Could CBD Actually Replace Ibuprofen?

As the ancient Bible passage says, ‘modern medicine giveth, and modern medicine taketh away’ … or perhaps not quite, but you all get the gist. Because let’s face it, for every ibuprofen that goes down, a little side effect in the form of nausea & vomiting, dragon breath or sudden death inevitably comes up. Hello, chronic pain pill poppers, we see you.

Fast forward to today: it’s 2019, we’re banishing single use plastic and we have options for our health, it turns out. We get to take care of our minds and bodies in more holistic, natural and virtually side-effect-free ways… and as Obama used to say: YES WE CAN.

Farewell NSAIDs, hello CBD!

NSDAIS (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) like ibuprofen, aspirin, naproxen and more, are some of the most well-known anti-inflammatory drugs in the world, used for just about every type of headache, joint ache, and inflammation under the sun, but come with a large list of potential side effects, which not many people are fully conscious of.

BASICALLY, when the body suffers an injury, it creates a compound called prostanoid, and ibuprofen works by inhibiting the release of that compound so we don’t experience the pain. A truckload of studies have shown that CBD does a similar job, so let’s play doctors for a min, shall we?

CBD and the endocannabinoid system

The endocannabinoid system is like a highway network in our bodies that regulates stuff like mood, hunger, mental health, nutrient transport, immunity and so on, but most importantly, it houses the CB1 and CB2 receptors, which are responsible for how we react to stress, trauma and pain.

CBD affects the CB1 and CB2 receptors by regulating and lessening the pain signals that the receptors release, and that includes mental and physical discomfort from stress, anxiety and depression, to bone and joint pain, headaches, inflammation and much more.

So, can we throw our regular meds out?

Weeeelll, not so fast – according to the NHS, 48% of people living in the UK take at least one prescription drug a day, and there is loads that modern medicine does well… but there is also loads it doesn’t, and this is why we’re here, and well… science agrees!