More than a third of American adults don’t get enough sleep. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), routinely sleeping less than seven hours per night is associated with serious chronic health problems, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and mental distress.

Cannabidiol (CBD) formulations are increasingly popular among health-conscious consumers looking to get a good night’s rest. Product offerings are increasingly complex, often containing other ingredients such as cannabinol (CBN) and melatonin. However, a Leafreport study tested 52 CBD sleep products and found that over half of the products (60%) were mislabeled and contained the wrong amounts of CBD, CBN or melatonin.

Forward-thinking formulators earn consumer trust and set themselves apart by leveraging the science of water-soluble cannabinoid ingredients. Truly water-soluble CBD improves bioavailability, product consistency, and effectiveness, all while reducing cannabinoid ingredient costs.

CBD May Promote a Good Night’s Sleep

For millennia, people have been using cannabis for sleep. The endocannabinoid system plays an integral role in circadian rhythms that regulate daily cycles of wakefulness and rest. Accordingly, cannabinoids for sleep therapy are an area of growing research and scientific discovery.

In a survey of 409 people who consume raw cannabis flower for insomnia, researchers found that CBD promoted sleep more effectively than delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). One reason CBD may help with insomnia is the potential alleviation of other conditions that keep people awake at night, such as anxiety and chronic pain.

A retrospective case series at a psychiatric clinic investigated 72 adults with anxiety and insomnia treated with CBD. Self-reported anxiety scores improved in 79.2% of patients, and patients sustained the improvement during the study duration. Sleep scores improved in the first month in 66.7% of patients, although sleep results fluctuated over time in the participants.

Chronic pain sufferers often experience insomnia because the vicious cycle that links pain and sleep is bidirectional. In other words, pain can be both a cause and a consequence of sleep disorders. Pain can interrupt a good night’s sleep, and at the same time, poor-quality sleep lowers pain thresholds.

Some scientific evidence suggests the potential for CBD to provide support for both pain and sleep. For example, a systematic review of 11 randomized controlled trials on cannabinoids for the treatment of pain found that seven of the trials demonstrated significant pain relief with cannabinoid therapy. Several trials showed improvement in additional outcomes, including sleep, muscle stiffness, and spasticity.

Water-Soluble, Fully Bioavailable Cannabinoids for Sleep

Researchers have found that CBD, like other cannabinoids, exhibits a biphasic effect. The biphasic effect is a pharmacological phenomenon to describe opposite responses of the same substance at a low dose compared to a high dose. For example, lower doses of CBD may reduce anxiety, whereas higher doses may produce more anxiety.

Optimal CBD dosing also demonstrates a certain therapeutic window for pain. Doses too low may be ineffective, and doses too high can actually be detrimental. For example, in animal studies of CBD for the treatment of pain, it has been shown that CBD has a bell-shaped effect. At low doses, CBD didn’t change pain responses. However, at doses too high, CBD actually increased pain sensation in mice.

What does this biphasic effect mean for cannabinoid formulators marketing products for sleep? Since cannabinoids are not naturally water-soluble, cannabinoid absorption from products made using traditional methods is incomplete and inconsistent. Cannabinoids for sleep must be accurately dosed to optimize potential sleep-supporting functions and other effects.

Savvy cannabinoid product formulators use advanced water-soluble cannabinoids to improve bioavailability and effectiveness, while reducing ingredient costs. Water-soluble cannabinoids more accurately target sleep symptoms because the dose that reaches the bloodstream is bioavailable, consistent, and predictable.

Takeaways On Water-Soluble Bioavailable Cannabinoids

Innovations in truly water-soluble cannabinoid ingredients improve the bioavailability and efficacy of cannabis and hemp product formulations well beyond the results achieved with nanotechnology and other traditional methods to enhance cannabinoid bioavailability. Water-soluble cannabinoids allow formulators to create cannabinoid products that deliver predictable and biologically available cannabinoids for sleep support.

Our flagship ingredient, CannaSorb CB Active, is made via a patented process akin to polysorbate chemistry. While other ingredients aim to make hydrophobic compounds more hydrophilic, CannaSorb CB Active is made by chemically reacting a fat-soluble compound and converting it into a water-soluble compound. This process creates an opaque liquid that dilutes quickly, easily, and fully into water to create a clear, stable, permanent solution.

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