Cooking With Cannabis – A Guide to CBD Infused Food & Drink
With the relaxing (puns always intended) of laws around the cannabis plant, CBD has become a popular supplement for many. Its benefits hit triple-fold, with a calming effect on the mind, relaxing the body and cleansing the soul.
As more and more people jump on the bandwagon, more creative ways for getting your daily dose pop up. Tinctures have long been a popular method, due to their high concentration and relatively easy method for dosing (just a drip on the tongue). With quite a bitter taste though, many prefer to find other ways to get their fix.
Adding CBD to Food and Drink
When adding CBD to food or drink, it is not recommended that you use a tincture. Instead, oils such as coconut or olive oil compliment the CBD. As a fat-soluble compound, it is best absorbed with fatty foods. Combining the CBD with oil therefore produces the best results.
As heat can negatively affect the properties of CBD, it is always recommended that you add the oils after you have finished cooking or baking. With CBD oils, any temptation to use them as cooking oil would only reduce the effects. Drizzle some oil onto precooked food for the best results.
With drinks, a drop of tincture in any hot or cold beverage should work a treat. Again, remember the adverse effect heat can have and if adding to a hot chocolate, allow the drink to cool a little first.
https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/cannabis-recipes?
How CBD Impacts The Brain
The medicinal benefits of the cannabis plant stretch back eons and throughout various civilisations. With changes in global consciousness towards the plant, more and more scientific studies are being carried out into the benefits of the cannabis plant and its compounds. The results of these studies have shown interesting conclusions that support the medicinal and relaxing benefits of the compound.
Found in industrial hemp, CBD (cannabidiol) is a non-psychoactive compound. In 2018 a study by the World Health Organisation (WHO) found that CBD has no case reports of abuse, dependence or negative effects on health.
Interacting with the human body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS), CBD interacts with receptors within this system. The ECS is like a bridge between mind and body, the receptors react to hormones and the production of these hormones is encouraged by CBD. As hormones control your mood, having the right balance can have a significant effect on your mental health and well-being.
How Does it Impact Thoughts?
As well as helping the balance of hormones, studies have shown that CBD can change the flow of blood in your brain. By stemming the flow of blood to the area of the brain responsible for anxiety, your sense of anxiety is reduced.
Stress causes swelling in the brain. When your body experiences systemic inflammation through stress, more cortisol is released into the body. As a natural anti-inflammatory, CBD helps reduce the swelling, reducing the stress and in turn reducing the levels of cortisol your body produces.
The exhilarating sensations felt by runners, extreme sports enthusiasts and endurance athletes comes from a dopamine boost.
Exercise, bright light, sleep, massages and a balanced diet will all help to raise your serotonin and dopamine levels. Keeping this balance just right will help with libido, appetite, memory, sleeping patterns and many more positive attributes.
In finding a balance, your brain is free to operate as it should. A high functioning brain is an essential part to a productive day. With functionality high, you are likely to suffer less stress, and so you become a self-feeding machine of positivity and happiness.
Working away whilst you sleep, other studies have found that CBD reduces nightmares and other sleep disturbances. Again, feeding into your production of serotonin and dopamine the addition of CBD to regular routine can be the building blocks the balance your body needs.
As an anti-inflammatory, CBD also reduces minor swelling which can occur in the brain. Known to be associated with Alzheimer’s and even strokes, swelling in the brain can be reduced and regulated with a routine CBD intake.
Keeping the brain functioning healthily with its anti-inflammatory properties, CBD also helps assist your brain's shelf-life. As an antioxidant, it reduces the oxidative damage that our brains are all susceptible to.
As we get older, oxygen has a damaging effect on the brain, this can lead to Parkinson’s disease and can also alter essential proteins.
For a more detailed look into CBD products, CBD Oils the specifics of CBD and its many other benefits, you can check out the Goodrays website
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