One of the most confusing parts of the CBD industry is the claims that CBD can boost the immune system and reduce inflammation at the same time. Many people may wonder, ‘how can CBD decrease the immune response and at the same time boost it?’ How can taking CBD oil do both of these things at the same time?
The answer is we are far from knowing how CBD works, and there is not enough information to make claims like CBD will strengthen the immune system. There are incredible small amounts of data that suggest CBD may have this ability only in specific situations.
CBD companies use this lack of accurate data to make claims that result in people buying their products. In this article, we will discuss the relationship between CBD and the immune system and why companies are making these claims.
CBD Oil for Immune System
Since the rise of CBD, products after the 2018 ‘Farm Bill,’ unsubstantiated claims have run rampant by CBD companies and advertising agencies. The FDA has done a lousy job at penalizing companies making false claims, but the task is impossible because there are thousands of CBD companies.
The claim that CBD helps the immune system derives from a study looking at patients with an immunosuppressant disease. CBD appeared to increase the T cell and B cell count in these patients who were struggling to produce them independently. While this study is promising, and we hope that CBD can help people recover from these horrible diseases, the sample size was minimal and not grounds to claim that CBD can boost the immune system.
CBD and Covid
Once the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world, misinformation online spread at an even higher rate, especially regarding home treatments. Everything from onions to CBD to bleach was touted as a treatment for COVID. The idea that CBD could boost the immune system would only further be exploited by CBD companies during the pandemic.
Taking CBD products to boost the immune system is most likely a waste of time. There is actual evidence that suggests that CBD could decrease the immune response.
While most information regarding CBD for COVID treatments is nonsense, researchers in Jerusalem used CBD to decrease the immune response in severe COVID cases. One reason people suffer from the virus is that the immune system panics and causes the lungs to fail. The researchers believe that a treatment with using CBD capsules could reduce this reaction and causing the immune response to be balanced and not cause any life-threatening damage.
CBD Immunosuppressant
The research suggesting CBD as an immunosuppressant is much stronger than the information regarding CBD boosting the immune system. While there aren’t nearly enough studies to say definitively, animal trials suggest CBD will lower the immune response. Specifically in inflamed rat bones, joints, and muscles.
Using CBD as an immunosuppressant shows more promise than as an immune booster. Making these claims is relatively backed up with data compared to other claims, but we are still far from determining how CBD should be utilized.
Final Thoughts
The immune system is complicated. Many people do not understand how the immune response can hurt the body in certain situations. The recent rise in fear regarding health has created an increase in disinformation spread online.
We hope that CBD can prove to be used to somehow boost the immune system when you need to fight disease and lower the immune response when the body is overreacting. As of now, however, we do not have sufficient information to make these claims.
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