What Are the Benefits of Cannabis? A Complete Guide
Cannabis contains more than 400 chemical compounds. That includes 60 different kinds of cannabinoids, terpenes, and other chemicals. You’ve probably heard of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol), but did you know about all those other compounds?
The combination of all these chemicals in cannabis provides many known health benefits and even more that doctors do not know. Medical marijuana legalization has allowed for more research into the medical benefits of cannabis and proven its many medical uses.
Interested to learn the facts about cannabis and how it can help treat tons of common ailments? Take a look at these 27 impressive health benefits of cannabis (plus a few social benefits too).
1. Fighting Cancer and Cancer Treatment Symptoms
When someone envisions a medical marijuana patient, they often associate them with someone who has cancer. That’s for good reason. Cannabis works well to combat the serious side effects of chemotherapy and other cancer treatments.
Recent studies also suggest that cannabis can slow down and maybe outright kill cancer cells without any negative effects on normal white blood cells. It appears strains higher in CBD work better to kill the cancer cells, but scientists still need to conduct further research.
2. Glaucoma Medical Benefits of Cannabis
Glaucoma is a very common medical condition affecting the eyes. It’s the leading cause of blindness in the world.
Glaucoma refers to damage to the nerve that connects the brain to the eye. It’s usually caused by high pressure in the eye. If left untreated, the damage accumulates and leads to blindness.
Cannabis relieves pressure in the eye. This slows the disease’s progression and can stop it entirely.
3. Control Seizures and Seizure Disorders
Cannabis’s ability to treat seizures and seizure disorders helped lead to its legalization, along with the first two examples. The first-ever FDA-approved cannabis-derived prescription was called EPIDIOLEX and used CBD to treat epilepsy and other seizure disorders.
Medical marijuana offers patients relief from seizures without the nasty side effects of other standard treatments. This is especially useful for children with epilepsy.
4. Help People with ADD/ADHD Focus
People who suffer from ADD and ADHD find concentrating for extended periods very difficult. Their minds bounce all over the place and sometimes their bodies do too.
Traditional medications like Adderall and Ritalin come with many unwanted side effects for both children and adults.
Cannabis can help people with ADD/ADHD focus better for longer. It also helps treat other symptoms like lack of restraint, the uncontrollable urge to move, irritability, and agitation.
5. Calm Parkinson’s Disease
Cannabis proves very effective at treating neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Patients with Parkinson’s suffer from uncontrollable tremors and chronic pain.
Medical marijuana calms the tremors and offers relief for the pain. Patients who use medical cannabis regularly also have seen improvement in motor skills overall.
6. Reduce Inflammation for Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
The anti-inflammatory effects of marijuana offer the body serious benefits since many diseases link back to inflammation.
Patients with inflammatory bowel diseases like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease will find cannabis can help relieve their pain. It also improves gut functioning by relieving inflammation.
7. Better Anxiety Management
Cannabis, when taken in small dosages and with the right ratio of THC to CBD, can offer anxiety relief to many patients.
Keep in mind that some people develop anxiety from taking THC. If you experience this, simply take some CBD and your symptoms should go away quickly.
8. Boost Energy Levels
Not all strains of marijuana will make you feel sleepy. Certain types of terpenes, one of the many chemicals found in cannabis, can boost your energy levels.
Choose strains known for their uplifting effects. These usually have terpenes like limonene and pinene.
9. Alleviate Chronic Arthritis
The anti-inflammatory benefits of cannabis also work well to alleviate chronic arthritis. THC offers relief from arthritic pain while CBD minimizes the anthric inflammation over time. The CBD must build up in your system to reduce inflammation.
10. Calm Someone Having a Panic Attack
Someone in the middle of a panic attack can try breathing into a paper bag, but a quick hit of CBD will work faster.
CBD’s calming effect works quickly and does not promote anxiety, as THC can.
11. Treat Depression
Regular cannabis use can help patients with depression overcome their symptoms and find contentment.
Studies show depression may have to do with an imbalance in the endocannabinoid system. Ingesting or smoking cannabis can help reset the imbalance and improve symptoms of depression and anxiety.
12. Manage Mood Swings in People with Autism
Adults and children with autism often struggle with emotional regulation and cognitive functions. Both THC-A and CBD have been shown to improve their cognitive and social capabilities.
Cannabis also regulates mood swings without the intense side effects of other mood stabilizers.
13. Regulate Blood Sugars and Circulation in Patients with Diabetes
Research shows that cannabis regulates insulin production in the body, which can help people with diabetes.
Lowering body mass index and increasing the level of HDL (good cholesterol) are two more cannabis health benefits due to its ability to regulate the production of insulin.
Its anti-inflammatory properties can also help patients with Type 2 diabetes specifically.
14. Increase Lung Capacity
Despite the stigma of smoking cannabis as being bad for your lungs, marijuana can actually improve lung function.
One study showed that semi-regular cannabis use increases lung capacity without causing harm. This only counts for semi-regular users, however, as heavy users saw adverse effects.
Want the benefits of cannabis for your lungs without the risk from smoking? Try cannabis edibles instead!
15. Calm an Asthma Attack
Again, it may seem counterintuitive, but marijuana can help calm an asthma attack. It’s not recommended to smoke cannabis when experiencing an asthma attack (although anecdotal evidence suggests it works).
Instead, try ingesting a tincture or eating a marijuana edible for relief.
16. Reduce Pain from Multiple Sclerosis
Cannabis works well to control muscle spasms in patients with multiple sclerosis. It can take away the pain quickly without the nasty side effects commonly associated with opioids.
17. Improve Sleep
Both CBD and THC affect your body’s natural REM cycle. REM sleep is when dreams occur.
Cannabis helps you experience more pleasant dreams when you remember. Often frequent cannabis users report not remembering their dreams at all. That’s helpful if you suffer from bad dreams due to mental disorders like PTSD.
18. Boost Sex Drive
Cultures around the world have used cannabis as a sexual stimulant for thousands of years.
THC and CBD can help you relax and increase blood flow to all the important areas. Find products with THC on www.3chi.com.
19. Eating Disorder Recovery
Many eating disorders stem from someone’s mental struggles. These mental struggles sometimes manifest with physical side effects like an eating disorder.
Often these mental struggles come from a chemical imbalance in the endocannabinoid system. Using cannabis helps to right the imbalance and stimulates and regulates appetite.
20. Reduce Side Effects of HIV/AIDs Treatment
Marijuana cannot outright cure HIV or AIDs, but it does offer relief for the serious side effects of their treatment. California first legalized medical marijuana in 1996 thanks to the efforts of Michael Koehn lobbying on behalf of patients with HIV and AIDs.
21. Chronic Pain Relief
Most people with chronic pain rely on opioids to manage their pain levels. Marijuana offers relief from chronic pain symptoms and it’s much safer than opioids.
22. Soothe Migraines and Chronic Headaches
Recent studies show that smoking cannabis can greatly reduce migraine and headache pain.
One study revealed patients suffering from headaches felt a 47.3% reduction in pain while patients with migraines felt a 49.6% reduction in pain. Again, this pain relief comes without the unwanted side effects of most prescription migraine medications.
23. Provide Relief for Menstrual Cramps
The pain associated with menstrual cramps varies from woman to woman. Some feel hardly anything while others suffer from debilitating cramps that can make it difficult to walk or even think.
Cannabis provides relief from menstrual cramps as well as other symptoms associated with menstruation like PMS and depression.
24. Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease
Some studies show that the neuroprotective effects of cannabis may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. The anti-inflammatory benefits of cannabis decrease inflammation in the brain and cognitive degeneration.
25. Soothe PTSD Symptoms
The anxiety-relieving properties of cannabis can help people who suffer from PTSD take back control of their symptoms. CBD works well to minimize the feelings of panic and THC can help to regulate mood to prevent rapid mood swings and irritability.
Cannabis also helps PTSD sufferers to sleep better. First, by helping them to fall asleep by calming the mind and body. And second, by helping them stay asleep through better dreams and fewer nightmares.
26. Lower Blood Pressure
Lower blood pressure is another one of the most helpful medical benefits of cannabis. Reducing stress and anxiety helps to lower patients’ blood pressure.
The regular use of high-CBD cannabis allows it to build up in your system. This allows you to gain anti-inflammatory effects as well as feel calmer overall. Both of these things contribute to lower blood pressure.
27. Feel More Creative and Imaginative
Finally, using cannabis can help you feel more creative and imaginative. It can help you look at the world around you with a new, more open perspective. The same goes for problems and things that cause anxiety or depression.
Marijuana can help you to reevaluate pain points in your life to find a solution. It can also help you relax and enjoy creating something for the sake of creating something. That, in turn, can help you get more pleasure out of life and find greater hope.
Bonus: 4 Social Benefits of Cannabis
The benefits of cannabis are not limited to health and medicine. Marijuana’s illegal history has affected many lives and prevented research into the other possible benefits of this natural plant.
Check out these four awesome facts about cannabis and the social benefits of cannabis legalization.
1. Sustainable Food Source
Hemp grows quickly and does not require a lot of land or water to produce. Cultures throughout history have used cannabis plants as a source for food, textiles, and many other practical necessities.
Cannabis seeds contain 15 grams of protein per ¼ cup (or 30 grams). Choose hemp-based cannabis seeds for a healthy, high-protein vegan snack. You’ll often see them packaged without their hard outer shell and called hemp hearts.
2. Fight Climate Change
Did you know one single hectare of industrial hemp can absorb 15 tons of carbon dioxide? That’s more than most trees and any other industrial crop!
Considering manufacturers can use cannabis to produce everything from clothing to building materials to toilet paper, that’s a big deal! Growing cannabis can help to offset the CO2 emissions of the manufacturing and large-scale farming industries.
3. Create Jobs and Investment Opportunities
The cannabis industry has opened up tons of new job opportunities across the United States. It also makes for a fantastic investment opportunity for those looking to invest their money in something they can feel good about.
4. Fund Public Programs
Taxes generated by the legalization of cannabis have overwhelmed states with funding for public programs. In 2019, cannabis excise and sales taxes produced over $1.9 billion.
States can then use these taxes to directly fund social programs to better the state overall.
Improve Your Health by Learning More About It
Did you enjoy learning about these social and medical benefits of cannabis? The best way to improve your health is to learn as much as you can about it.
You can find more great health articles on the DecoBizz lifestyle blog on all kinds of subjects from superfruits like tamarind to how to get the most from therapy.
Head over to the health section of the DecoBizz blog today!
