Cannabis for Sleep to Enhance Results

Sleep is crucial for our overall well-being, including fitness and nutrition. Cannabis can be a natural sleep aid. Sleep repairs and rejuvenates our body, strengthens muscles, and improves coordination. Lack of sleep decreases motivation, affects performance, and can lead to weight gain. Poor sleep increases hunger and cravings while disrupting hormone balance. Sleep deprivation affects metabolism and decision-making. Prioritizing quality sleep is important for fitness and weight management. Nighttime routine hacks can help, but natural sleep aids like cannabis can also be beneficial. Sleep regulates insulin production, which affects blood sugar levels and can impact the risk of type 2 diabetes. Getting sufficient sleep is crucial for our health and should be prioritized. Hi, my name is Beth and you are listening to the Canna Fitness and Nutrition Podcast where we are hanging out at the intersection of fitness, nutrition, and cannabis. And today we are going to talk about sleep. I have a saying, sleep fixes everything, because it does. Sleep is critical for a lot of things, for our fitness, for our overall well-being, for our nutrition, and the good news is that we have cannabis as a sleep aid, a natural sleep aid. So I'm going to talk a little bit about what sleep does for us, and then we'll talk a little bit about how cannabis can help if you don't sleep. So sleep is a key aspect of our physical fitness, but it really goes beyond that. You know, it goes beyond the muscle repair and extends into just how we feel, right, our energy levels. It controls our cravings and hunger, you know, all these things, so it really has to do with our just overall feeling good, right, and it pretty much determines if I sleep, which is, again, why I usually say, you know, sleep solves everything. So if you're not feeling great, go to sleep. Let your body do its thing. It's really, it's nature's way, it's our body's way of repairing itself and revitalizing ourself. You know, fun fact, all the repair and healing happens while we sleep. So your body wants you to wake up the next day and be rejuvenated and be energetic and feel good. It's all ready to go. You know, it strengthens our muscle tissue. So our body really undergoes a total transformation while we sleep, which is pretty cool if you think about it. It repairs, it rejuvenates the muscles. When we exercise, you know, it actually breaks down the muscles a little bit when we exercise and creates, like, microscopic little tears in them, and then our body uses the food we eat and our water during sleep to help repair them and build them back stronger. So the process includes releasing vital hormones and increasing blood flow to the muscles to help all that happen, delivering nutrients and oxygen to the muscles to recover. You know, it's got this whole cool process that happens, as I picture, like, little workmen in our bodies, you know, repairing the muscles, putting them back together, getting them ready to use the next day, right? So without this, you know, we'll have decreased strength, decreased endurance, and more risk for injury because your body just hasn't had time to heal itself. Thankfully, there's a lot of research about sleep, which is great. And so some of the research proves that without sufficient sleep, you know, it really adversely affects our coordination, our reaction time, and our accuracy when it comes to performance, like, you know, physical performance. Not to mention that if it affects that, then it definitely affects coordination, reaction time, and accuracy doing daily tasks, like driving, right? So you know, one thing leads to another. So prioritizing quality sleep really, really amplifies your fitness game. It's going to help you keep the muscle, build the muscle, keep the muscle, build endurance, right, build the strength, and have less risk for injury. In addition to the negative effects of lack of sleep, you know, the lack of sleep can significantly diminish our motivation. You know, I'm sure if you've ever experienced lack of sleep or insufficient sleep, you probably not really felt like getting up the next day and going for a walk or going to the gym or going to a class. You know, when you don't have the energy, you just don't feel like doing those things. And that's natural, of course, right? We need to be repaired and rejuvenated in order to feel like exercising. So without sleep, your motivation just goes in the toilet. In fact, I can tell you, having been a personal trainer for 15 years and taught a fair share of group fitness classes and dealt with personal clients, you know, one of the biggest things that happens is people come in without a good night's sleep, and they just struggle through the workout. You know, I always say kudos for coming in, but you know, it's always important to listen to your body. And sometimes your body is saying, give me sleep. And that's okay. It's really important to get that, because without that sleep, trying to struggle through a workout just may not be the best idea. And I can also tell you that it's probably lack of sleep is probably the number one reason that people don't come to the gym for that morning class or an early morning appointment is because there's just, if there's no sleep, there's no energy, there's no motivation. It's just not there. You know, unfortunately, when this happens, it just leads to us being more sedentary, which contributes to weight gain and just overall health decline. Let's call it decline, because that is really what's happening in our, unfortunately, in our world. As we become more and more sedentary, our health is declining. You know, we're having more and more diabetes and more and more heart issues, all of that. So, you know, prioritizing the sleep, it can help with your fitness, but also help with your weight. And I'm going to talk a little bit about how cannabis can help, but let me just go over how it affects, it can really affect your weight. So if you've had a poor night's sleep, right, and then the next day you have like intense hunger, right? Like you just seem so hungry and you have tons of cravings, right? That's pretty accurate, because when we don't sleep, we increase the amount of ghrelin that we're producing. So ghrelin is the hormone that stimulates appetite. So if we're increasing the amount of ghrelin we have, then we're increasing our appetite. And it's decreasing our production of leptin, which is the hormone that signals fullness. So basically, in a nutshell here, is your hormones are out of balance. Your hunger hormones are out of balance if you're not sleeping. So if you feel like you have cravings up the wazoo, and you're just so hungry and you're not sleeping well, then that's why. It's because of the sleep, or the lack of sleep, I should say. You know, and you just feel like nothing makes you full, you know, that could be because you're not sleeping well. Again, I have some solutions for that, but I just want to emphasize just how this really affects you. So if you're having a lot of cravings and hunger, and you're not sleeping, you're not crazy, there's nothing wrong with you, you just need sleep. And I know it sounds simple, and it kind of is simple, but it's also not so easy. You know, once your body has trouble with it, you might need some additional help with it. It's not always as simple as going to bed early, which can help, but you know, sometimes we need a little sleep aid, like cannabis, and I'll talk about that. Sleep deprivation can affect our metabolism, right, making it more difficult for our body to burn calories efficiently, which will lead to weight gain over time. So if your metabolism's not running efficiently, then you're not burning as much, and you're not using up the food that we're giving it. So, and lack of sleep affects our decision-making and impulse control, right? And if you've had some poor sleep in the past, you've probably experienced this too, right? You're basically too tired to care, in a nutshell, right? So the fatigue, it heightens our chances we're going to choose unhealthy food, right? You're more likely to give in to cravings, and you're going to struggle to resist high calories, sugary, and fatty foods, because when we're tired, that's what's appealing, because those foods, our brain thinks they give us energy, because they give us quick energy. So sugar and high-calorie, high-sugary foods give us quick energy, and our brain sees that, and it's like, ooh, give me a gummy bear, I'll have quick energy, because I'm exhausted, right? In reality, that's not exactly what it needs, it needs sleep, but that's the impulse. And so, of course, it's when you're tired, you're like, like I said, you're too tired to care. So if you're struggling with that, intense cravings, and you're not sleeping well, then sleep needs to become a priority. And there's lots and lots of nighttime routine hacks out there, which I see them all the time on the social medias, about trying to get seven to nine hours, trying to go to bed early, turn off your phone before you go to bed, try to have a wind-down routine, try to avoid alcohol, try to avoid caffeine, sleep in a dark room, all these tricks and things, which is all well and good, and you know what? A lot of those might just work, because I think a lot of times, what we do is we take our phone to bed, we lay in bed, we scroll on the phone, which apparently that blue light from the phone is really bad for us, and we get our minds going, and we aren't able to really relax, and then it keeps us up, and then we're not sleeping, we stay up way too late, or we get caught up watching TV, and don't get enough sleep, or we fall asleep on the couch, and it's not quality sleep, you know, there's so many, so many things that happen, and so having a natural sleep aid can really make a difference. One more thing I should point out, though, is sleep, again, there's lots of research on sleep, which is actually kind of interesting, but sleep regulates the production of the hormone insulin, right, you've heard of insulin, because they talk about it a lot when it comes to diabetics and stuff, insulin controls blood sugar levels. Unregulated blood sugar levels are associated with weight gain, and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, so, you know, I hear, unfortunately, I hear this a lot, is that more and more people are getting diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and imagine if it was as simple as getting more sleep, right, I've not personally been in that position, but I'm hoping that when you see the doctor for that, one of the things they ask you is, okay, how's your sleep, I'm really hoping that they ask that. Okay, so, all said, when your sleep is compromised, it's going to have an impact, it can have an impact on your waistline, it can have an impact on your fitness, in so many different ways. So, how can cannabis help? Okay, well, as you, if you've been listening, you've been hearing me say about all the things that cannabis can do, and when I say cannabis, I'm talking about the whole plant, so, sometimes we mean CBD, which is the non-psychoactive, no buzz, and sometimes we mean THC, which has got the buzz, the psychoactivity, right, there are types of both that can help with sleep. So, what I'm saying is, if you don't want psychoactivity, then you can use CBD for sleep. If you don't mind psychoactivity, then you can use THC for sleep. So, that part really comes down to personal preference, because there are types of both that will help with sleep. So, in fact, again, there's a little bit of research out there, the cannabis research is so limited, unfortunately, you know, with the legality of it, and the lack of legality of it, because it's not legal, there's not ways for there to be research in the U.S. There is research in other countries, such as Canada, and Israel, and Europe, so there is some information out there, there's just not a ton, but in one study I found, 70% of young adults who casually use cannabis report that their primary goal is to promote sleep. 70%. That's 7 out of 10 people, if you went up to 10 people, 10 cannabis users, 7 of them would say that they use it to help them sleep. That's a lot, right? That's a big percentage. So, it is effective, and again, the research is limited, but I think anecdotally, and what we do know of research, is it supports this. So, another study found that among people who use cannabis for medical reasons, so people who primarily use it for other things, so maybe depression, or pain, 85% of those people say it improves their sleep, as a side effect, right? So, that's not even their main goal, but as a side effect. So, cannabis interacts with the endocannabinoid system, and it binds to receptors that are in our brain, and all over our body. So, when the cannabinoids, when they bind to those receptors, they increase levels of the neurotransmitter adenosine, and that promotes sleep, right? They also suppress the brain's natural wakefulness, and these two actions together help you feel sleepy or sedated. So, THC, traditionally, you'll hear people recommend THC for sleep, because it can, and often does, act as a sedative. Now, within the THC family, let's call it, there are a ton of different variations. So, it's almost like saying, you know, oh, well, all flowers promote sleep. Well, not all flowers, like, maybe it's just daffodils, right, that's just one type. So, you know, that's kind of a loose example, but so for THC, you know, THC, again, traditionally helps promote sleep, but within THC, there's these little parts of it called terpenes, and so it really comes down to what terpenes are in your THC, and again, I don't want to get too caught in the weeds with this, but if it's something that you do want to look into, I'd be happy to go through it with you and explain it in more detail so you can pick out the right product. In fact, side note, that's what I do, is, you know, I help you find the right product for you, depending on what you need to help improve your fitness and your health. So, if you are not able to get to the gym often because you're not sleeping, then let's find you a type of cannabis that can help you sleep, right, making the connection. Anyway, so it depends on the terpenes that are in your THC. Generally, I'm talking generally here, the indicas, the indi-couch, right, those tend to be more sedating, while sativas generally are more energizing, but again, it does kind of come down to the terpenes. So, my advice, if you were to come to me and say, what do you recommend, you know, I'm going to do a search and look for, depending on your store, what you have available to you, is to look for terpenes, mercine, linalool, and terpenaline, okay? So, if you're taking notes, it's mercine, linalool, and terpenaline, okay? Those are the terpenes that we're looking for. Now, that's THC, right? So, CBD tends to promote alertness, all right? It actually tends to make us a little more alert. Studies show it may reduce symptoms of REM sleep behavior disorder and excessive daytime sleepiness, all right? That's kind of interesting. Similar to THC, the indicas are generally more sedating, and sativas are generally more energizing, more focused, and more keep us sharp here. But again, you'll want to look for those terpenes, mercine, linalool, and terpenaline if you're looking for sleep. Now, there are so many options, and this is where it gets confusing. My goal is not to confuse you. My goal is to give you kind of just the nuts and bolts here. You can put THC and CBD together. That's always an option. CBN, okay? CBN. That's another one. There's THC, there's CBD, and there's CBN. There's also CBG and CBC. There's a lot of them. But CBN. Think of N nighttime, okay? CBN, N is for nighttime. CBN is known for its sedative properties. So they've actually found this whole part of the plant that tends to be more sedative, right? So it can promote relaxation and improve your sleep quality. So if you go shopping, if you look online, or if you go to a dispensary, if you were to ask a blood tender and say, look, I'm looking for something to help with sleep, they're going to bring you to something that has CBN in it. Because that's the newest and latest research supports that that CBN is really the best for sleep. So there's a lot of products out there that have CBN in it. And again, the idea of that is to help promote sleep. So that's actually pretty cool that that cannabinoid itself can influence the sleep cycle, sleep wake cycle, and promote deeper, more restful sleep. I think that's actually pretty cool. And CBN also can help with pain. So help manage pain. So if you don't sleep because you're uncomfortable and you have a lot of pain, then CBN can help that too, which is pretty cool. Again, it's relatively newer, but the early studies, again, the studies are mostly out of Israel, Canada, Europe. Not so much the US, but early studies and anecdotal evidence suggests that it might be a promising natural option if you need improved sleep. So, okay, where to go? How do you figure this out if you need help sleeping, right? Well, one, I mean, I'm a resource. Please use me if you have questions and you want to learn what you should be getting to help you sleep. But here's your rule of thumb, and this is a good one. This is a good fun fact. THC helps you fall asleep, and CBD helps you stay asleep, all right? So one thing I always ask people when they ask about sleep or complain about sleep is, are you having trouble falling asleep or are you having trouble staying asleep, right? And sometimes the answer is both. Sometimes the answer is one or the other, right? And sometimes the answer changes from day to day. That's okay, but that'll help us determine what we're looking for. So again, what you're probably going to end up doing is, based on your answer, looking for either THC to help you fall asleep, or the CBD to help you stay asleep longer, or the CBN to help you with falling asleep and staying asleep. So the CBN is going to do both, which is kind of cool. The CBN is also not psychoactive. It's like CBD, so you don't have to worry about that, too. So just with all cannabis, using it for anything, it's going to come down to personal preference because everybody's going to react a little bit differently, and it's going to depend on how much you need. I like to think of your cannabis, your endocannabinoid system, your cannabinoids in your body. Think of it as like a tank, right? It's like the oil in your car, right? We like to keep it topped off as much as possible. But as you use it and go through life, it starts to drain down. So when we use cannabis, it fills that tank back up again, right? So depending on where your tank is, it's going to determine how much and what you need. So it's going to take some trial and error because, unfortunately, we don't have a tank gauge like the car does, but that would be cool. Maybe they'll come up with that someday. We'll have like a tank gauge and you can figure out how much cannabis you have in your system or how many cannabinoids you have in your system. But if you were to go into a shop, a dispensary, or look online, you're going to see a lot of sweet promoting products out there. And that's one of the cool things, I think, about what's happening in the industry right now is that the product makers are designing products for specific ailments, if you will, right? So for sleep or for energy. And so you'll see, so it kind of takes some of the work out of it that you don't have to figure out what has mercine in it. You don't have to do that much work if you don't want to. You can just buy gummies that are for sleep because it has CDN in it, right? I personally think it's helpful to know what you're getting because if for some reason it doesn't work and you don't like it, then we need to know what to avoid, right? So if you buy something and it does not work or it has a negative effect, then we need to know what's in that so that we can not replicate that, right? And find something different. And if you're more into using the whole flower, the whole plant and vaping it maybe or smoking it, then we can get really fine-tuned into the different strains if you're doing that. If you're thinking more of gummies or topicals, not topicals, but tinctures, then it's going to be a little more general. They tend to not break that down. But I am seeing more and more packaging that breaks down the terpenes that are included. And that's actually really, really helpful. So if you are into the flower, vaping, or smoking, and you'd like some ideas, I have some ideas here, strains that are popular for sleep. So let's talk about THC first. So THC has the buzz. And this is what generally helps people fall asleep. And we're talking about strains like Black Cherry Garcia, it's an indica. Ascani, it's an indica. Concord Grape Blockhead, it's a hybrid. And Tahoe OG. Popular CBD strains, which is the Novas. Harlequin, which is the sativa. ACDC, Charlotte's Web, Renedy, and Harley Sue. Okay, so those are just ones that are popular. So a couple of tips that I like to mention pretty much every time we talk about cannabis. It's important for me to say, always start with the lowest dose and gradually increase. I do not want you to have a negative experience. Not that you can't overdose on cannabis at all. It won't make you sick. You won't go to the hospital. But it could be unpleasant. So to avoid that, start low and go slow. So start with a half a gummy if you have to. Start with just a couple of drops of the oil if you have to. And see, we've got time. There's no rush. I know we might feel like we're in a rush to get better sleep. But there really isn't. Give it some time. One of my big tips here is to keep track. Keep track. Keep track of what you're using. You know, just make a little worksheet or write notes in your phone or something so that you can, or even just write on the bag of gummies. If you buy a bag of gummies, just write, you know, like Friday, you know, slept great. Saturday, not great, or whatever. Just so you know how it affected you. And you don't remember what works. So that when you go back to get more, or if you need to change it up, then we know what was happening. And as always, I like to point out that when we talk about THC with the buzz and CBD without the buzz, I know I've said this before, but just to emphasize the point that CBD brings down the psychoactivity of THC. So if you accidentally take too much THC, especially if you're new and it happens from time to time, and you feel uncomfortable, you can take CBD and that will bring it back down. Because it sort of dilutes it a little bit. Dilutes the psychoactivity of it. So you always have CBD on hand. I think that's a general rule of thumb that I recommend for everybody just to have that. So there we go. That's a little bit about sleep. Why it's so important. Although if you're a living human, you probably already know just how important sleep is and how much better you feel when you do get good sleep. But I'm here to tell you as your personal trainer and nutrition coach and cannabis coach that it's super important and you need to prioritize it. In fact, I've told people to skip workouts to go get more sleep. Because at the end of the day, if you're not rested and your body's not repairing itself, then you're not doing yourself any good by stressing it out more. So sleep is important. Here we say that. And if you need help with sleep, cannabis can be an excellent remedy. And thousands and millions of people can tell you that. In fact, what did I say? Where was that research? It was 7 out of 10. 7 out of 10 young adults who use cannabis report that their primary goal is for sleep. So that says a lot right there. That it is helping millions and millions of people. So with that, I am done for today. If you have any questions or you want me to talk about certain things, then just reach out and let me know. I'm on Instagram at Beth underscore Cannafitness Nutrition. You can email me. It's Beth at Cannafitness Nutrition. And I would love to hear. And if you think this would help someone else that you know because they're suffering with their sleep, then go ahead and share this and I would love that. So thanks for pushing play today and I will see you next time.