How CBD Can Boost Your Immune System During the Coronavirus Outbreak

CBD is known to help individuals with anxiety, pain severity, etc. although this medicinal property from hemp also contains other beneficial properties to help potentially eliminate different forms of diseases and viral infections. With recent studies into using cannabis for drug-resistant bacteria, more scientists are looking into this natural alternative to help treat dangerous diseases like MSRA and even possibly cancer. As the country worries about sickness like Type A and B Influenza, COVID 19 or the Coronavirus, and more, CBD’s antibacterial and antibiotic properties can potentially help strengthen our immune system to help fight off potential sicknesses.

What is CBD?  

Cannabidiol, also known as CBD, is nonpsychoactive property in hemp that interacts with your body’s endocannabinoid system to promote homeostasis or optimum health. CBD interacts with the CB1 and CB2 receptors in your brain and immune system to help with anxiety, inflammation, and much more. Since CBD can help boost the immune system to help with overall health, more scientists are looking into cannabis’s effects on white blood cells and how it can help individuals with MRSA and even possibly cancer. 

What can CBD do for our Immune System? 

A study by the Journal of Cannabis Research discovered that CBD consumers have an increased amount of white blood cells throughout the body. For individuals with cancer, this increased amount of white blood cells can possibly help “enhance the immunogenicity of tumor cells” making them easily identifiable for the immune system to create “check-point inhibitors” to help possibly destroy cancer cells. By enhancing the immune system’s ability to identify cancer masses in the body, this also helps doctors be able to find which possible immunotherapy treatments would work best for a specific type of cancer. 

The immune system’s primary source of protection comes from white blood cells, also known as leukocytes that can fight off dangerous bacteria. Leukocytes are divided into two groups called lymphocytes that help eliminate antigens and phagocytes that absorb and help neutralize foreign bacteria. Our immune system also helps detect malfunctioning cells in our bodies through apoptosis or cell death, indicating tumor growth. With the endocannabinoid system, CBD can possibly help increase white blood cell activity to neutralize and disperse unwanted bacteria while also helping our bodies detect dangerous cell damage. 

How can CBD help Relieve Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) ?

Cannabis’s immunosuppressant quality is also known to help dangerous drug-resistant superbugs like gram-positive MSRA. In a study by the Institute for Infectious Disease Research and Biochemistry at McMaster University researchers discovered how the lesser-known cannabinoid from hemp called cannabigerol, better known as CBG, helps prevent biofilms that lead to drug-resistant MRSA bacteria. Depending on the nature of the membrane, one of the common strains of MRSA is made of gram-positive bacteria. With CBG, scientists were able to successfully treat the disease in both a lab setting and also with mice.

Although while treating an MRSA gram negative superbug, CBG was less effective against the dangerous hard to treat bacteria. In this 2020 study, a team of researchers discovered that if CBG was added with a small amount of the antibiotic medicine polymyxin B that is typically used for treating gram-negative bacteria, the cannabinoid was able to eradicate the drug-resistant superbug. 

The microbiologist who led the study at McMaster University, Dr. Eric Brown commented that even though these are just the early findings of the wonders of cannabis, he believes there are unexplored medicinal properties in cannabis that could be beneficial for the future of medicine. Dr. Brown also commented with The Guardian that there is more work to be done to delve into the potential of cannabis to help treat other antibiotic-resistant diseases and other forms of sicknesses. 

How can CBD be used to help treat Dangerous Diseases like COVID 19? 

While these scientist’s findings on using cannabis to help detect and eradicate cancer cells and MRSA are still at its infancy stages, I wanted to get feedback from an actual researcher who has seen the benefits of cannabis on real-life patients who have used CBD to help manage various diseases and even cancer. In an interview with an Oregon Cannabis PHD researcher, Dr. Gerry Bedore, he discussed his experience with cannabis and how it has been helping patients with Lyme’s disease and even stage 4 breast cancer. For ten years he explains how he has been helping individuals find the perfect dose of CBD oil to help manage their symptoms, seeing more positive results with cannabis for treating Lyme’s Disease and cancer than just using traditional medicine alone. 

This Oregon researcher discusses how he uses the full cannabinoid profile of hemp, also known as Full Spectrum CBD, to help boost the immune system to fight off diseases. Full Spectrum CBD contains over 100 medicinal cannabinoids like CBG, CBN, and more that can possibly relieve inflammation and more. Full Spectrum oil also contains the legal trace of .3% of THC which can boost the medicinal benefits of the cannabinoids for all body wellness. He explains that for each patient he begins to create a specific mixture of Full Spectrum oil, increasing the ratios of CBD and THC. 

Dr. Bedore explains that every patient requires a unique blend of cannabinoids to help with their particular conditions and symptoms, for example for Lyme’s disease he recommends startin with a low dose of 20 to 50 mg of Full Spectrum oil to help with rash, inflammation, and more. Depending on the seriousness, some individuals with Lyme’s disease might increase their dosage from 100mg to 200mg a day. With this dosage, patients can still continue using their traditional anti-biotic medications and anti-inflammatory treatments.    

Dr. Gerry Bedore comments that for his patients with stage 4 hormone-positive breast cancer the ratio of 4 to 1 CBD oil with higher amounts of THC could possibly work to help boost the immune system to fight off tumor growth. He states that each case of stage 4 breast cancer is different, saying that sometimes if the original CBD ratio isn’t working as well as his patient’s medical physicians anticipate, then they will switch the ratio to 1 to 4 Full Spectrum oil to add more CBD in the dosage. 

Overall results vary from person to person, Dr. Bedore comments, saying that some patients who are willing to try CBD oil have usually exhausted traditional forms of treatments. He also says that his CBD oil trials have helped other patients with different forms of cancer, but overall he has seen a higher percentage of patients with stage 4 breast cancer be able to possibly achieve remission with a mixture of cannabis and traditional chemotherapy treatments. 

How to Stay Safe and Healthy from Viral Infections? 

For fighting off viral respiratory illnesses like the Coronavirus and influenza, Dr. Bedore recommends disinfecting commonly touched surfaces like doorknobs, desks, work phones, etc. He also recommends to avoid touching your face, cover coughs and sneezes, and wash your hands regularly. Since COVID 19 impacts higher percentages of individuals with compromised immune systems and the elderly, Dr. Bedore recommends CBD along with supplements like Vitamin C, products with Astragalus root, and Fullerene C60 to help regulate the immune system. 

With CBD’s antibiotic and antibacterial properties, more individuals can possibly strengthen the immune system for relieving the symptoms of other diseases similar to COVID 19 like MRSA, Lyme’s disease, and more. Our certified consultants at Go Green Botanicals recommend to talk to your doctor before trying CBD and to consult your local health physicians if you might exhibit symptoms of the COVID 19 virus. As we take more precautions to stay safe from viral infections, CBD could be another natural alternative for individuals to use for helping maintain a healthy immune system.