CBD vs Caffeine

What's the first image that pops into your head and someone mentions the word Cannabis?  

For a lot of people, we're all thinking joints, bongs, and getting stoned.

Modern cannabis has become a lot more complex than that. Nowadays, when we talk about cannabis, we're no longer just talking about a plant. We've broken that plant down into extracts, compounds and building blocks with tremendous therapeutic potential.

As a result, cannabis is starting to look a lot less like a pre roll. and that's great news for all of us, because the new version of cannabis is a lot more exciting than the old one.

In fact, cannabis has emerged into a modern-day superfood.

And if we can reset our image of this plant? Cannabis might become more important in our daily routine than coffee.

So. Let me tell you how cannabis became a regular part of my daily routine. When I was in my early 30s. I had a foolish moment of when I thought I could conquer New York, that set my life down a very challenging path. I applied for a job  working as a real estate broker in Manhattan, New York.. To make matters more complicated, they hired me.

It was fast-paced and high stress, and in certain situations that stress could become overwhelming. So, I tried everything I could to manage my anxiety, including prescription medications. But those came with their own side effects on my mood and my energy levels. So, I searched for a different solution. And it took years before I found them. I stumbled upon a little-known cannabis extract called CBD.

It turned down my stress levels but still allowed me to feel clear, headed in, focused, and suddenly I was back in control of my daily routine. I felt confident and composed and relaxed, and I just sort of felt like myself.

Now, before you all get the wrong impression, let me clarify that CBD, that is, Broad Spectrum CBD does not get you high. That effect that gets you high, comes from a completely different chemical called THC. And Broad-Spectrum CBD does not. In fact, you could take all the CBD in the world, watch the entire Breaking Bad Netflix series. and you're still not going to feel high. Trust me on that one, CBD doesn't impair you. Instead, it seems to have the opposite effect, which sounds a little bit like magic until we dig into the science.

We all have a built-in system in our bodies that keeps our internal functions in balance despite imbalance and our external environment. It regulates things like stress, mood and appetite. Think of it like the conductor of an orchestra.

When one piece starts acting out of rhythm, for example, an overactive stress response called the endocrine adenoid system can step in and smooth it out. See, CBD, really happens to be one of the chemicals that supports the function of this system, helping that conductor to maintain rhythm throughout the body and the brain and brain imaging studies have actually proven this.

Through these studies, we know that CBD can help to modulate activity in key brain regions involved in our stress response, like the amygdala. In other words, CBD helps your brain to function in a more balanced state when stress levels spike. OK, so why am I telling you about biological systems and brain activity? Well, for one. I spent a lot o time trying to get a better understanding of it, so I would like nothing more than to share what I learned. And. I'd kind of like to get my money’s worth. The other reason is that this little-known cannabis chemical is about to change the way we all think about our daily health.

 It's made such a big impact on my daily routine that I now dedicate myself professionally  though my business to creating healthy CBD options for people that want to give it a shot. And it's not just for people with extreme anxiety or panic attacks either. CBD has this gentle calming effect on mood, destress level like a meditation. Think of it like the volume knob on a stereo. it really doesn't shut the noise off entirely. It just turns out that down a little bit so you can hear the music. And because of that, it's being used to help people perform better in a wide range of daily stressful scenarios, from interviews to networking.

People that used to have a drink to calm the nerves are now trying CBD instead. It is even effective for public speaking. Multiple studies have been done on the effects of CBD on public speaking and have found a significant reduction in stress and discomfort compared to a control group. And the potential benefits of CBD go way beyond stress management too, because of the broad function of that Endocannabinoids  that impact our system.

CBD itself can have a wide range of benefits, droves of professional athletes are now ditching prescription pills and painkillers in place of CBD, and insomniacs are turning to CBD and the magic of CBN  as a potential natural remedy for more restful sleep.

But before you go and toss out any prescription pills, this does not mean that even CBD is going to cure your anxiety or insomnia or urethritis. There's no one-size-fits-all solution to these things, and for many people, prescriptions will just be the best option. But the implications for CBD are fascinating, particularly when you consider that we may have stumbled upon a natural remedy to common ailments that affect millions of people every single day.

Better yet, you don't have to ingest a handful of pills and supplements to get those results. CBD is commonly infused into foods and beverages in a way that's healthy and convenient. You can get everything from infused water, Juices to CBD infused olive oil and even mainstream foods, like cereal cookies and hummus.

But before we all go, run out of here and engulf a big bowl of CBD infused cereal, it’s important to consider the risk factors. Is CBD safe? And what happens if we take a lot of it?

These are all very good questions. Fortunately, we do have some answers.

Reports currently indicate that daily dosages of CBD up to 1500 milligrams are well tolerated by the body, which means they're safe. And to put that number in perspective, here's a graph that shows common CBD dosages and food products today versus what those reports deemed to be safe. And you can see it's not even close. “insert a graph”

You'd have spent thousands of dollars every single day on CBD infused food even come close to those numbers.

The World Health Organization is also weighed in on this, stating that CBD has a good safety profile and that no public health problems have been associated with CBD use.

Even the FDA, which sets the gold standard for safe food policy in our country, seems to agree with all this. Just last year, the FDA noted little indication that CBD has abuse potential or presents a significant risk to public health.

Even more remarkable. CBD doesn't seem to be addicting, either. The FDA data also found no evidence that CBD causes physical or psychic dependence.

So, let's recap.

CBD comes from a plant. Doesn't impair you, is safe for adults to consume and could help millions of people. It's an amazing discovery, right? I think we should all pop up in a bottle of CBD prosecco to celebrate.

Not so fast. Because we currently sit at a pivotal moment in the history of cannabis regulation, one that will determine if, when and how we're even allowed to purchase cannabinoids like CBD  as a country.

We don't like to change our cannabis laws very often. We've only done it once before when we effectively made it illegal back in 1937. And since then, cannabis has been vilified for its recreational use. The idea that weed equals scary Is so deeply rooted in our culture that it even affects the way we think about versions of this plant that have absolutely nothing to do with its recreational use.

So now after an eighty-year failed experiment, we're finally about to revisit the cannabis question, and the decisions we make today will set the course of this industry for generations to come. Pretty awesome.no?

Now, this is obviously a ton of responsibility. And it's very important that we get it right this time. Part of getting right means doing more research. Setting right markets marketing standards, right safety guidelines because as much as we know today, there is still more work to be done and a lot of products on the shelf today just don't hold up to the right quality standards.

But we can't continue to put it off to kick the can down the road because the longer we delay our regulatory decisions, the longer we deny access. 

A natural solution to common ailments that should be very treatable. We need to move forward based on real science, one step at a time. Now I'm talking to you about CBD today, because it happens to be a pretty great first step. It's healthy, it's natural, and we have a growing database of research to support its efficacy. So how do we move forward on CBD regulation? Well first. We all need to determine what it is.

There are a lot of people out there who will tell us that CBD should only be a prescription medication. Those people are called pharmaceutical companies. And they're well aware that this industry is projected to be worth $26 billion in a few short years.

But maybe a little skeptical those motivations because if we remove the veil of cannabis stigma. It is nothing more than a natural plant ingredient with therapeutic potential. It's more like a superfood. And fortunately, we already have a pretty good blueprint for that, thanks to America's all-time favorite functional food. Caffeine.

Now I know it might seem strange for me to stand up here and to compare something from cannabis to an everyday item like caffeine but bear with me. But they are really all that different. They both come from plants. They're safe for adults to consume. And we use them to improve our mood and our energy levels. Interestingly enough. Caffeine was once vilified too. Back in 1909, the United States government filed a federal lawsuit against Coca-Cola for marketing their product that contain caffeine, which they deemed to be unsafe. Nowadays, caffeine can be found in all sorts of products, from food and beverages to cosmetics and even medication. We ensure that caffeine products are safe and labeled properly. And then we let people decide if they want it, when they want it and how they want it. And since I'm sure everyone here has had some form of caffeine today. It's safe to say we're all pretty comfortable with that system. We need to take the same step forward with cannabis because cannabinoids like CBD should be no more threatening than a cup of coffee.

And if we do it the right way this time, we have an opportunity now to give millions of people access to something that could improve their work lives, their social lives and their overall happiness. But we need to take a step back first in order to move forward and toss aside those outdated stigmas. Because this plant is a lot more than just weed. Cannabis should be viewed as therapeutic. So let's hit the reset button on our image of cannabis, starting with a fresh look at CBD. And if we can change our perspective on one aspect of this plan? Maybe we can take another look at the rest of it too.