Can CBD help those with diabetes?
Cannabidol, or CBD, can help people address a variety of chronic conditions, ranging from epilepsy to multiple sclerosis. With its anti-inflammation properties, CBD might even prove to be a smart step in diabetes management. Learn how CBD can help those with diabetes and what this might mean for future treatments.
Diabetes Basics
Diabetes is composed of two primary conditions, type 1 and type 2. When you suffer from type 1 diabetes, your body fails to produce adequate insulin, which makes accessing energy from food particularly difficult. Children and teenagers are most often diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, which affects just 5 percent of diabetics.
When you have type 2 diabetes, your blood sugar levels can easily rise higher than what’s considered normal or healthy. This happens when your body doesn’t use insulin correctly and your pancreas simply can’t produce enough insulin to keep your body operating normally. Type 2 diabetes can affect people of all ages.
Reduced Inflammation
Type 2 diabetics suffer from insulin resistance, or the inability to use insulin properly. In many cases, one of the primary contributors to the development of insulin resistance is chronic inflammation. A recent study has shown that the anti-inflammatory properties of CBD can have a positive effect on diabetes treatment, ultimately helping the body metabolize insulin in a normal, healthy way.
Though clinical trials haven’t yet proven links between CBD’s anti-inflammatory properties and diabetes treatment, researchers speculate that the results could have a major impact on the management of this disease. In fact, some researchers believe that CBD might even hold a cure for diabetes.
Lowered Insulin Production
For many type 2 diabetics, significant weight gain and major organ damage are common symptoms prior to diagnosis. Because type 2 diabetics can still produce insulin, the pancreas has the potential to overproduce to the point of failure. Since the liver can’t properly use the insulin, the hormone remains unused.
Researchers also suspect that CBD has the power to slow down insulin production and lower insulin levels. Studies have shown that CBD can alter everything from appetite management to the desire for food intake to energy balance. In addition, CBD might be able to control obesityin diabetics, which could result in major health benefits.
Diabetes Prevention
Along with reducing inflammation and lowering insulin production levels, studies have indicated that CBD might actually have the power to prevent diabetes altogether. Early tests show that using CBD to treat mice suffering from an early stage of the disease led to a diabetes diagnosis in just 32 percent of the subjects. In these tests, CBD prevented a kind of growth factor known as cytokines from developing.
Though additional testing is necessary to assess the impact of CBD more accurately, the results appear promising. Since cytokines play a key role in several autoimmune diseases, this research could ultimately have a much larger impact as well.
Clinical testing for the effects of CBD on diabetes still has far to go, but preliminary studies suggest promising results. Since definitive results remain to be proven, be sure to consult with your doctor before incorporating CBD tinctures or capsules into your disease management routine.
