Cannabidiol (CBD), a derivative of cannabis, is increasingly being used to help improve the quality of sleep. A 2019 Gallup poll showed that one out of seven Americans, roughly 14%, use CBD. And of all the benefits it provides, the one that Americans use it for the most is as a sleep aid.
Those hoping to use CBD to grab some shuteye should begin with relatively low dosages and work their way up — incrementally since reactivity is always subjective. Many clinical trials have involved giving subjects from 25 milligrams to as much as 1,500 milligrams of CBD daily.
CBD can also help soothe the human nervous system. Consumers who take it at least an hour before retiring have found some relief from insomnia and have reported having had a relaxing night’s sleep. Research published in 2019 concluded that 300 to 600 milligrams successfully reduced anxiety symptoms, a frequent cause of sleeplessness. Health officials confirm that CBD can expand both the quantity and quality of sleep by helping users move smoothly through the various stages of sleep and REM sleep without interruption, a balm for those suffering from circadian rhythm disorders.
According to authorities, taking CBD every day is fine when the reason for using it is for symptoms that users deal with daily, such as anxiety, difficulty falling and staying asleep and chronic pain. How long users of CBD take to fall asleep naturally varies, but 30 minutes or less is the norm. Gummies typically result in four to six hours of sleep. Obviously, higher doses tend to result in more extended periods of sleep.
However, when it comes to treating insomnia, the jury remains out.
“To this day, there’s no study that has used CBD on its own in any trial of insomnia,” Anastasia Suraev, a doctoral candidate and research fellow at the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics at the University of Sydney, told the New York Times this past summer. “There are studies that have found that CBD used in combination with THC holds promise as a treatment for sleep disorders like sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome and nightmares related to post-traumatic stress disorder.”