Does Cannabutter Provide a Host of Mental Health Benefits?
Around the world, daily marijuana use is increasing, especially among young people. Now at its highest rate in 30 years, studies suggest that around 7.8 percent of college and non-college age adults in the US use the drug each day.
Its increasing appeal seems to go hand in hand with changing attitudes towards cannabis. With a number of countries having legalized the drug and/or introduced more lenient laws surrounding its use in recent years, most notably Canada, many people are opening their eyes to the potential health benefits it can offer.
Of these, one of the most widely reported is cannabis’ potential as a painkiller. With around 50 million Americans forced to live with chronic pain conditions, patients and doctors have long been looking for effective alternatives to the potent prescription drugs currently on offer, which often come with a series of detrimental side effects.
Some argue that cannabis could offer a solution. Though research into this remains scarce according to a 2017 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, there is nonetheless much anecdotal evidence to suggest that marijuana can be effective for those in search of an alternative to traditional painkilling solutions and a whole host of other health problems.
Could cannabutter be one way to take advantage?
What is cannabutter?
For those who wish to experiment with cannabis as a painkiller, there are lots of different ways in which the drug can be ingested. While smoking is the most well-known, this is not necessarily the best option, with foods containing CBD oil or THC offering a healthier alternative to both smoking and vaporizing.
This has led lots of people to explore the benefits of and options for cooking with cannabis, and one avenue that can be worth looking into is cannabutter. One of the easiest weed recipes to master, cannabis butter not only tastes great, but is among the best vehicles for transporting THC, CBD, and other fat-soluble cannabinoids into the human body.
The reason for this is simple: cannabinoids are not water-soluble, yet the body is made up of around 65 percent water. By ingesting cannabis alongside fatty foodstuffs, this issue is circumvented, with the drug absorbed into the bloodstream via the digestive tract, thus increasing its efficacy as a painkiller.
How to use cannabutter as a painkiller
Assuming you’re able to find a good recipe online, cannabutter can be consumed in a number of ways by those who want to trial its painkilling properties. While not everyone is convinced of its effectiveness, and further research into the drug’s potential medicinal uses still needs to be conducted, there are nonetheless many who claim to have experienced an improvement in their symptoms after trialing it.
One especially popular way to eat it is by buttering apple wedges and then searing these on an electric grill, to help seal the cannabutter into the pulp. Once done, you can melt some caramel in the microwave and then drizzle over the top for a deliciously tasty treat.
However, this is certainly not the only way to ingest it, and any recipe that requires butter can have cannabutter incorporated into it.
11 other potential health benefits
Of course, its painkilling properties are not the only reputed health benefit that’s said to come from cannabis. While far more research needs to be conducted before any definite links can be proven, cannabis and derivatives like cannabutter are also rumored to:
- Improve lung capacity
- Aid in weight loss, thus improving overall health and fitness
- Regulate and prevent diabetes
- Fight cancer
- Act as an antidepressant, antianxiety, and antipsychotic
- Regulate seizures
- Treat glaucoma
- Help with PTSD
- Slow the development of Alzheimer’s
- Soothe IBS and other inflammatory bowel diseases
- Improve or alleviate acne
When it comes to exploring your options regarding pain relief, many believe cannabis offers an effective alternative to more traditional drugs, but research into this and the many other potential health benefits it offers is very much still in its infancy – a fact those looking into it must bear in mind. Is it something you would consider trying to alleviate one or more of the ailments you’ve battled with?
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