The non-intoxicating marijuana component CBD holds “potentially performance-enhancing properties” for athletes and may serve as an effective post-exercise recovery tool, according to a new scientific review.
The research looked at 70 peer-reviewed studies on the therapeutic efficacy of cannabidiol to assess whether the cannabis compound may uniquely benefit people who participate in sports.
Researchers at Universidad Nacional in Costa Rica said the research they reviewed—which included studies involving athletes, people with epilepsy and mice—found that “CBD appears to have anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, analgesic, anxiolytic, and potentially performance-enhancing properties in athletes.”
The researchers stressed that additional evidence is “necessary to confirm these effects,” and part of the reason for the current gap in clinical trials is due in part to “national and international restrictions on access to cannabinoids, including CBD, and strict control of their use for research purposes.”
However, a review of the scientific literature signals that consuming cannabidiol is associated with improvements in “both physiological and cognitive functions.”
For example, studies have demonstrated that CBD can treat “central and peripheral neuropathic pain,” while also assisting with “antidepressant and anxiolytic effects at the cognitive level, with only positive and beneficial evidence for functional recovery and anti-inflammatory symptoms.”
“CBD appears to have
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