You can bet that when winter arrives, tissue, as well as menthol throat candy sales, will increase. Don’t forget about the cold-prevention strategy, which includes many herbal supplements.
Could CBD play a role in the new cold-weather arsenal? That’s why we’ve come to find out the truth.
We’re clearing the path for you to learn:
- When you have a cold, does CBD help?
- Can CBD help you avoid getting a cold?
- How can you get those benefits from CBD if that’s the case?
You might be suffering from the sniffles correct now, or a cold virus could be lurking in the room you’re in – so let’s get to work.
The Common Cold: An Overview
What’s the story behind that adage? Oh, sure. “Know your foe.”
Whether you’re trying to avoid catching a cold or treat the one you currently have, you need to know what you’re up against. So let’s get to know our adversary.
The cold virus is an infection of the respiratory tract caused by a virus (nose and throat). Droplets in the wind, personal touch, or sharing a food contamination item, such as a drinking glass, are all ways for it to spread. It can get into your body through your eye, nose, or mouth.
Although the winter months are peak cooler seasons, a cold can strike at any time of year.
A rhinovirus strain is the most common cause of cold; however, a cold can be caused by various viruses. They all share the same signs and symptoms.
- A stuffy nose or a runny nose.
- I have a sore throat.
- Coughing.
- Congestion.
- Sneezing.
- The whole body hurts.
- Fever of low intensity.
- And you just want to curl up under a warm blanket and watch your favorite show.
Talking of knowing your enemy, it’s critical to determine whether you’re suffering from a cold or something more serious, such as COVID-19 or the flu. Before you believe you’re suffering from a common cold, make sure you follow the proper procedures to rule out all the coronavirus or flu.
When You Have A Cold, This Is How Your Immune System Reacts
When a cold virus infects your system, your immune cells act like a superhero, saving you from nosebleeds and rib soreness caused by coughing. (Who’d have guessed there were muscles there?)
This is how the counter-attack appears.
- It begins by announcing the arrival of an invading force from another country. This is accomplished by sending cytokines, or messenger proteins, to your white blood, neurons, as well as blood vessels.
- Because white blood cells flow through your bloodstream, your blood vessels dilate to allow more of them to enter and fight the infection. That’s when things begin to feel uneasy, and symptoms appear.
- The white cells must cause your body a hostile environment for the cold virus. As a result, they dilate blood flow and take up more space. This is the cold’s most “I want my mommy” stage, with a high fever and accompanying symptoms. The great news would be that your blood cells also are producing antibodies to protect you from the virus resurfacing.
- The infection is finally defeated. Huzzah! Because your nose is indeed the major pathway for flushing out the fluids your body has amassed due to the immunological response, you can expect leaky faucet circumstances during this time.
The Common Cold and CBD
So, what are our current understandings of CBD and colds?
Colds aren’t high on the priority list for CBD research because they last about a week and aren’t life-threatening. As a result, we don’t know much about colds in particular.
We can infer CBD studies for viral diseases because colds are viruses. We can also investigate the effects of CBD on cold symptoms.
Cold Symptoms May Be Helped by CBD
Remember the immunological reaction we discussed earlier? Two immediate actions induce symptoms as a result of immunological activity:
- Inflammation is caused by the influx of white blood cells that fight the virus. When the viruses KO job is done, the outcome is congestion, bodily aches, a painful throat, and eventually a runny nose.
- To cause your body an unwelcoming environment for the virus, your brain raises its core temperature. As a result, a fever develops.
CBD affects the endocannabinoid system, a system in the body that regulates the production of cannabinoids (ECS). The immune system is linked to this newly found mechanism. We’re still learning about the connection, but we know that CBD contains anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive qualities, which could help minimize the severity of these reactions.
As a result, CBD may be able to help you get over your cold more quickly. CBD oil may be able to help you sleep over the worst of it, with data pointing to CBD’s sleep-promoting properties.
Cannabis Compounds May Help To Prevent Viral Infections
Cannabis also contains terpenes, in addition to the cannabinoids CBD and THC.
Triterpenoids have long been recognized to have antiviral qualities, in part because cannabis isn’t the only plant that has them.
Terpenes in cannabis and CBD are being investigated as an antivirus to prevent COVID-19 infection. The common cold and a cousin of COVID-19 were employed in preliminary investigations. Researchers have discovered that a mixture of terpenes and Cannabidiol is the most effective strategy to prevent infection so far.
All of this suggests that terpene-rich CBD oil could be a valuable addition to your cold-prevention arsenal.
In the article What Are Terpenes and Why Do They Matter? Dive deep into the beautiful world of terpenes.
Using CBD to Fight Colds and Prevent Colds
You may be asking how to use Cannabis products to prevent or treat cold symptoms now that you understand the science between CBD and cold viruses.
It all boils down to safety, smoking, and frequency ranges.
It’s A Good Idea To Run It By Your Doctor
The majority of people tolerate CBD well. It is pretty rare for side effects to develop. Dry mouth, diarrhea, tiredness, and a loss of appetite are symptoms.
However, keep in mind that CBD can inhibit the immune system. This is usually not a concern for healthy folks. When you have a cold, it’s OK to use cold medicine as well as anti-inflammatory pain killers.
However, if you do have an autoimmune illness (or any other medical issue), you should get medical advice before using CBD to treat your flu (or anything else). CBD can interact with other drugs. Thus, it isn’t suggested for all health conditions.
Please Don’t Smoke!
When you have a cold, it’s not a good idea to smoke cannabis or vape CBD because it irritates your respiratory system. It can also increase your and others’ susceptibility to respiratory illnesses.
However, with so many great CBD products available, getting a dose won’t be a problem. CBD can be combined with melatonin in a nighttime tea, taken as a water-soluble CBD soft gel, or chewed as a CBD gummy.
Make it a gummy with elderberry, zinc, as well as vitamin C while you’re at it, like this Cannabidiol with elderberry, zinc, as well as vitamin C.
Use CBD Oil With A Broad Spectrum Of Effects
You’ll need a Cbd product that’s high in terpenes if you want to get the benefits of terpenes. Let’s figure out which CBD type to go with.
- Isolate CBD is stripped of all, but the CBD and terpenes are lost in the process.
While full-spectrum Cannabidiol is an option, it may include more THC than would be legal or desirable. - Terpenes having zero or almost no THC are nevertheless present in broad-spectrum CBD. (The maximum THC content is 0.3%).
- As a result, broad-spectrum CBD is your best bet for terpenes. The best part about it? It’s nationally legal, so you should be able to locate it locally — or get it online to keep your viruses to yourself!
Looking at the research, there’s still a lot of work to be done until we know precisely why and how Cannabidiol could be a good cold treatment or preventative tool.
CBD’s qualities, on the other hand, CBD’s qualities appear to reduce inflammation and symptoms linked with colds. The combination of terpenes and CBD may also help to prevent viral infections.
If you want to give CBD a try this winter, check sure it’s compatible with your current healthcare therapy. Use broad-spectrum CBD to reap the possible advantages of terpenes for colds. Choose from a variety of edible CBD products to avoid the risks of smoking.
