Does CBD Oil Lower Blood Pressure?
If you’re suffering with high blood pressure, you may be looking for natural ways to bring your levels back to normal. While you shouldn’t stop taking your prescription medications, there are some supplemental therapies that may help you achieve your goals quicker and in a natural way.
CBD is one supplemental therapy that looks to be promising for lowering blood pressure.
And this isn’t just wishful thinking. We now have some research that backs up these claims. But before we look at using CBD for high blood pressure, let’s look at how CBD benefits the heart.
Why Consider CBD to Treat High Blood Pressure?
If conventional medications exist, why would you even want to consider using CBD to lower your blood pressure?
Blood pressure medications are typically beta-blockers, which help reduce the heart’s workload. Other types of medication may open up blood vessels, or they may prevent the production of certain chemicals that can cause blood vessel restriction.
But these medications come with some disturbing side effects, including:
- Asthma
- Erectile dysfunction
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Cold hands and feet
- Dizziness
- Irregular heartbeat
CBD can help improve high blood pressure, but if you’re already on medication, you’ll need to speak to your doctor first to make sure it’s safe to add to your treatment regimen.
How can CBD help your heart?
CBD & Your Heart
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in men and women in the United States. Each year, the disease kills more than 610,000 people.
CBD oil can help treat heart disease symptoms due to its ability to interact with the endocannabinoid system. Along with serving as an all-natural blood pressure medicine, CBD oil can help with symptoms of myocarditis and arrhythmias.
Here’s what CBD can do for your heart:
1. Lower Blood Pressure
CBD has been shown to be a vasodilator, which means that it widens the blood vessels to improve blood flow. Wider blood vessels reduce the damage to arterial walls caused by high blood pressure.
Relaxed blood vessels are better able to handle stress – those times when your heart gets pumping and pushes more blood through your arteries.
2. Reduce Heart Inflammation
Known as myocarditis, inflammation in the heart can damage or kill heart cells. Inflammation can be caused by viruses, your immune system, medication and even disease.
If left untreated, the inflammation can lead to death.
Myocarditis can cause the following symptoms:
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Swelling
- Fever
- Palpitations
- Swelling
- Liver congestion
- Sudden death
CBD is known for its anti-inflammatory properties. The endocannabinoid 2-AG actually binds to the CB2 receptor, which signals the immune system to send out fewer immune cells to attack. The great thing about this reaction is that it can affect other areas of the body as well. CBD oil can have an overall anti-inflammatory effect.
Research has also shown that CBD reduces the number of heart cell deaths during periods of inflammation. That is a significant finding, as cell deaths can cause serious side effects.
3. Act as an Antiarrhythmic
Heart arrhythmia causes the heart to beat slower, irregularly, too quickly or too early. Arrhythmia can be completely harmless, but when the irregularity is extreme or the heart is damaged, there could be issues.
Bradycardia (slow heart beat) can cause the following symptoms:
- Chest pain
- Difficulty concentrating
- Confusion
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Feeling faint
- Shortness of breath
- Palpitations
- Difficulty exercising
- Excessive sweating
Tachycardia (quick heart beat) can cause the following symptoms:
- Feeling faint
- Dizziness
- Breathlessness
- Weakness
- Lightheadedness
- Fluttering chest
- Chest pain
Atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) can cause the following symptoms:
- Dizziness
- Palpitations
- Breathlessness
- Weakness
- Chest pain
- Feeling faint
As you can see, the symptoms are very similar.
Research has shown that CBD can help treat arrhythmias, although doctors are still not sure how it works. The 2-AG endocannabinoid is believed to play a pivotal role in it, but more research is needed.
Cannabidiol & Congestive Heart Failure Studies
In recent years, we’ve seen more studies and research supporting claims that CBD can help lower blood pressure, help regulate heartbeat and also also reduce inflammation.
One such study was from the Division of Medical Sciences & Graduate Early Medicine at the University of Nottingham. In this study, nine healthy male volunteers were given either 600 mg of CBD or a placebo as part of a placebo-controller, double-blind, randomized crossover study. Researchers monitored cardiovascular parameters using a laser Doppler and finometer.
The results were impressive. CBD reduced the resting systolic BP and stroke volume. The group that took the CBD had lower blood pressure, especially before and after stress; decreased stroke volume; and increased heart rate.
The researchers concluded that acute administration of CBD reduced resting BP and lowered the BP increase associated with stress.
Another study from the Cardiology Department at the Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel found that CBD can help protect against heart cell death during inflammation.
In another study, CBD was effective at treating heart arrhythmias in male rodents. Researchers found that CBD reduced the total number of arrhythmias and infarct size.
How to Use CBD for High Blood Pressure
Before you buy and start using CBD oil for your high blood pressure, talk to your doctor to make sure it’s safe. Your doctor may also have recommendations on dosage and how to take CBD.
Quality is of the utmost importance if you plan to make CBD oil a part of your treatment protocol. Ideally, you want oil that comes from hemp that’s organically-grown in the United States. Look for companies that are third-party tested for purity. Also, pay attention to the concentration of the CBD. The higher the concentration, the more potent the oil.
High-quality CBD oil should only have trace amounts or no THC. The lower the THC levels, the better. CBD is non-psychoactive, so you should not be getting high off of your oil. While CBD oil is legal, THC levels need to be under a certain level (less than 0.3%) for it to be sold legally in the United States.
If you are drug-tested regularly, for work or another reason, then you’ll want to stick with CBD oil that has zero THC. Otherwise, you risk failing the drug test.
Beware of companies that claim “miracle” results with their CBD oil. The effects take time, just like any other natural treatment. CBD is not a magical cure-all.
Finding a quality source of CBD oil and using it appropriately can help lower your blood pressure. But if you plan to use as a supplement to your current medication, make sure that you talk to your doctor first to ensure that it’s safe to do so.
