Cold and flu season is exactly the time when we start to think about our immune system. That being said, building up a strong and healthy immune system is an inside job and something that we should be working on throughout the entire year, and not just when we are worried about getting sick. We talk about specific supplements, including CBD oil, that you can use to boost your immunity in a previous blog post. However, we also cannot talk about immunity without looking at the impacts of stress on the immune system, which we also mentioned in another blog post. In this post, we discuss how CBD oil acts on autoimmunity and helps you maintain good health.
The Immune System
To give you a brief background, the main goal of our immune system is to protect us from invading pathogens. This includes diseases, infections, viruses, bacteria, etc. The immune system itself is a network of cells, organs, and tissues that work together to destroy foreign particles to keep us healthy, and most importantly, alive. The key components that do this are the white blood cells.
Without making it too complicated, there are two types of white blood cells which include lymphocytes and phagocytes. Lymphocytes are also referred to as B-cells and T-cells which work to destroy antigens or harmful foreign invaders. They also help your body remember these foreign invaders so that the immune system can respond quickly and properly when it detects another similar invasion. Phagocytes help absorb and neutralize foreign invaders in order to prevent them from spreading and resulting in more damage.
In addition to protecting your body against toxic pathogens, your immune system is also responsible for detecting and eliminating cells that are no longer functioning properly. Once they are found, the immune system starts the process of apoptosis, or cell death, so that defective cells cannot multiply and form tumors. As you can see, the role of the immune system is critical to maintaining good health.
How CBD Affects the Immune System
Firstly, we need to mention the endocannabinoid system. Being a more recent discovery, we are still learning how it exactly works in the body. However, what we do know is that this system helps to establish and maintain homeostasis, or balance, between the different systems in the body. This includes everything from the nervous system, the endocrine system, the digestive system, and of course, the immune system. Your body produces endocannabinoids to help modulate or regulate cell function in each of these systems.
Some studies have found that CBD can influence your immune system due to the anti-inflammatory properties that it offers. It also functions as an immunosuppressant and immunomodulator. These are basically fancy terms for saying that it helps bring down the immune system when it becomes overactive and it helps to stabilize the immune system when things get out of control. You will find in the next section that this is extremely applicable to those dealing with particular chronic health conditions, like autoimmunity. Multiple studies discuss the immunosuppressive effects of CBD including the ability to reduce the inflammatory response. Inflammation is a vital response that works to isolate infected regions and prevent toxins from spreading, but it can also be destructive to the body in excess and over a longer period of time.
CBD can also promote apoptosis or cell death and prevent the proliferation of rapid cellular growth, like in tumors, making it great for prevention. In addition, CBD can modulate or suppress the function and secretion of cytokines. These are groups of proteins secreted by specific cells in the immune system that function to signal molecules that regulate immunity, inflammation, and white blood cell production. CBD also suppresses the ability of cytokines to lead immune cells to the site of infection, thereby reducing the action of white blood cells attacking and destroying invading microbes. Finally, CBD can suppress T-cell production and function, thereby suppressing the ability of the immune system to remember foreign invaders. Again, these are incredibly important points for those dealing with an imbalanced immune system, like in autoimmunity which we discuss further below.
Should You Use CBD Oil for Immune Health?
Yes and no. Since CBD can work as an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant, it would be best to use it for a person with an autoimmune condition, and not necessarily to fight off a cold or flu. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of us do actually suffer from some sort of autoimmune disease whether we know it or not. In most cases, these conditions can be difficult or can take a long time to properly diagnose. Therefore, we encourage you to take a moment to understand autoimmunity and how it likely does have an implication for you in the next section.
In addition, as we mentioned at the beginning of this post, we do also need to consider the impact of stress on the immune system. High-stress levels over a longer period of time also work to suppress the immune system. So if you can manage your stress using CBD oil, then you allow your immune system to do the job that it needs to do.
A Quick Word on Autoimmunity
An autoimmune disease occurs when your immune system does not work properly. Instead of attacking foreign microbes, it attacks healthy cells, tissues, and organs. Basically, the body starts a war against itself and it can happen anywhere throughout the body. This often results in a weakening of proper body function and extreme fatigue. In addition, these are chronic conditions for most people, but they can go into remission with proper care.
There are over 80 unique autoimmune diseases. The rate of autoimmune diagnosis is steadily increasing every year among the population (on average 7%). This also extends to include most food sensitivities and intolerances. Some examples of these conditions include:
- Celiac disease
- Type 1 diabetes
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Multiple sclerosis
- Fibromyalgia
- Hashimoto’s disease
- HIV/AIDS
- Crohn’s disease
- Ulcerative colitis
- Huntington’s disease
- Psoriasis
- The list goes on…
Now you can start to see that probably you yourself even deal with an autoimmune issue. Perhaps this is something that you never really considered before.
CBD Oil for Autoimmunity
As we mentioned previously, studies have discovered that CBD is an immunosuppressant and immunomodulator (meaning it works to stabilize). It offers anti-inflammatory properties which are great because inflammation contributes to the majority of autoimmune diseases. Therefore, taking CBD oil can help with autoimmunity by reducing inflammation to possibly get the condition into remission. It can also suppress the immune system when someone has a hyperactive one that promotes the body to attack itself.
Therefore, CBD oil is a good option for immune health, but not in the way that you probably expected. It does not offer any immune-boosting benefits. It does quite the opposite by suppressing where the immune system is overreacting. However, for the majority of people, this is going to be extremely beneficial. It could be even better than the ability to boost immunity. We definitely believe that CBD oil is a great natural option for autoimmunity.
Curious to try using CBD oil to manage your chronic health condition? We suggest HARMONIA, our strongest product with the highest concentration. This is a great option since you can take fewer drops and it will last you much longer. It will also give you the best value for your money if you plan on taking CBD oil over a longer period of time. This is often necessary for chronic health conditions like autoimmunity.
Curious to learn more about how CBD oil can be successfully implemented into your lifestyle? Register for our totally FREE 7 Days of CBD Oil Course to learn everything you need to know!
