(BPT) - Getting a good night's sleep is critical to living your best life. Sleep affects many bodily systems and tissue, including your heart, brain, metabolism, immune function and mood. However, as many as 84 million American adults described their sleep as "poor" or "fair."
There are plenty of sleep aids on the market, but one that is gaining popularity is cannabidiol (CBD). Using cannabis as a sleep aid isn't a new concept. This natural substance has been used to relieve pain and promote sleep for thousands of years, and people continue to use it to drift off into sleep today. According to the Sleep Foundation, 70% of young adults said they casually use cannabis to improve their sleep.
However, the "how" is important as well. Data collected by Jointly, a cannabis discovery company, found drinks, edibles and tinctures were better than inhalable products at improving sleep. Using these CBD products is not only a discrete alternative to smoking cannabis, they're also easier to use as you go through your nightly routine.
Are you curious if you should incorporate CBD products into your nightly routine? Check out these three ways CBD may improve your sleep.
1. Balances sleep-wake cycle
Whether you call it your internal clock or circadian rhythm, this 24-hour sleep-wake cycle is essential to healthy sleep and holistic well-being. While it is self-sustaining, your sleep-wake cycle can be disturbed. Once it's thrown off, it can be hard to rebalance it. Elderly adults and night-shift workers are especially prone to disrupted circadian rhythms.
Luckily, the potential benefits of cannabis may be a solution to interrupted sleep-wake cycles. One study examined the connection between cannabis use and circadian rhythms in humans. The results suggest that those who use cannabis were more in sync with a traditional circadian rhythm than the control group.
According to Dr. Matt Roman, a medical marijuana doctor, "Marijuana is an effective sleep aid because it restores a person's natural sleep cycle, which so often falls out of sync with our schedules in today's modern lifestyle."
2. Increases melatonin
Walk down the supplement aisle at your local store, and you'll find many melatonin products that can help restore your circadian rhythm. While the human body naturally produces this hormone, melatonin production decreases as you age. It can also be reduced by other conditions like dementia, mood disorders, severe pain, cancer and type 2 diabetes.
Research suggests that taking medicinal cannabis oil can increase the body's production of melatonin. This is especially great news for individuals who want a good night's sleep but don't want to smoke CBD products.
3. Improves sleep quality
Have you ever slept eight hours but woken up feeling tired? Sleep quality is just as important as sleep quantity. To wake up rested, refreshed and ready to take on the day, you need to improve the quality of your sleep.
So how does cannabis help correct the sleep-wake cycle? According to the research, it's all about timing. Intriguingly, research suggests that cannabis may serve as a cue that helps reset our biological clock. Just like your morning coffee signals to your body that it's time to start the day, cannabis could also help cue your body that it's time to sleep. In fact, when used consistently, it may even help restore a balanced sleep rhythm, particularly in those whose internal clocks have been thrown off course due to our modern lifestyle.
Quality products for quality sleep
These are just three ways CBD may improve your sleep. Of course, not all cannabis products are created equal. It can be time-consuming and challenging to find quality products for quality sleep. However, you can easily find the best cannabis and CBD products for your goals using the Jointly app.
Jointly calculates your product matches using real product ratings and experiences of hundreds of thousands of app users. It can also build lists of your favorite CBD products and track your cannabis experiences.
You can't control your sleep, but you can help it. If you're ready to try cannabis for sleep, download the Jointly app today on the App Store or Google Play, or explore your matches on the Jointly website.
