Does Marijuana Interfere or Help With Your Sleep Schedule?
The cannabis plant has been recognized as a valuable component for textiles, paper and personal hygiene products and even used in construction for centuries. The health benefits of marijuana have recently been taking the limelight as it’s become recreationally available in certain parts of the United States. Whereas 3 years ago Marijuana was illegal in most states, the opposite is now true where you can even get it delivered straight to your house according to a Marijuana Delivery San Diego company
Cannabis grows in two different forms: sativa that is used for daytime, and indica that is used for nighttime. After using marijuana, either by smoking or ingesting it, people report feelings of happiness and contentedness as well as feelings of hunger, commonly known as “the munchies.”
One common side effect of cannabis use is that it puts users straight to sleep. As of 2004, more than 2 million people in the U.S. report using marijuana daily, and 77 percent of those report using marijuana, such as with cannabinoid (CBD) oil, to help improve their sleep quality.
Here’s a look at what this miracle plant does to your sleep schedule.
Marijuana and the Stages of Sleep
When you begin to nod off for the seven or eight hours you should have every night, you experience two major stages of sleep. These are known as “slow-wave sleep” and “rapid eye movement” (REM).
The latter is the most valuable stage of sleep because while you may dream during this state, your body to relaxes, and your brain causes the release of proteins used for brain restoration, learning and memory.
Everything gets shut down, and your body begins to maintain homeostasis without interruption from the outside world. Essentially, deep sleep improves your health as the body heals itself.
A group of regular marijuana users volunteered at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for a sleep study on marijuana users. The researchers conducting the study wanted to prove that marijuana disturbed sleep, so they asked the participants to stay for 14 nights without using any marijuana products.
When the partakers first arrived, they could sleep easily for seven hours or more and, during that time, they had at least an hour of REM. It also turned out that women could dream for longer periods of time than men in the study. However, by the 14th night, not only did everyone stop experiencing REM, they stopped being able to sleep for a full seven hours.
An interesting component of the study is that the doctors don’t know if they stopped being able to sleep because the participants were so used to sleeping on marijuana or if because marijuana helped induce that special stage of sleep.
Go Natural With Your Choice of Sleep Aid
Despite that uncertainty, it’s clear that while using marijuana, the participants had better, deeper sleep while without it, they tossed and turned. You can buy indoor cannabis plants and grow your own in today’s climate.]
Doctors recommend marijuana to people with sleep issues frequently, and it is commonly known for being a terrific sleeping aid. The plant has many sedative aspects that allow your body to relax, and using it in various forms releases chemicals in your brain that relieve anxiety. So, the next time you’re looking to catch up on your sleep and have a few dreams in the process, consider using marijuana to put you right in the right frame of mind.