Suddenly, hemp is everywhere! Thousands of new hemp products have flooded the market seemingly overnight, and you might be wondering what the excitement is about. Hemp products offer an astonishing number of health benefits, from boosting your mood and calming stress to easing joint discomfort. Hemp can also bring restful sleep, which helps you stay more alert during the day.
We’ve gathered together the top five reasons why healthy, natural hemp is a must-have for your daily routine.
The 5 Best Benefits of Hemp Extract
Hemp (Cannabis sativa) is a remarkable plant full of nutrients, antioxidants, and phytocannabinoids — all of which work together to provide numerous health benefits. Below are the top five.
1. Promotes a Sense of Calm
If you want to remain focused and calm during your busy day or to relax at the end of it, hemp is where it’s at! Hemp can help you feel more peaceful and happy.[1, 2]
The hemp plant contains more than 100 phytocannabinoids that interact with the endocannabinoid system, a physiological system that keeps your body processes in balance — known as homeostasis. Hemp’s naturally-occurring cannabinoids interact with endocannabinoid receptors, boosting brain and nerve health. By directly supporting brain and nerve cells, hemp and the phytocannabinoids it contains can play an integral role in your overall mental well-being.
One of the major components of hemp, CBD (cannabidiol), allows you to relax without feeling cloudy or spacy.[3, 4]
2. Helps You Sleep Restfully
Hemp can help you fall into a deep, restful sleep when you want to. You can take an organic hemp extract during the day and stay alert yet calm and focused — and then sleep well at night.[5]
Some people like to take hemp products a couple of hours before bed because it can actually increase alertness for a while but then leads to deep, full-body relaxation.
Try adding a full spectrum hemp product to your sleep routine. Full spectrum means that all hemp’s natural phytocannabinoids — including CBD, CBG, and even a little THC — plus terpenes, flavonoids, chlorophyll, fatty acids, proteins, and other synergistic metabolites are contained within. These compounds work together better than any single-ingredient product can — you'll sleep like a baby.
3. Eases Soreness, Aches, and Joint Irritation
When you have joint irritation, muscle tension, or general aches and pains, a potent, high-quality full-spectrum hemp extract can provide relief.
CBD and other cannabinoids, including THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), promote a healthy response to inflammation, which provides comfort for the swelling in your joints.[6, 7] Many people with joint discomfort have found hemp products help enormously. Hemp can safely bring relief wherever your body may show systemic swelling and redness.[8, 9]
While hemp contains low levels of THC — below 0.3 percent in the U.S. — even the trace amounts in a full spectrum product help relieve chronic body discomfort.[8]
4. Promotes Healthy, Glowing Skin
Hemp cannabinoids show promise for promoting healthy skin![10] Hemp may make your skin less oily, and oily skin can contribute to acne.[12] Cannabidiol, in particular, has been shown to reduce the secretions of sebocytes, the skin cells that produce fat or oil.
Hemp contains high levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, as well as numerous vitamins and nutrients. Fatty acids form the building blocks of your skin’s surface layers, and healthy fats play an important role in skin health. Taking omega-3s, especially those from plant sources like hemp, can create a smoother, healthier looking complexion.[11]
Another way that hemp and its components help skin is by reducing overall redness and swelling and promoting a healthy response to inflammation — from the inside out.[6, 7] While you’ll find it in many skincare products, it works incredibly well when you take it internally. It can help your skin glow!
5. Boosts Overall Body Health
If you want a natural product that boosts your overall health, hemp is it! Hemp’s ability to promote body balance works through the so-called endocannabinoid receptors located throughout the body, especially in brain and nerve cells, but also immune system cells, as well as body organs like the heart, lungs, and liver.
Hemp does many great things to promote overall body health and help general health issues, with few to no side effects, including the following:
- Stimulates brain health and function
- Helps the heart and cardiovascular system
- Boosts your immune system
- Eases head discomfort[13]
- Reduces oxidative stress
- Promotes normal blood pressure[14]
Ways To Use Hemp Extract
If you bought a hemp extract or hemp oil and are not quite sure how to take it, below are a few suggestions.
- Take hemp extract two hours before sleep for more restful slumber.
- Try with coffee and tea, or add to smoothies or no-bake recipes. Some find that it helps counter the jittery effects of coffee.
- Use just before times of rejuvenation, such as yoga or massages.
- Take hemp extract after a workout to promote exercise recovery.
- Use during times of high stress to promote a calm mood.
- Citrus and spicy foods can increase the effects of the cannabinoids, so be mindful of this.
- Tip: When you take a hemp extract, hold in your mouth underneath your tongue for 1 minute then swallow. Some people feel the benefits within 30 minutes.
How to Find a Quality Hemp Extract
With so many products crowding the newly opened marketplace, you want to do your research. There are a lot of companies that have sprouted up overnight that do not have the quality control processes in place that a more established herbal supplements manufacturer would.
Make sure to buy the highest quality product to ensure your extract contains the full spectrum of nutrients and phytocannabinoids that hemp is known for. A high-quality product will be certified organic, high-potency, and made from American-grown hemp.
Most full spectrum hemp oil or hemp extract products are made from the whole plant, including flowers, stalks, roots, seeds, and leaves. Ideally, it will use an extraction process that ensures you get a full array of cannabinoids.
+ References (14)
- De Mello Schier AR, et al. Antidepressant-like and anxiolytic-like effects of cannabidiol: a chemical compound of Cannabis sativa. CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets. 2014;13(6):953-960.
- Campos AC, et al. The anxiolytic effect of cannabidiol on chronically stressed mice depends on hippocampal neurogenesis: involvement of the endocannabinoid system. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2013 Jul;16(6):1407-1419.
- Grotenhermen F, et al. Even high doses of oral cannabidiol do not cause THC-like effects in humans: Comment on Merrick et al. 2016. Cannabis Cannabinoid Res. 2017;2:1-4.
- Gerhard Nahler, et al. A conversion of oral cannabidiol to delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol seems not to occur in humans. Cannabis Cannabinoid Res. 2017;2(1):81-86.
- Kuhathasan N, et al. The use of cannabinoids for sleep: a critical review on clinical trials. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2019 May 23. [Epub ahead of print]
- Schuelert N, McDougall JJ. The abnormal cannabidiol analogue O-1602 reduces nociception in a rat model of acute arthritis via the putative cannabinoid receptor GPR55. Neurosci Lett. 2011 Aug 1;500(1):72-76.
- La Porta C, et al. Involvement of the endocannabinoid system in osteoarthritis pain. Eur J Neurosci. 2014 Feb;39(3):485-500.
- Hill KP, et al. Cannabis and pain: a clinical review. Cannabis Cannabinoid Res. 2017;2(1):96-104.
- Burstein S. Cannabidiol (CBD) and its analogs: a review of their effects on inflammation. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry. 2015;23(7):1377-1385.
- Eagleston LRM, et al. Cannabinoids in dermatology: a scoping review. Dermatol Online J. 2018 Jun 15;24(6).
- Essential Fatty Acids and Skin Health. Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University. Published Feb 2012. Accessed 8 Jul 2019.
- Oláh A, et al. Cannabidiol exerts sebostatic and antiinflammatory effects on human sebocytes. J Clin Invest. 2014 Sep 2;124(9):3713-3724.
- Leimuranta P, et al. Emerging role of (endo)cannabinoids in migraine. Front Pharmacol. 2018;9:420.
- Jadoon KA, et al. A single dose of cannabidiol reduces blood pressure in healthy volunteers in a randomized crossover study. JCI Insight. 2017 Jun 15;2(12):e93760.
†Results may vary. Information and statements made are for education purposes and are not intended to replace the advice of your doctor. If you have a severe medical condition or health concern, see your physician.