Relaxation that you drip under your tongue – that’s how those who celebrate CBD oil as a miracle cure classify it. Business with the legal hemp preparation is booming. The health effects have not yet been sufficiently investigated. How (un)wise is it to take cannabidiol?
The effect supposedly sets in after half an hour. A wave of relaxation should then flow through your body. “Subtle, subliminal” is how one consumer describes the feeling towards FITBOOK. «Loose without being high.» For the mid-20s, the golden drops are just the thing to start a stressful day at work. Tina, in her mid-30s, feels the same way. She compares the effect of CBD oil with that of valerian: «It relaxes me, I feel more balanced.»
Why is CBD oil so popular?
Cannabidiol (which is what the abbreviation CBD stands for) is the non-high-inducing active ingredient in the hemp plant. Due to the low THC content, CBD products are theoretically legal – which makes them the darling of the food industry: In recent years, manufacturers have brought more than 100 dietary supplements with CBD onto the market in Germany alone.
The idea of natural relaxation is excellently marketed. Brownies and coffee are infused with CBD, as are creams, shampoos, and chewing gum. It is particularly popular in the form of oil: CBD extract mixed with hemp seed oil that you drip under your tongue.
The small bottles are available with 2.5/5/10 or 15 percent active ingredient. Depending on the extraction method, CBD oil has a dark brown to golden color reminiscent of olive oil. Consumers describe the taste as «earthy, tart to mild».
Where is CBD oil sold?
You can buy CBD oils in pharmacies, numerous online shops and hemp shops. The drugstore chains dm and Rossmann had already carried the hemp extracts in 2019, but then initially removed them from the range again due to legal concerns. CBD products are now available again from dm, with 5 and 10 percent active ingredient content.
Rossmann also has some CBD oil products on offer, with 10 percent active ingredients, but only for animals.
Background for the back and forth: The EU is still unsure whether CBD-containing products will continue to be considered a dietary supplement or whether it should be approved for the pharmaceutical market. Even the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) does not want to lean out of the window with a final answer. At the moment, producers must first submit an application for testing, as can be read on the website of the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL).
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Stay away from CBD oil from China!
Anyone currently ordering CBD products on the Internet should ensure that they choose high-quality products. Nico Primbas, who sells CBD products himself via an online pharmacy and has tested many oils himself, says to FITBOOK: «What comes from the hemp seed to the finished extract from one and the same producer is usually good in purity. I would stay away from products from China. You should spend 30 to 35 euros for a high-quality 5 percent CBD oil, and at least 100 euros for one with 15 percent extract.” He also advises consumers to make the effort to check the manufacturer’s website for certificates of analysis.
What effects do consumers of CBD oil hope for?
However, the hype about CBD is countered by the question of its health benefits – and the associated question of possible risks. Because the supposed miracle cure is said to have so many healing effects beyond the relaxation aspects that you almost get dizzy when you list them. It is said to have an analgesic and antidepressant effect, relieve cramps, be anti-inflammatory and make nervousness disappear.
Franjo Grotenhermen would sign all of that. The general practitioner with a practice in Rüthen (NRW) believes in the therapeutic effects of hemp, is chairman of the «Working Group Cannabis as Medicine» association and has written a book on the use and effects of CBD. Basically, according to Grotenhermen, one has to differentiate between the numerous, over-the-counter lifestyle products and medical (prescription-only), high-dose CBD: “With three drops of CBD oil with a low concentration three times a day, we are almost in the placebo range. This is comparable to low doses of valerian,” he tells FITBOOK. Depending on individual responsiveness, the latter can achieve “strong pharmacological effects”. But is there any scientific evidence for this?
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The effects of cannabinoids in the body
Cannabinoids are an endogenous substance. These so-called endocannabinoids, i.e. cannabinoids produced in the body, affect our metabolism as well as the immune and hormone systems (especially the sex hormones) and control mental abilities (e.g. learning), emotional processing, perception and pain perception. If this substance is replaced from the outside, the body begins to adapt: its own production dwindles.
Is there any scientific evidence that CBD oil works?
Prof. Dominik Irnich, head of the pain outpatient clinic at the Munich University Hospital (LMU), doubts the pain-relieving effect of cannabinoids. «So far there have been no high-quality studies that prove this,» he says to FITBOOK. A «very special exception» is the good effect of high-dose, isolated CBD in the treatment of epilepsy in children. (Synthetic) cannabinoids are also used successfully in chemotherapy (reduces nausea) and palliative medicine (increases appetite). The Berlin Charité is currently researching whether CBD can help with schizophrenia.
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The subjective testimonials that can be read by the thousands in Internet forums that celebrate CBD as the new miracle cure for everything should be separated from this. Irnich: «It may be that the consumption of CBD products is good for one or the other, maybe the comments are also interest-driven. There is no scientific proof of this.”
«Buying relaxation with oil is short-sighted»
The pain doctor considers the casual handling of over-the-counter CBD products to be far more problematic than the question of the medical effect. «I wouldn’t say it’s highly dangerous,» Irnich tells FITBOOK. He thinks buying relaxation with oil is short-sighted: “It doesn’t make any sense. CBD has many different effects in the body and we don’t yet know the long-term effects.”
Anyone who longs for relaxation should reduce stress factors or try to improve their stress management. The professor’s tip: «Concentrate on your own strength instead of messing up your metabolism in the long term!»
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Conclusion on the effect of CBD oil
There is not much left of the celebrated wonder drug CBD when you ask for scientific evidence of its effects. From three drops of three drops per day, as practiced by many lifestyle consumers, not much more than a placebo effect can be expected. Statements about the relaxing effect should be taken for what they are: subjective testimonials for which there is no evidence to date. And if you need relaxation, it may also be advisable to focus on yourself – to perhaps change something about the conditions that prevent relaxation in everyday life.