Cannabidiol May Influence Sleep by Influencing Blood Pressure and Heart Rate.

High blood pressure is on the rise in our modern world and is most associated with unresolved stress and chronic inflammation. High blood pressure comes with a whole host of negative symptoms and health outcomes. When high blood pressure is lowered to healthier, more functional levels it can induce feelings of relaxation and regulation. Relaxation and regulation are benefits also gained through proper sleep hygiene.

Sleep hygiene and healthy brain cells necessitate many things, especially a healthy lifestyle. Without healthy brain cells, sleep quality, depth, duration, and efficacy are all reduced. Lucky for us, the endocannabinoid systems (ECS) can help with the regeneration of healthy neural cells. More so, when it comes to accessing quality sleep, CBD might have both a direct and a secondary causal effect. This is because of its cited effect on one of the most vital components of sleep hygiene: neuroinflammation. Neuroinflammatory regulation depends primarily upon nutrient delivery, and you guessed it, blood pressure.

Let’s talk about nutrient delivery first. The brain, and all of its billions of cells, float inside the skull and are bathed in and surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). This fluid plays a critical role in brain health. Now, a brain cell’s ability to take in nutrients is dependent upon its environment and ability to effectively remove waste, inflammation, and other byproducts of energy consumption. Imagine this: you were a fish floating inside of an aquarium. When the aquarium is clean, you breathe and function well. You are able to take in nutrients from your environment and use them to healthily regenerate yourself and sustain life. However, what happens if this aquarium a malfunction and is unable to filter and effectively pump fresh water into the tank? The water gets backed up, the tank gets dirty, and all the while the fish continues to try and remain healthy in an environment that is toxic. The same concept applies to neural cells in the brain. In this analogy, the neural cells are representative of the fish while the fluid represents CSF. If this fluid, which is pumped through the body via pressure, gets backed up, a neural cell’s ability to remain healthy and functional becomes more challenging. This is due to both its environment being negatively affected and nutrient delivery becoming less optimal.

Next, let’s talk blood pressure. In this same analogy, blood pressure is like the hydrodynamic components of the fish tank that move fresh water in and out. In our body, blood pressure plays a critical role in what’s called vasodilation and vasoconstriction. Vasodilation, which is a result of lowered blood pressure, makes our blood vessels and vasculature open and dilate. This makes it easier for the hydrodynamic systems of our body to move fluid. Increased blood pressure results in vasoconstriction, which means the tubes that deliver blood to our cells get smaller and constricted, and harder to move fluid through them. It is also within the fluid that our body places and delivers nutrients to cells, as well as modulates inflammation via the removal of waste. Data from a 2017 study shows that acute administration of cannabidiol (CBD) reduces resting blood pressure (BP). It also showed that the higher BP levels of stress in humans typically associated with increased heart rate, such as that experienced during exercise, still remained low even as heart rate climbed. This makes the argument that not only does CBD potentially reduce overall blood pressure, it also helps our blood pressure stay better regulated during moments of high stress.

This has so many benefits when it comes to our brain health and “cleaning our tank.” When our body is able to access a lower, more functional blood pressure, better fluid dynamics, and optimize nutrient delivery to neural cells the efficacy of our sleep improves. When sleep and neuroinflammation are improved, neuroprotection is a guaranteed byproduct.