The Potential Benefits of CBD and Enhanced Mental Clarity | Hara Flow

These days it’s easy to feel like CBD products are being marketed as a cure-all for everything from hangovers to more severe health concerns. While some of the marketing is misleading or just plain false, there are hundreds of proven benefits regarding inflammation prevention, athletic recovery, and overall wellness. However, today we're exploring CBD's role in promoting mental clarity. Mental clarity and focus are essential to thinking critically, stay sharp throughout the day, pay attention during mundane tasks like driving home from work on Monday night traffic-filled roads or in meetings where you’d otherwise be dozing off for minutes at time. Mental agility helps with quick decision making as well as maintaining relationships by being able to listen better than ever before.

What Does the Mind Need for Optimal Focus and Clarity?  

 

In order to have a functioning brain, we need sleep. If you are not getting enough of it then your brain starts functioning alot like your iphone when it starts hitting that 10% battery life. In fact, It is scientifically proven the amount of sleep you’re getting at night directly impacts the brain afterwards. The National Sleep Foundation suggests that healthy adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night.

 

Movement and exercise is often forgotten when we’re thinking about mood and mental clarity. Being active is so important to keep your physical health in check, but it also plays a major role in your mental well-being too! It improves stress, depression, anxiety levels and more by releasing endorphins that help you feel good even when life gets tough. 

 

Close a few tabs, take some things off your plate, and allow yourself to declutter your mind. Sometimes our heads get cluttered with thoughts and feelings making it difficult to concentrate. As much as our physical space needs tidying, so do our minds. In a recent time magazine interview with high power financial Advizor Walter Zimmerman, he names daily meditation as his secret weapon to success. He goes on to say “Meditation directly affects the function and structure of the brain, changing it in ways that appear to increase attention span, sharpen focus, and improve memory.” Experts also suggest journaling, and avoiding multitasking. Journal of Experimental Psychology recently published an article suggesting that General, expressive writing eliminates intrusive thoughts about negative events and improves working memory, and helps to free up our mental resources for other activities, like  the ability to manage stress more effectively. 

 

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT HOW CBD INTERACTS WITH OUR BODIES?

Scientists believe that the effects of CBD come from its ability to interact with the body's endocannabinoid system, which naturally already contains substances like THC and CBD. Our bodies have a system made up of cannabinoids and receptors called the ECS, or endocannabinoid system. The ECS is a network inside our bodies that helps maintain physiological and emotional stability and regulates many other functions. For example, these molecules or endocannabinoids are believed to regulate hormone production and physiological and cognitive processes. So giving the endocannabinoids a little boost with additional CBD appears to make our own ECS and bodies function more effectively.

 

Emotional Health and the Endocannabinoid System

 

Some research suggests that decreased dopamine levels and increased cortisol levels can make us feel well, out of focus. In contrast, a positive mindset can make you eager to work and complete tasks. Being happy also makes you more confident when making decisions. Now that we've explained that ECS works to help regulate many things within the mind and body, like mood, appetite, sensation, memory function, and immune response, let's explore how.

 Hormone Regulation

When functioning hormones properly, leave the body in a state of homeostasis. This occurs when all the body's systems are in balance. The ECS plays a vital role in helping the body maintain homeostasis. Conversely, hormonal imbalances can really wreak havoc on our bodies and basically knock us out of homeostasis. For example, when the thyroid gland is not working correctly and stops secreting the necessary hormones, a person can become very ill. CBD is believed to work with the endocannabinoid system to help regulate the body's hormonal systems.

Rest

Melatonin, a hormone that governs sleep, is thought to be elevated by CBD, making it easier to fall asleep. A recent study from the

SLEEP FOUNDATION

suggests that CBD has a calming effect on the nervous system, helping you get to a more restful state.