In a world where the silent struggles of mental health are becoming increasingly apparent, seeking the right support is paramount. Cape Town, a city known for its stunning beauty, unfortunately, is not immune to the rising tide of mental health challenges.
(more…)Category: Heal
How to heal your health like a stoned citizen.
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Discussing The Amazing Health Benefits Of Maple Syrup
Sweeteners are available in a variety of forms, including both natural and artificial options, each offering unique health benefits. Among them, Canadian maple syrup stands out not only for its exceptional flavor but also for its impressive nutritional profile, making it a superior choice for those seeking a delicious and healthful sweetener.
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How To Avoid Binge Drinking In Your Late 30s
Binge drinking frequently leads to divorce, emotional pain, failure in pursuits, and other problems in older adults.
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Does Cannabis Help You Sleep?
More and more people are turning to cannabis to lose weight or in their quest for a good night’s sleep. With its legal status evolving and its popularity growing, the question begs: does cannabis help with sleep?
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Cannabis Can Help You Lose Weight
Stoned Citizens who regularly consume cannabis, despite experiencing increased appetite known as the munchies, tend to have lower body weight and a reduced risk of diabetes compared to non-users. However, researchers from the University of California, Irvine have recently discovered a potential explanation for this seemingly contradictory phenomenon, and unfortunately, it is not good news.
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The Risks And Benefits Of Microdosing Magic Mushrooms And DMT Revealed
New research has revealed both the potential benefits and risks of using Magic Mushroom and Psychedelic microdosing to treat mental health problems. The study, published in the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience, reveals effects on cognitive skills and sociability, as well as metabolic and neuronal consequences.
For instance, two studies published last year showed that psilocybin, the active psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, alleviated symptoms of treatment-resistant depression.
Moreover, the psilocybin did so without causing any side effects of conventional antidepressants. Such side effects typically include emotional blunting or apathy.
Another study looked at the potential of the Amazonian plant mixture Ayahuasca to treat depression and alcohol use disorder. Ayahuasca “may be a safe and promising treatment” for these mental health problems, concluded the researchers.
People who use psychedelics to improve their mental health and boost their overall well-being tend to do so with a technique called microdosing.
Taking microdoses of a psychedelic drug means taking only a fraction of a dose that is required to have a full-blown psychedelic experience, or “trip.”
Until now, no studies had examined the effects of microdosing on animal behavior.
But new research investigates the effects of the hallucinogen N, N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) on male and female rodents in an attempt to discover its effects on mental and physical health.
The lead researcher is David Olson, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, Davis.
Positive effects of DMT microdosing
The researchers chose DMT because the compound can be found in Ayahuasca, and its molecular structure is analogous to that of other microdosing drugs, such as LSD and psilocybin.
Olson and colleagues gave the rats 1 milligram/kilogram of body weight, which is a tenth of the dose that would be necessary to induce a hallucinogenic experience in the rodents.
The rats took this dose once every 3 days for a period of 2 months. In the 2 days between the doses, the researchers tested the rats’ mood and cognitive function.
The scientists found that DMT helped the rodents overcome their fears in a test used to model anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Another common test examines the effectiveness of antidepressants by measuring the rodents’ “freezing” behavior. This is a widely accepted method of assessing the degree of fear in rodents.
Researchers believe that the less a rodent freezes in response to a threat and the more mobile they are, the more effective the antidepressants are.The study showed DMT microdosing led to less immobility in rodents. Cognitive and sociability tests, on the other hand, did not reveal any effects of DMT.
Side effects on neuronal growth, metabolism
The researchers also noted some side effects. Male rats gained a significant amount of weight after the treatment. Additionally, female rats developed neuronal atrophy.
The researchers explain that the latter results contradict those of previous studies that the team had conducted. These earlier findings showed that a single acute dose of DMT had the opposite effect — it boosted neuronal growth.
Such conflicting results may suggest that an acute dose of psychedelic substances affects the brain differently from intermittent microdoses.
Side effects notwithstanding, say the authors, the future looks promising for psychedelics because they suggest that researchers can separate the psychedelic effects from the therapeutic ones.
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What You Need To Know About The Effects Of Cannabis On Cats and Dogs
The Cannabis industry has been blooming worldwide and this has spilled over to the pet market with Cannabis containing products easily attainable by pet owners.
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Patients With Chronic Pain Are Swapping Opioids For Medical Cannabis
Almost one third of patients with chronic pain report using medical cannabis to manage that pain, with more than half of them decreasing use of other pain medications, including opioids, new research shows.
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Can CBD Prevent A Hangover And Perhaps Even Cure It?
If you are reading this, you are probably hungover, looking for a cure and wondering what to do to prevent a hangover in the future. Can CBD prevent a hangover or cure one? Certainly not! But there are certain areas in which CBD may be able to help with hangovers and make them less painful and agonizing.
Is CBD good for hangovers?
There are certain areas in which CBD may be able to help with hangovers and others where it will not. It’s therefore important to understand how various alcohol-related effects can be related to CBD and the human body.
Headaches, nausea, aches and pains are among the most common symptoms of a hangover.
What causes the hangover?
At first, alcohol consumption causes a spike in your blood sugar and glucose, a simple sugar (or carbohydrate) that is the main form of energy for your body, circulates through our blood – hence the term, “blood sugar” – and it is regulated by two different hormones known as insulin and glucagon. When your blood sugar levels become too high under normal life circumstances, the pancreas can secrete insulin to lower glucose levels in the body. When you drink alcohol, however, it can inhibit glucose once the body begins to process and break down the alcohol you have consumed.
This could also be compounded in a couple of ways: one of the primary means of obtaining glucose is through the foods we eat, and it is common to either not eat while drinking, or eat foods that are lacking in actual sustenance. Alcohol may also affect your body’s normal secretion of insulin, further impacting its relationship with glucose and its ability to regulate itself.
How CBD helps the body
While it does not have direct properties that will regulate your blood sugar, CBD can help regulate your endocannabinoid system. A better-regulated endocannabinoid system could facilitate conditions that help the body recover, bringing with it the potential to help with those awful hangover symptoms.
Dehydration and CBD
If you are eliminating water and not replenishing it at an equal rate, what happens? Dehydration, that’s what. Alcohol dehydrates you on its own but neglecting to drink water while consuming alcohol can only increase the problem. You see, that guy that says he is “hydrating” with a light beer in between his other beverages is not really hydrating. Surely, you know this? If not, well, now you do.
CBD cannot counteract symptoms of dehydration, but just knowing that dehydration is one of the main causes of a hangover can enable you to take the steps necessary to either mitigate or downright prevent one by consuming as much, if not more, water than you do alcohol while drinking.
Can CBD prevent hangovers?
Taking CBD as a one-off cannot directly prevent hangovers. But just because taking CBD oil is not going to make you immune from a hangover, or make one go away, doesn’t mean CBD is completely useless in this instance. Taking CBD regularly may contribute to a more balanced endocannabinoid system.
Does CBD cure hangovers?
There are countless remedies claiming to cure a hangover, like this Bloody Mary Jane, but are any of them worthwhile? Just like with hangover prevention, CBD should not be relied upon as a spot treatment for hangovers. Yet, taking CBD regularly may help maintain the balancing properties of the body when its receptors are activated.
Final thoughts
If you are looking into taking CBD for hangovers, or literally any other reason, make sure you are buying organic, third-party lab-tested CBD oil. The CBD market is unregulated, and a lot of products may not contain their advertised amount of CBD. Even worse, these products may contain harmful toxins that could actually cause headaches. Always make sure your CBD company can provide lab results from an independent source so that you can give your body what you intend to.
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Cannabis May Improve Female Orgasms, Studies Claim
Cannabis may improve female orgasms and ladies who love getting stoned are apparently scoring more than non-users, a couple of studies found. While beer goggles alter sex appeal, a dagga joint or CBD lube might just bring pleasure to places you and your lover never knew existed. Some lovers claim that cannabis enhanced sex can reduce anxiety, and improve orgasms and even stamina in bed.
Adding some weight to the topic, a study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal “The Journal of Sexual Medicine” found that 68% of women who used dagga before having sex reported finding it more enjoyable.
In another study involving 28 176 women and 22 943 men, researchers from Stanford University found dagga users to have 20% more sex than non-users.
Cannabis makes female orgasms more intense, concludes this study.
“Marijuana appears to improve satisfaction with orgasm,” said study leader Becky Lynn (MD).
The majority of women also perceived improvement in the overall experience, sex drive, and pain.