We’ve all heard of cholesterol: the good, the bad, and the ugly. But what is it really and what levels are acceptable? Good question.
Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in fats in your blood and is not necessarily bad. In fact, your body makes it to continue building healthy cells. It is also found in some foods.
Cholesterol higher than a certain level is considered harmful and is said to be a precursor to heart disease. Although an article in the Huffington Post is a good argument against this idea. But what your total cholesterol level doesn’t take into account is the ratio of HDL to cholesterol. What’s that? I’m glad you asked. Calculate your cholesterol ratio by dividing your HDL number by your total cholesterol number. An optimal ratio is less than 3.5 to 1. Recent findings indicate that inflammation, not high cholesterol, is to blame for heart disease.
So you ask, where does CBD come into the picture? In a 2013 study of 4,652 participants who used CBD for health reasons, the results showed higher levels of HDL, improving the ratio of HDL to cholesterol. Due to the anti-inflammatory nature of CBD, it can engage with CB1 and CB2 receptors already in our body to reduce inflammation systemically. As a result, cholesterol can be controlled without the harmful side effects that other cholesterol medications have.