Why men should try CBD? The exploding popularity of cannabis health products in recent years shows little sign of stopping. Home values have even jumped in regions with legal cannabis. This is partly thanks to high-CBD, low-THC strains, which don’t get you high but provide similar benefits. With your driver’s license safe and your near future (relatively) clear of potential embarrassing moments from being intoxicated, what are the benefits of CBD that men can enjoy?
1. Improved Sexual Function
Despite the misconceptions, CBD and other cannabinoids may improve your ability to maintain and gain an erection. Research shows that men who use cannabis have higher average scores on the International Index for Erectile Function (IIEF), with an average of 65.36 compared to 60.52. Men also had a 17 percent risk of erectile dysfunction if they smoked cannabis, compared to 31 percent of men who did not. Cannabinoids such as CBD may enhance your sensitivity to sexual pleasure, which may be behind these benefits. Additionally, their anxiety-relieving properties could help prevent performance anxiety, a common cause of erectile dysfunction.
A healthy sex life has benefits for your health and longevity. Men who enjoy frequent orgasms have half the death rate of men who have little to no sex. This likely involves causation in two directions: healthy men have more and better sex, but better sex improves your health.
2. Anxiety Relief
One reason why you may enjoy more satisfying sex may be CBD’s anti-anxiety benefits. Studies demonstrate a significant anxiety reduction, particularly social anxiety, with CBD use. Social anxiety centers around fears of being judged by others and perceived consequences, such as damaged relationships.
3. Pain Relief
Pain relief may be the oldest use of cannabis, with documentation and use in burials with people who likely suffered chronic pain stretching back thousands of years. CBD may help relieve anything from everyday muscle soreness to difficult nerve pain. For example, one trial on nerve pain showed decreased intense, itchy, sharp, and cold pain with CBD treatment. Here is an article on 10 ways CBD helps with chronic pain!
4. Post-Workout Recovery
CBD could help you to recover more efficiently after heavy workouts. A study following people for 72 hours after intensive exercise, who had either taken 60mg of CBD or a placebo, found small yet significant improvements in signs of muscle damage. Their creatine kinase and myoglobin levels were lower, indicating less muscle breakdown, while their back squat strength improved faster after exercise. These benefits may have been thanks to CBD’s anti-inflammatory properties, which can protect your tissues against damage from exercise.
5. Physical Fitness
Blow the stereotype of the “lazy stoner” out of the water with CBD’s benefits for strength training. One paper on oral CBD and fitness suggested that you could speed up progress toward your goals if strength training is important to you. While athletes who took the placebo showed declines in peak power over the short term after heavy exercise, those assigned to CBD had slight, non-significant gains instead. This is possible because of CBD’s antioxidant effects, which can help preserve muscle mass even during weight loss.
6. Prostate Cancer Prevention
Unique to men, prostate cancer is one of the most common and dangerous forms of cancer. As sudden as it may seem, it’s important to remember that cancer cells typically spend years in the background, growing from a tiny group of damaged cells.
Lab studies suggest that CBD may be able to kill off prostate cancer cells, which could pave the way for trials on prevention or even treatment of the disease. It reduced cell viability, colony formation, and even the cells’ ability to migrate in some cases. Many men with cancer use CBD oils for symptomatic relief relating to both the disease and conventional treatment regardless.
7. Testosterone Levels
Testosterone levels fall with age, an issue that you likely start noticing in your 40s. Thankfully, a population study found a link between taking CBD products and a reduced risk of low testosterone. Men over 40 only had a 21-22 percent chance of low testosterone, compared to 35-36 percent among the general population.
8. Metabolic Health
In the same population study, both men and women who use CBD had a significantly lower risk of diabetes after the age of 45. Among men aged 45-64, 3.4 percent of CBD users had type II diabetes, compared to 12.1 percent in a reference population. Only 8.6 percent of men over 65 were found to have type II diabetes, less than half of the 19.8 percent of non-users. Like their testosterone levels, this wasn’t linked to overall health because many people take CBD to manage a chronic condition.
9. Improved Daytime Energy
Cannabinoids don’t just help you sleep. The population study showing benefits for testosterone and diabetes risk also found that CBD users had lower scores on daytime drowsiness. Forty-three out of 49 people who initially had daytime drowsiness saw their symptoms resolve. As CBD may improve sleep and soothe anxiety at night, this could lead to more alertness during the day.
10. Acne Relief
Testosterone has a lot of benefits, but it can make your skin oily and acne-prone. Thankfully, lab studies show that CBD can reduce the number and function of wax-producing cells in your skin. These contribute to acne development when they’re overactive as they clog your pores. It’s best to use a topical CBD product such as lotion if acne is your main issue. Chances are that at least one of these potential benefits speaks to you and your personal needs. Today everyone and their mother makes CBD. But they are NOT all created equally. Check out Purchasing CBD: 5 Important Standards For The Best Medicinal Hemp Oil.
