Cannabinoids Revisited: CBN
Hey folks! Time for another blog post from your one and only locally owned cannabis retailer, Circa 1818. This week, we’re going to continue reviewing the different types of cannabinoids you’ll find when you’re shopping for weed and what they can do for you! This time around we’re going to be revisiting one of the cannabinoids that most people don’t realize they need in their lives: the sleepy time cannabinoid, CBN.
The Science of Sleep
First, let’s talk about the importance of a good night’s sleep, then we’ll get into how CBN can help you wake up feeling rested and ready to face the day. It goes without saying that sleep is incredibly important to our overall health. It’s how we defrag and recalibrate our bodies and our minds. Within minutes of falling asleep your heart rate and respiration slow, your body temperature drops, and your brain activity is significantly lower than when you’re awake. To put it into computer terms for all the cool kids out there: you go into standby mode. When we sleep, we do so in cycles, with each cycle lasting between 70 and 120 minutes. This is important because a lot of people have spent their lives under the misconception that longer sleep equals more rest, which just isn’t true. You could arguably have a 2-hour sleep that is more restful than an 8-hour sleep, it all depends on the quality of said sleep. If we don’t get restful sleep every now and then we suffer a slew of consequences including (but not limited to): greater risk of obesity as well as type II diabetes, impaired memory and brain function as well as a weakened immune system.
In this day and age there are a lot of things we do that negatively impact our sleep such as doom scrolling on our phones as we lay in bed. Science says that the blue light emitted by our cell phones messes up our sleep cycles, inhibiting our ability to get the rest we need. So, having a non-intoxicating sleep aid like CBN that has no apparent side effects is a great boon to those who have difficulty getting some quality shut eye. Bear in mind, it’s not a fix-all when it comes to sleep. If you’re still engaging in behavior that reduces the benefits of sleep (such as arguing with a dude about the best way to make Yorkshire Pudding on Reddit at 2am), CBN isn’t going to suddenly remedy this. It’s best used in conjunction with good sleep practices.
How CBN Can Help
Which brings us to CBN or Cannabinol. Bear in mind as we talk about these minor cannabinoids that all the information I’m relaying to you is based on early research and some anecdotal evidence. Which is to say: Don’t take what our word as gospel. We aren’t doctors and don’t claim to be. We’re just a bunch of overstimulated pot heads who are passionate about weed.
Anyway, CBN is a chemically degraded form of THC which is produced when THC is exposed to enough oxygen and ultraviolet light. Unlike THC it is not intoxicating, although it is not recommended to operate a vehicle or do anything that would require an alert mind after taking CBN. It has been suggested through research and user testimonials that it helps to induce drowsiness as well as improve the quality of one’s sleep. It has also been shown to potentially help manage symptoms of various illnesses and diseases, both mental and physical in nature, however it’s the sleep aspect that appeals to people in the most universal sense. Like the other cannabinoids we’ve identified in cannabis, CBN interacts with our endocannabinoid system through receptors, which are specialized cells that bind to the cannabinoids and trigger a chemical response in our bodies. In this case that chemical response signals our body to inhibit the production of Orexin-secreting neurons. These neurons (aka nerve cells) stimulate our bodies and help keep us alert and wakeful, so inhibiting them can help to ease the CBN user into a restful state of sleep.
So, next time you’re lying awake at night staring at the ceiling and praying for the oblivion of sleep to overtake you, remember CBN can help and is available in a variety of different forms from edibles to oils. That being said, if you need more help than that: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene check out this website, where you can find tons of info on the best ways to get your body ready to recharge. Stay rested friends!
If you’re looking for some CBN, come on by or check out our menu! We’ve got tons of products to help you get the sleep you need.