Does CBD improve your sleep?

CBD is often presented as a molecule that helps with stress and anxiety. It is also promoted as a way of sleeping better. Here is what its supporters and the available research say about CBD and sleep.

CBD oil and insomnia

Insomnia is often bound up with stress and overwork. The snowball effect follows you all the way to your bed and keeps sleep at bay. Cannabidiol is presented by its supporters as a way of finding sleep again.

Taken as an oil, CBD is said to act quickly on insomnia through its role in regulating the CB1 and CB2 receptors of the endogenous cannabinoid system, which act on the human nervous system. Cannabidiol is thus described as allowing the body to relax by sending a message to the brain.

People prone to insomnia are said to fall asleep more easily thanks to a body that is completely calm and to relaxed muscles. There is more: according to the 2019 study Cannabidiol in anxiety and sleep, sleep quality improved by 66.7% among subjects who took CBD oil regularly. The study specifies that the treatment should be taken at bedtime for best results.

CBD and deep sleep

After falling asleep comes deep sleep. The brain reacts less and less to outside stimuli. Body temperature drops, the heart rate slows: in short, this is the moment when the body slips into a form of hypnosis. It is also what is known as restorative sleep.

CBD is credited with regulating homeostasis, that is, the body’s natural balance. In other words, it is said to influence heart rate, digestion, body temperature and breathing. By binding to the CB1 and CB2 receptors, CBD is described as acting directly on the nervous system by reducing the REM phase of sleep, which is responsible for dreams and night-time waking. Its supporters also claim that CBD oil eases symptoms linked to sleep apnoea.