CBD For Digestive Health: What Are The Benefits?
GO WITH YOUR GUT
CBD, the promising key to anxiety relief and relaxation for many of us, but wait, there is more. Because there’s also a buzz around CBD’s potential to help with your digestive health. If we piece the puzzle together, we can start to get a basic understanding of how. For starters, if we think that CBD has been linked to reducing anxiety (tick) and that anxiety can also affect your gut (double tick), you begin to see the potential link.
This link between your emotional health (we’re talking stress and anxiety levels) and your digestion is called the gut-brain connection. Experts talk about how in simple terms, you may for instance feel sick when particularly nervous. In truth, the story doesn’t end here, because the key to a healthy gut comes down to too many elements from stress to inflammation, and many of these are within our control. So, let’s get into it and see what’s behind common digestive disorders and where CBD might offer therapeutic support.
What Causes Digestive Health Issues?
Our digestive system is incredibly complex. As well as digesting food, your gastrointestinal (AKA: GI) tract’s microbiome directly links to the brain, relaying messages through a complex cellular system. Many internal and external factors influence the environment in the GI tract. Far from just presenting themselves in the gut, digestive problems can impact us across the body too. That’s because poor gut health is also linked to systematic inflammation, and an imbalanced microbiome as well as subsequent gut issues can lead to food particles and toxins releasing into the bloodstream.
As if that’s not enough, around 70-80% of our immune system is housed in our gut, so this imbalance can trigger an immune response. Cue the possibility of everything at that point ranging from skin issues like rosacea and acne to thyroid issues, joint inflammation and pain, poor energy, and lacking libido. Yet, we can overcome most of these digestive issues with lifestyle changes, and it’s certainly not a case of “having to live with it”. If you are experiencing gut problems and discomfort, it may be due to one or a combination of the below triggers.
- Diet – Eating irregularly, wolfing meals too fast, and choosing the wrong types of foods can all lead to digestive problems. Although everyone is different and will experience different trigger foods, experts agree that processed foods and the Standard American Diet are very damaging to gut health. The key is finding what foods your gut responds well to, and what seems to trigger issues. Cue elimination diets which range from very restrictive ones like the carnivore diet to targeted support like low FODMAP or low oxalate.
- Stress and anxiety – Back to the gut-brain connection, this is often at the route of digestive issues and gastrointestinal upset with no obvious physical trigger (such as food or illness). Unmanaged chronic stress leads to high levels of cortisol which inhibit the digestive system, commonly leading to either diarrhea or constipation. Other common symptoms of stress-induced gut problems include heartburn, abdominal cramps, or loose stools. If you have a GI disorder, you’re at a much higher risk of also having a mental health issue.
- Food intolerances – Did you know that food intolerances are a sign of impacted gut health? Unless it’s a true IgE food allergy, food intolerances are reversible with a proper gut healing protocol. While it’s important to avoid food intolerances in the short-term until gut imbalances like leaky gut have been addressed, doing so long-term is a bandaid and won’t get to the root cause.
- Hydration – Could your problems be down to something as simple as needing more water? Yes, they could, and with around 75% of Americans being chronically dehydrated, it’s not a possibility to be dismissed out of hand. Dehydration can lead to constipation, slow digestion, bloating, stomach ulcers, and acid reflux. We recommend investing in a high-quality water purification system for aiding in optimal gut health and overall wellness.
- Hygiene – A major transmission route for nasties and bacteria, poor hygiene can also be a simple reason behind digestive issues like diarrhea. Washing your hands properly, regularly and before preparing or eating food is a super simple measure against this.
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) – With more than 1.6 million people suffering from IBS in the United States alone, it’s a common issue. Symptoms can include abdominal pain, diarrhea, and fatigue, with inflammation being a major underlying factor. Like other gut issues, make sure you get to the root cause of IBS rather than only treating the symptoms.
- Other diseases –Diseases like gallstones, Crohn’s Disease, and Celiac Disease can also affect our gut health. If you are ever in doubt, it’s essential to get checked out by a medical professional to rule out the possibility it’s something more sinister.
While most of our digestive issues can be managed with a healthy lifestyle, it’s always vital to keep track of what’s going on. If you know what’s “normal” in your gut, you can better understand how to manage it and recognize warning flags. It’s important to say that if you are concerned about anything, as mentioned earlier, seek medical help.
Looking to optimize your gut health? Whether you have existing gut issues or would like to prevent them from developing down the road, here are some of our favorite natural recommendations for giving the love and support that your “second brain” needs.
A whole-food diet rich in protein and fat is critical for optimal gut health and overall wellness. Limiting carbs and sugar is important for insulin resistance and metabolic health. There are many schools of thought when it comes to what foods should be prioritized and what should be limited – however, new studies are supporting the benefits of including red meat and animal fats as these feature exclusive bioavailable nutrients that aren’t found in other foods. We highly recommend doing your own research and working with a trusted nutritionist if you’re looking for professional guidance.
Have you ever experienced common gut symptoms like bloating, burping, gas, or heartburn? Did you know that these are actually signs of low stomach acid? Formally known as hypochlorhydria, the laundry list of symptoms can get quite lengthy and can even lead to allergies, autoimmune disorders, and other severe conditions. There’s a misconception that taking antacids helps with heartburn and burping – while it may temporarily relieve the symptoms, it actually further lowers stomach acid which is the larger problem at hand. Consider taking an HCL supplement or apple cider vinegar before meals to help stimulate the natural production of stomach acids.
If you’ve ever had to take antibiotics, repopulating your gut microbiome with probiotics is a must. Probiotics can prove as powerful gut healing tools but be aware if you have SIBO. Soil-based probiotics will be key for those with this condition while you treat this with a gut healing protocol. If you have histamine intolerance, make sure you find a low-histamine probiotic as the more common strains can exacerbate histamine issues. For those looking for both gut and mental support, you can take advantage of mood-boosting probiotics like this one.
If you’re always stressed, your body will have a difficult time achieving the “rest and digest” state. Unmanaged chronic stress wreaks havoc across the body including your digestive system. Another fun fact – did you know that about 95% of your body’s serotonin is in the gut? There’s no wonder why gut and mental issues are so closely tied together. Having a comprehensive toolbox of known stress supports is key to breaking the vicious cycle of symptoms correlated from the gut-brain axis. Things like exercise offer benefits for both mental and gut health.
One of the notable ways that CBD might help with digestive problems, is its potential to reduce inflammation. Studies show that it may be effective in both acute and systemic inflammation relief, working by reducing cytokines and interleukins protein production (AKA the things that wave a flag to our immune system to set off an inflammatory response). This gives it the potential to help with illnesses like IBS and bloating.
At the same time, CBD has been linked in studies to alleviating stress responses. As we know that stress can impact our gut, triggering inflammation and a cascade of other issues, this could add a string to our bow when managing stress, along with healthy lifestyle habits.
An important note about CBD and gut health – CBD may offer temporary symptom relief for a wide array of digestive and gut issues. However, the purpose of this therapeutic is symptom management and not root cause healing. While CBD may be a wonderful alternative to prescription medications and other Western conventions to gut conditions, you’ll need to work with a qualified gut-healing nutritionist with a deep understanding of all the external mechanisms that can impact the gut in order to get to the root cause.
For those interested in symptom support, here are just some of the ways CBD may help your gut:
As inflammation plays a big role in many gut issues, it’s important to keep it in check. During this kind of flare-up, you can experience fatigue, dehydration, and a lack of absorption of nutrients. CBD may help in the big picture for inflammation as noted above, as well as having the potential to help with reducing inflammation-causing proteins in the gut. CBD has also been linked in clinical studies to a decrease in sensitivity of the capsaicin receptor, which is the receptor that triggers an inflammatory response. Note, this could make it particularly helpful in alleviating symptoms of IBS and Crohn’s Disease, with studies showing positive results in this arena.
Tip: Try GLOW Full-Spectrum Care Capsules to ease discomfort.
We know that our gut plays an important role in our immune system, so how does CBD help with this? Gut bacteria/the microbiome is intrinsically linked to the immune response, and so regulating this effectively is the goal. Otherwise, your immune system can become hyperactive triggering inflammation (see above for that one). This also affects its ability to handle toxins effectively, adding to the issue. Data shows that CBD may have the potential to suppress the immune system, which can be beneficial in the case of a hyperactive immune response. Cannabis is believed to have immunomodulating properties, meaning that it either boosts impaired immunological functions or suppresses an overactive immune response depending on the person.
Tip: Try taking BALANCE Everyday Full-Spectrum Tincture to support your immune response.
As stress alters the movement and contraction of the gut, leading to a higher risk of infections and decreased immune response, it’s important to keep daily stressors in check. So, if plain old-fashioned stress and anxiety are the root cause of your gastro problems, know this: CBD has been linked in studies to a reduction in stress. Not only has it been linked to a sense of calm and anecdotally to the alleviation of stress, but it’s also been trialed with positive results among people with anxiety disorders.
Tip: Try our SIP Harmonizing Bloom Tea to feel zen-like.
One of the roles of our gut is to safeguard our bodies from absorbing toxins and potentially harmful substances. If this barrier is weakened, these nasties can leak into our bloodstream. This is called leaky gut or intestinal permeability. While it’s critical to remove the triggers of leaky gut which include inflammatory foods, environmental toxins, prescription medications, and stress, CBD may offer additional support. In the CBD arena, studies have pointed towards its promise to fight gut leakage. Suffice to say, this research is at a preliminary stage and much more work is needed to fully understand this connection, but so far, the results are interesting.
Press Pause CBD and Gut Health
Looking after our gut is essential to our overall well-being and much of this can come down to sticking to healthy lifestyle habits and managing our stress levels. CBD shows promise in line with this, with the potential to enhance your efforts to care for your gut. By choosing the right CBD products, you can see how your gut feels. Press Pause offers premium, high-quality, and clinically backed CBD products formulated without toxic ingredients. To learn more speak to our team or browse our shop to discover our products.
