CBD, Your Immune System and Fighting Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Some of you have reached out to us asking if CBD can help with coronavirus. The short answer is, yes – current research suggests that CBD may be important to implement into your immune system’s toolbox as it helps the body ward off viruses. 

To Fight Coronavirus, You Must Understand It
If you aren’t familiar with the specifics of the coronavirus, we’d suggest learning more about what it is and how to give yourself the best shot at avoiding it. There is a lot of information out there so, as always, find resources you trust. For us, that is the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and universities. In fact, one of the best ways to understand all of the data on COVID-19 is available at Johns Hopkins University. 

Secondly, it is important to think of your lungs as sponges that contract and expand with breathing. When you get sick, inflammation can make it harder for the lungs to expand and contract.  In addition, they can fill with mucus, which can inhibit breathing as well.  

If you’d like to watch the current COVID-19 pandemic explained in more detail, check out the video link at the bottom of this article.

How CBD Helps Fight Coronavirus (COVID-19)
With this in mind, below are two connected and compelling reasons to consider CBD as an aid in defending yourself against COVID-19. 

Reason #1 – CBD Encourages Homeostasis
First, and most importantly, CBD can help encourage homeostasis, a process or reaction that our body uses to maintain equilibrium and a constant internal environment. It is often necessary for survival.

Our internal endocannabinoid system works to maintain homeostasis by using cannabinoid receptors to monitor reactions in the body. When a discordance is detected, cannabinoids are synthesized to interact with receptors. They stimulate a chemical response to address the issue. 

CBD, a cannabinoid found in hemp and cannabis, has been shown to regulate and correct the immune system. In fact, you could say CBD functions like the endocannabinoid system, bringing equilibrium to our bodies.

So what does this mean specifically for COVID-19?

Reason #2 – CBD May Help Regulate Your Immune Response
In some cases, infections like COVID-19 can trigger a reaction so destructive it can be fatal. In the most severe cases, the lungs can fill with phlegm and we can literally drown in our own immune response. In cases not so severe, we will experience mild symptoms such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath.

Because CBD can function to enhance homeostasis, it can calm the immune hyper-response. So basically, as CBD works to create equilibrium, it can help to calm this storm.

There is a lot of new research and building evidence pointing toward cannabinoids such as CBD having an adaptive, immunomodulating effect. This means that CBD is believed to stimulate or suppress the immune system helping our body to fight off infection and diseases such as COVID-19.

In addition to CBD, turmeric has also been shown to be a potent immunomodulatory agent activating certain cells while downregulating others due, in part, to its ability to modulate the immune system. Turmeric and CBD together is a dynamic weapon against infection.

As always, we’d love to hear from you. If you have any questions regarding CBD, feel free to reach out at any time! We are happy to talk with you!!

 

P.S. Hear From an Expert
If you’re like me, you deep dive into topics that impact your life to learn more. In my search for real unfiltered information, I found an interview with Michael Osterholm, an American public health scientist, and biosecurity and infectious disease expert. I found it really good for understanding what this is all about and how best to protect ourselves.  

A couple of takeaways for me were:

• People are expecting this to be the COVID-19 blizzard, but we should expect many more months of COVID-19 winter. This is going to take some time.
• The primary goal we should be focused on is slowing the spread of the virus so that hospitals won’t be overrun with too many people needing care at the same time. This explains in more detail.
• I found a doctor who had written some material that convinced me that wiping down gym equipment before and after use along with handwashing would keep me relatively safe. That’s not the case. Gyms are a high risk due to sweat and bodily fluids. Don’t go.

 

Stay safe. Be well. 

Dan Grim
Owner and CEO
Meli Botanicals