With more states legalizing certain strains of marijuana, you’ve no doubt heard a lot about the benefits of adding CBD to your lifestyle. Unlike smoking weed, using CBD for health reasons is done via an oil, though using vaping, hemp flower, gummies, or other edibles are alternative methods of delivering it to your body.

It’s important to know that CBD is just one constituent of the cannabis plant and is not the addictive ingredient, which is called THC. The way CBD works can get really scientific and technical, but the basics are that it positively interacts with cells and helps promote a healthy body. Using CBD has been shown to enhance this system and relationship. Below are some ways that you can use CBD to supplement a healthy lifestyle.

CBD Has Plenty of Antioxidants

Antioxidants are important to your health because they work in your body to counteract free radical damage. Free radicals are one of the primary contributors to the inflammation associated with a range of health problems, including heart disease, dementia, wrinkles, hair loss, cataracts, diabetes and many more. By boosting your antioxidant intake, you can fight this kind of free radical damage.

These free radicals come from a variety of sources, including fried foods, environmental toxins, smoking cigarettes and high levels of stress. By incorporating more antioxidants into your lifestyle, via both fruits and vegetables as well as CBD supplements, you can effectively counteract that damage and keep your entire body healthy.

Manages Appetite and Boosts Metabolism

You know that controlling your appetite and speeding your metabolism can help you lose weight. And you’ve probably heard that marijuana will give you “the munchies.” So how do the two go together? According to experts, THC is the substance in cannabis that promotes this hungry feeling, not CBD. In fact, research shows that CBD actually has the opposite effect on users. It is, therefore, important to understand how CBD is metabolized. Both THC and CBD go through the same process of oxidation through metabolism.

Further studies have found that CBD actually spurs the breakdown of fat, helps your body more efficiently burn calories and works to prevent the formation of new fat cells. Combined with its metabolism-speeding benefits, CBD can actually help you control what you eat and could even help you lose excess weight. Being at a healthy weight lowers the risk of many health problems, including heart disease, cancer and diabetes so it makes sense to get yours down if you’re overweight or obese.

Controls Anxiety and other Mental Health Concerns

Research is still emerging, but the studies conducted to date show promise in treating a wide variety of neuropsychiatric disorders. As mentioned above, the body often responds positively to the substances in cannabis. It does this through the endocannabinoid system (ECS), which allows CBD to bind to receptors and alleviate certain psychiatric conditions.

Without getting too technical, your ECS uses CBD supplements to aid in treating ailments like anxiety and depression. Other conditions that CBD shows promise for treating include schizophrenia, addiction, mood disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder. Because these mental illnesses can seriously hinder quality of life and spur individuals to make unhealthy lifestyle choices, it makes sense that treating them with CBD can improve a person’s life and help them make healthier decisions.

Maintains a Healthy Heart and Blood Pressure

Obviously, if you have blood pressure that is too high or too low or you suffer from heart disease, you aren’t living your best life. This also goes for individuals who are at risk of such problems. When scientists look at CBD supplements, they’ve found that they can actually lower resting blood pressure, which may boost cardiovascular health. The reason CBD works is because of its ability to reduce anxiety and stress, both of which can be linked to high blood pressure if you don’t get them under control.

Going back to inflammation, heart disease can be linked to this issue in your blood vessels and the heart itself. By using CBD oil, you allow the antioxidants it contains to help battle free radicals and keep inflammation under control. The natural result of this happens to be a reduced risk of heart problems. In addition, CBD has been linked to better glucose control, which means it can also ward off the vascular problems that arise in patients with diabetes.

Always talk to your doctor before you add CBD in any form to your lifestyle.