Having this rudimentary understanding of the ECS and how phytocannabinoids interact with it is only scratching the surface of the complex and intricate physiological underpinnings that govern the benefits of CBD in humans.

Rest assured, clinical trials and research in the coming years will help us better understand just how important CBD and the ECS are for our well-being, and whether or not they form any synergy with the keto diet.

To Learn More About CBD

References

[1] Russo, E., Mathre, M. L., Byrne, A., Velin, R., Bach, P. J., Sanchez-Ramos, J., & Kirlin, K. A. (2002). Chronic cannabis use in the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program: An examination of benefits and adverse effects of legal clinical cannabis. Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics, 2(1), 3-57.
[2] Di Marzo, V., Bifulco, M., & De Petrocellis, L. (2004). The endocannabinoid system and its therapeutic exploitation. Nature reviews Drug discovery, 3(9), 771.
[3] Piomelli, D. (2003). The molecular logic of endocannabinoid signaling. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 4(11), 873.
[4] Baker, D., Pryce, G., Giovannoni, G., & Thompson, A. J. (2003). The therapeutic potential of cannabis. The Lancet Neurology, 2(5), 291-298.
[5] Sharma, P., Murthy, P., & Bharath, M. S. (2012). Chemistry, metabolism, and toxicology of cannabis: clinical implications. Iranian journal of psychiatry, 7(4), 149.