Does consuming CBD at night impact thinking throughout the day?

You're not alone if you can't seem to get enough good sleep; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 70 million adults in the United States struggle with chronic sleep disorders.

While there are many tools available to help with sleep, such as high-tech devices, sleep coaches, and drugs and supplements, researchers are also investigating the use of cannabidiol (CBD) as an alternative medicinal solution.

The most prevalent substance in the cannabis plant is CBD. Because of its impact on the brain's excitation/inhibition balance, CBD is becoming a popular over-the-counter medication for sleep disorders, anxiety, pain, and epilepsy. Studies have demonstrated that CBD does not exhibit the intoxication effects associated with Delta-9 THC. Current medical research indicates that CBD has therapeutic benefits for sleep problems and other conditions that are known to impair sleep.

CBD can help those suffering from circadian rhythm disorders by ensuring that the body moves smoothly through the normal stages of sleep and REM sleep without undue disruption, thereby improving sleep quality and duration.

While insomnia is typically thought of as a nocturnal sleep problem, daytime functioning impairments or discomfort and cognitive performance are thought to be a significant clinical aspect of the condition as they frequently occur simultaneously. Understanding the possible effects of cannabis therapies on daytime functioning is important, especially for patients with insomnia, for whom poor cognitive functioning is a typical secondary complaint. This is especially true given the growing popularity and use of these drugs as therapeutic sleep aids.

Most recently, a recently published Australian study investigated the effects of nighttime cannabidiol (CBD) administration on daytime cognitive function.

Increasingly more people are utilizing CBD, which has the potential to help with sleep issues. The impact of daily CBD use on daily subjective mood and human neurocognitive performance is one area that remains to be investigated.

Researchers at Swinburne University of Technology and Austin Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, have been delving into this issue.

Two weeks of double-blind dosage followed by a single-blind placebo introduction week comprised the researchers' randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel design. Participants administered 150 mg of CBD or a placebo under the tongue one hour before bedtime every day for the duration of the two-week dosing period.

Assessments of the subjects' working and situational memory, reasoning, executive function, information processing, and attention were completed at the start of the placebo experiment and after one and two weeks of medication. Every day, subjective mood states and their consequences were noted. 

Researchers discovered that not all subjects' daytime cognitive performance was impacted by CBD intake at night. Participants in the CBD therapy trial reported feeling more composed, rational, and physically coordinated. In contrast to the placebo group, they were more likely to report the adverse impact of dry mouth.

The trial's pilot status and the small sample size (a total of 30 participants) limit the study's capacity to generalize its findings, as can be seen. This is also stated by the researchers in the trial's conclusion. Despite these drawbacks, the trial's stringent randomization, double-blinding, and screening and exclusion protocols allowed for an effective management of confounders.

The trial's findings demonstrated that taking CBD supplements at night had no effect on cognitive function. Although the trial's overall safety was satisfactory, larger controlled trials that thoroughly analyze the many forms of insomnia are required to corroborate these results.

The study has been published in the journal Psychopharmacology (Berl).

Trial Dose

The 150mg dose used in this trial did not come out of thin air, but was adopted from the CBD intake standards published by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of Australia.

Back in December 2020, Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved a maximum daily intake dose of 150 mg/day for low-dose CBD products that could be supplied by pharmacists directly over the pharmacy counter without the need for a prescription. However, nearly four years later, these products are still not on the market because they must first be approved by the TGA - a very complicated process.

It's worth noting that while the results of the study seem to indicate that participants did get a good night's rest, the focus of this study was not directed at the effectiveness of CBD in falling asleep or maintaining sleep, according to the study excerpt.

The usefulness of CBD in treating insomnia at comparatively modest doses is still up for debate among scientists. A 2022 Australian trial found that when it came to treating sleep disorders, low-dose CBD products did not show a statistically significant improvement over placebo.

Recapitulating

Under the trial conditions, supplementation during the night preserved daytime cognitive performance in comparison to placebo as a therapeutic adjunct to primary insomnia. In other words, using CBD at night had no impact on thinking during the day. On the other hand, there was a statistically significant reciprocal facilitator impact on coordination, mental clarity, and relaxation during the two weeks of active therapy in each group, indicating a potential therapeutic effect of CBD.