CBD Oil for Sleep – India Legality, Usage and Buying Guide – 2020

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the 113 cannabinoids that are present in cannabis plants. The compound was discovered in 1940 and accounted for nearly 40 percent of extract from the cannabis plant. Research shows that CBD comes in handy in treating the symptoms of insomnia and anxiety. However, in India, Cannabis and its products are illegal to use. Cannabis, even though illegal for recreational use, has a long relationship with the country. Evidence suggests that people have been cultivating the plants in India since 2000 BCE. The plant has been described in the Vedas and is associated with one of the primary Hindu Gods, Lord Shiva. However, Hemp, which can also be used to extract CBD, has another story. It has been legalized in Uttarakhand, and since 2015, the country’s attitude towards CBD is changing. In 2019, CBD oil was made legal in India under the condition that it doesn’t contain THC in significant amounts. Cannabidiol, due to its medicinal value and lack of psychoactivity, has medicinal value, and there are various ways to consume it for that purpose. We have got CBD based aerosol sprays, oils, pills, and even vapes.

CBD Oil and How Is It Made

CBD oil is an oil that has only CBD as its active ingredient. The amount of THC or terpenes present in this oil should be either zero or close to zero. In India, CBD can be obtained in the form of oil along with sprays, and it is also found in specialized food items such as Bhaang, a cannabis-based drink that is legal in India. CBD oil made using cannabis plants is illegal in India as it has a higher chance of being contaminated with THC. There is also a lack of research that shows the effect of consuming THC and CBD together. However, the country allows the manufacturing and use of CBD oil that has been made using Hemp. So, a question arises, how do we get oil from something that looks like wild grass? There are various techniques that can be used to extract and purify the CBD oil present.

Carbon Dioxide Technique

Carbon Dioxide is a compound that can be easily converted from solid form to liquid then to gas pretty easily. This property of the compound comes in handy while extracting CBD oil from the hemp plants. So, how is it done? First of all, a piece of solid CO2 is introduced in a chamber that contains Hemp in a crushed form. Here, the temperature and pressure are kept at such a level that the carbon dioxide stays in liquid form. This liquid carbon dioxide is good at absorbing the CBD oil and its flavor from the crushing plants. In the next step, this mixture of liquid CO2 and plant material is pumped into a chamber where the temperature and pressure allow the carbon dioxide to evaporate and leave the highly pure CBD oil behind.

Oil Infusion

Since the beginning of the hemp harvest thousands of years ago, oil infusion has been a popular technique to extract the oil from the plant. The process is simple and effective, but it has a slight drawback. The first step in the oil infusion process is Decarboxylation of the plant material that is heating up the plant material to a high temperature to activate its ingredients. Once the process is done, olive oil or another plant-based oil is added to the plant material. This carrier oil and plant material is heated up to 100 degrees Celsius for a couple of hours. However, one major drawback of this method is that there is no simple way of getting rid of the carrier oil. So, if you are using CBD oil made by the infusion technique, then the presence of carrier oil would require you to use a higher quantity of oil as compared to using pure CBD oil for a similar effect.

Liquid Extraction

Another popular way to extract CBD oil from Hemp is through liquid extraction. It is quite similar to the oil infusion and CO2 technique. The process involves the use of ethanol, butane, hexane, isopropyl alcohol, and other similar compounds to help with the oil extraction process. However, the presence of impurities such as chlorophyll is a problem, but it can be removed to purify the CBD oil obtained. As we can see, apart from the Carbon Dioxide technique, other methods leave impurities within the oil produced from Hemp. However, there are various methods to get rid of the unwanted component of the and make a purer CBD oil. So, let us see what the methods used to get rid of the impurities are.

Distillation

Distillation is one of the best methods to get rid of solid impurities. In this process, the oil and solid impurity mixture is boiled in a flask and the resulting vapors of oil are condensed in another flask. Thus, leaving the solid impurity behind. In case the impurity is also a liquid, but the boiling point of CBD oil and that liquid are different, we can still rely on distillation and fractional distillation to get a purer CBD oil.

Winterization

In winterization, the impure oil is mixed with 200 proof alcohol and put into a freezer for the night. This frozen mixture is then passed through a filter to get rid of solid impurities such as fats and finally, the mixture is boiled to get rid of the alcohol and retrieve the pure CBD oil.

Use of CBD Oil for Insomnia

Cannabidiol, which is abbreviated as CBD, is extracted from Hemp and converted into various consumables. However, in the end, it is the chemical that matters as it reacts with the endocannabinoid system of our bodies to help us achieve homeostasis, i.e., a state of stability as well as balance. Unlike THC, CBD is not psychoactive, and thus, you don’t get high while using CBD. However, it is hard to comment on what happens when you use CBD contaminated with THC as there is not enough research to give conclusive results. Anyway, this property of CBD is helpful in treating certain conditions such as insomnia, body pain, and seizures. A drug called Epidiolex, which is made from CBD, is used for treating patients suffering from certain kinds of epilepsy in the US. This drug has also been given the green light by the FDA. There have been researches that prove that the use of CBD can help you sleep better at night. So, how does this compound provide us better sleep? To find out the reason, we need to understand what causes insomnia. According to Mayo Clinic, insomnia or the inability to sleep at night can be caused by a variety of things that include

• Medicines, some patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease are given medicine that contains dopamine agonists, and these medicines disrupt the normal wake-sleep cycle and lead to insomnia in the patients.
• Caffeine consumption, especially late at night, is also a leading cause of insomnia in most people.
• Sometimes, people who suffer from chronic pain, as well as restless leg syndrome, also find it difficult to sleep at night.
• Mental conditions such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder are one of the leading causes of insomnia.
• At last, environmental factors such as loud noise, bright lights, and an uncomfortable bed could also lead to sleeplessness.

In the majority of cases, if the cause of insomnia can be removed by changing the external factors such as getting a new bed or cutting down caffeine consumption, then there is no need to use CBD based products to get better sleep. However, if the underlying cause of your sleeplessness are conditions such as PTSD or anxiety disorder, then CBD oil is recommended to help you sleep better at night. The evidence suggesting that the use of CBD helps in dealing with anxiety is sparse, but some researches still suggest that the use of CBD lowers anxiety.

One such research conducted in 2019 involved 72 subjects in checking the ability of CBD to counter anxiety and improve the ability to sleep. Out of the 72 subjects, 25 complained that they suffer from insomnia, whereas the remaining 47 said that they suffer from an anxiety disorder. These subjects were given a pill containing 25 milligrams of CBD once a day throughout the test, which lasted a month. After the end of the trial, 75 percent of people who suffered from anxiety said that their anxiety was reduced to a great extent, whereas 66 percent of people who suffered from insomnia mentioned that they were able to sleep properly. In certain cases, pain is the leading cause of insomnia, and a 2018 review in Frontiers of Pharmacology said that there is sufficient evidence that we can conclude that using CBD is beneficial for people who suffer from pain. The authors of that review also concluded that using CBD can also help people who suffer from chronic pain to sleep much easily by greatly reducing the amount of pain that they feel.

One of the major symptoms of insomnia is grogginess, and it is believed that using CBD might help in dealing with that as well. CBD is shown to cause wakefulness in humans and animals, which is not the desired effect. Even though it is hard to pinpoint what effect of CBD is behind this wakefulness, researchers are not worried as this happens only in a small number of cases. Also, research in 2014 studied the impact of CBD on a person’s sleep cycle. The research featured four patients who suffered from Parkinson’s disease. These patients were given CBD, and it was discovered that the use of CBD improved their REM sleep behavior disorder. RBD (REM sleep disorder) is a condition that prevents a person’s body from going into the REM stage of the sleep properly. This condition leads to people acting out in their sleep, and doctors associate RBD with nightmares and poor sleep quality. Even though the evidence is not in ample amounts, it is still possible to say that the use of CBD comes in handy when it comes to getting proper sleep at night. The researchers suggest that CBD helps in improving sleep quality by dealing with the underlying problems such as grogginess and also helps alleviate causes that lead to daytime sleepiness alongside nighttime insomnia.

CBD Oil and Sleep Quality – Benefits

Those who manufacture CBD oil claim that it is effective against anxiety, depression, pain, sleep disorders, inflammation as well as other ailments. The FDA has also approved Epidolex, a CBD product, to treat epilepsy. However, the researchers conducted to show the benefits of CBD oil haven’t been successful in providing sufficient evidence. The only conclusive results came for the treatment of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Davet syndrome. Furthermore, most of the research conducted on the benefits of CBD oil is done in the US, where all 50 states have legalized the usage of CBD. The restrictions in the US were lifted in 2015, and the trials for the effect of CBD oil in treating Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and anxiety are underway. On the other hand, India has recently made it legal to use CBD for medicinal purposes, and we don’t have our own research to show its benefits.

Recommended Dosage of CBD for Better Sleep

Before taking any supplement, it is imperative that we know how it works and what are its side-effects. This is also true in the case of CBD. So, let us understand how it helps us sleep.

Working Of CBD

The few studies that have been mentioned earlier show a sample where CBD helped in dealing with the conditions and helped people sleep better at night. However, the legality when it comes to using CBD makes it difficult to conduct a significant number of studies to find conclusive evidence that points to the working principle of CBD. However, even if we don’t have a conclusive answer, the studies that have been conducted are not a wastage of resources. It has been established that the use of CBD improves our sleep quality by dealing with the conditions that lead to insomnia. Now, as the world is accepting CBD, it is only a matter of time before we decode the mysterious link between CBD and sleep.

Various Forms of CBD Available in India

CBD is available as a consumable not only in the form of oils but also as vapes, cigarettes, pills and capsules, aerosol sprays, and even jellies. Inhaling CBD is one of the most efficient ways to deliver the compound into our system. However, the use of cigarettes is not recommended. Vaping is not as bad as smoking, but it still affects our lungs. So, if possible, look for alternative ways to consume CBD. Eating gummies, putting CBD oil in food, using the aerosol spray, and applying CBD oil in the region that causes pain are some of the better ways to use CBD to get better sleep.

CBD Oil Dosage for Improving Sleep Quality

Now that we know the various forms that CBD is available in, we need to discuss how much CBD is enough. So, just like any other drug, we need to account for the body weight, body chemistry, and the cause of insomnia before recommending a dosage of CBD. It will also help to understand if the patient needs CBD or not. Studies that have been conducted relied on giving patients CBD doses ranging between 25mg and 1500 mg per day. It is often recommended that a person starts with the least amount of CBD and uses it for a week, even though it takes a month to see the results, before increasing the dosage, that too in small increments. Once you get the desired result, you shouldn’t increase the amount of CBD used any further. You should not worry if the results are not appearing in a week as sometimes it takes a month to see the effects of CBD on our sleep. However, before you start taking CBD supplements, it is recommended that you meet a doctor to discuss your insomnia. A doctor can not only tell you what a sufficient amount of CBD would but also tell you what the alternate options that you can opt for are.

How to Use CBD Oil for Improving Sleep Quality?

One of the easiest ways to use CBD oil to take the prescribed amount of oil in a dropper and put it under the tongue. You need to hold the oil under your tongue for a few seconds before swallowing it. It is one of the fastest ways to get CBD oil into your bloodstream. There won’t be any immediate effect. You need to do this for a couple of weeks before you get better sleep at night. In case it doesn’t work, kindly consult a doctor before increasing your dosage. CBD oil is also available in a form that can be used for smoking as well as vaping. These oils come in a container with instructions that tell about the dose. Oil Rigs, which are similar to water pipes, are used for smoking CBD oil. There are a variety of vaporizer pens available in the market that vape CBD oil. Vaping is a better option than smoking as it doesn’t produce any harsh smoke. If your insomnia is due to pain, then there is another way to use the CBD oil. You take the necessary amount of oil and apply it to your skin, where you suffer from pain. Adding CBD oil into your food is also a good option. There are also food items available that already contain CBD oil in them.

Side Effects of CBD Use

CBD is considered to be safe when taken orally. Cases have shown that people were able to take up to 300 mg of CBD orally a day for one month without any side effects. In some cases, people took up to 1500 mg of CBD daily for a month without any problem. In the US, the prescription drug, Epidiolex, to treat certain types of epilepsy is taken in quantities that are determined by body weight, up to 20 mg/kg. Even though there are no serious issues related to the consumption of CBD, it has some side effects such as dry mouth, lowered blood pressure, lightheadedness, and drowsiness. There is also evidence that suggests liver injuries, but the chances of this happening are extremely rare. As for the side effects of CBD oil, not much is known about it. However, CBD should not be used by women who are pregnant or breast-feeding. The product could be contaminated with other substances, which might be harmful to the fetus or the infant. Children who suffer from epilepsy are usually given dosage under 10 mg/kg, and in some severe cases, it might increase to 15 mg/kg. Higher dosage than this might cause adverse effects, and CBD is not to be used on children older than 2 years. People who have some liver-related issues need to be careful while using CBD. They are generally told to take a dosage comparatively lower than the one taken by healthy people. There is also evidence that suggests that in some cases, a high dosage of CBD by people suffering from Parkinson’s disease might make the tremors much worse.

Buying CBD Products in India

In India, CBD products except Bhaang are illegal for use unless it is being used for a medical purpose. However, only CBD made from Hemp is legal for cultivation and use in India, and any product made from this Hemp cannot have more than 0.3% THC component. In India, CBDstore.in is one of the most reliable retailers of CBD oils and tinctures along with other products such as sprays and edibles. There are also a few retailers that sell their products on Amazon and Flipkart. However, before buying a product from anywhere, get to know about its purity, batch and lot number along with expiry date. Ensure that the manufacturer has provided an address or phone contact and consult a doctor before using CBD oil.

CBD Oil for Sleep FAQs

What Is CBD Oil?

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a Phytocannabinoid that was found in 1940. CBD is one of the 113 known cannabinoids found in cannabis plants. An oil with CBD as its only active ingredient is called CBD oil.

Is CBD legal in India?

Recently, CBD obtained from Hemp has been legalized in India. Uttarakhand became the first state in the country to legalize CBD products. However, except for Bhaang, no other CBD product can be used for recreational purposes in India.

What Is the Difference Between CBD and THC?

Unlike THC, CBD is not psychoactive, i.e., you won’t get high after consuming it, and therefore it has medical use.

Is It Okay to Use THC And CBD Together?

We don’t have any proper research data on the effects of using CBD and THC together, so you should refrain from using them together.

Does CBD Help Cure Insomnia?

Research shows that the use of CBD helps in dealing with the conditions that lead to insomnia. So, it can be said that it helps in the case of insomnia but doesn’t treat the condition itself.