Anxiety is describing a feeling of fear and can vary from slight unease to uncurbed panic attacks. In ‘normal’ cases, these feelings are temporary and wouldn’t have an impact on your day-to-day life. However once anxiety turns into an anxiety disorder, this feeling of fear may stick with you all the time and have an increasingly negative impact on your life. In extreme cases, your anxiety might even prevent you from doing simple things, like crossing the street, attending events, or ultimately, leaving the house.
There are many different short and long-term reasons that can contribute to feelings/conditions of anxiety, and athletes are no exception with many finding that nerves prior to an event may affect sports performance. There is now clinical evidence to suggest there are interactions of CBD receptors in the Central Nervous System, which could support better quality sleep and contribute to calmer feelings, positively everyday challenges in our active lives.
Alongside our Central Nervous and Digestive systems, our body has another lesser known system, The ECS or Endocannabinoid System. The ECS is integral in achieving homeostasis within the body and is responsible for maintaining balance in many of our body’s physiological and cognitive process. These include mood, appetite, memory, energy and pain.
CBD is thought to interact with various receptors found in the Central Nervous and Peripheral Nervous Systems including the 5-HT1A serotonin receptor and the GABA-A receptor in the brain which is a neurotransmitter in the CNS associated with natural calming and anti-anxiety effects.