For athletes, relaxation and recovery is just as important as training. With cannabis use more widespread than it has ever been before, the temptation to use marijuana as an athlete is completely understandable. Having to quit, though, can become a reality for many athletes who chose marijuana as a way to relax or recover from physical exertion.
If it turns out you need to stop using THC as an athlete, why should you choose CBD-rich cannabis flower instead? Learn how CBD flower and marijuana are different to make an educated decision regarding using CBD flower to quit marijuana as an athlete.
What Is CBD Flower?
CBD flower comes from Cannabis sativa plants that have been bred to contain high concentrations of CBD but less than 0.3% THC. Under the 2018 Farm Bill, cannabis products containing less than 0.3% THC are generally considered industrial hemp since they have no intoxication potential.
How Is CBD Flower Different from Marijuana?
CBD flower contains very high concentrations of cannabinoids, but it is missing the central compound that makes cannabis marijuana: THC. To make CBD flower, breeders painstakingly crossed strains that naturally contain high concentrations of CBD until they produced today’s 15%+ CBD flower strains.
Along the way, THC was suppressed until it represented less than 0.3% of the total weight of the dried and cured flower. As a result, CBD flower will not get you high, but it certainly has many impressive benefits.
Benefits of CBD Flower for Athletes
Why, exactly, should athletes use CBD flower when it’s time to quit marijuana? We’ll answer that question by asking three more:
1. Does CBD Flower Get You High?
The intoxication caused by THC can sometimes be a reason athletes choose or are asked to quit marijuana. If CBD also caused intoxication, it would be just as much of a problem, but thankfully, this hemp cannabinoid is entirely non-intoxicating. CBD flower will not get you high even if it offers many of the same benefits of cannabis, which is generally believed to have powerful anti-inflammatory potential that may be very useful to athletes.
2. Will CBD Flower Make You Fail a Drug Test?
As long as you use it in reasonable quantities, CBD hemp is very unlikely to make you fail a drug test while THC marijuana is almost guaranteed to do so. The tiny amount of THC in CBD flower, though inactive, can accumulate in your tissues over time, potentially leading to a false positive on a drug test. You’d need to use quite a lot of CBD flower over a very short period, though, to have even the slightest chance of failing a drug test for THC.
3. Does CBD Flower Help You Quit Marijuana?
CBD has recently become the focus of quite a bit of research into addiction. Scientists are now intently investigating the potential usefulness of CBD for addictive behaviors, and the chemical activity of CBD in the brain indicates that it may reduce THC’s psychoactivity. All in all, CBD flower is certainly something you should try if you’re having a hard time quitting weed.
What Is the Best CBD Flower for Athletes?
If you’re an athlete, you’re already very careful with what you allow into your body. Use the same degree of scrutiny as you hunt down a CBD flower product to try. The better the CBD flower product you choose, the more likely that it will help you quit marijuana. Our recommendation for the best CBD flower you can try as an athlete is Bonata, which was recently commended by Observer for its excellent indoor-grown CBD buds.
How to Choose a CBD Flower Brand
The right CBD flower brand will offer plenty of information on each of its products including customer reviews, strain details, and third-party lab reports. A wide variety of strains should be offered, and customer support should be easily reachable with any concerns. Based on our assessment, Bonata meets all these criteria with flying colors.
The Bottom Line: Does CBD Flower Interfere with Athletic Activity?
The main reason athletes choose to quit marijuana is because it’s believed to interfere with athletic activity. If you’re quitting weed, you certainly don’t want to replace it with something exactly the same, which is why it’s good to know CBD doesn’t appear to reduce your performance ability in any way. On the contrary, many CBD users report impressive improvements in both their athletic ability and recovery times.
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