Does CBD oil aid athletic recovery and pain management?
Does CBD oil aid athletic recovery and pain management?
Get-Fit Guy is hosted by Kevin Don. A transcript is available at Simplecast.
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Hello listeners, Kevin Don here with your weekly dose of fitness facts. This week, I was in significant pain with my hip and low back. I have ongoing injuries from martial arts and so far here in the UK have been waiting 14 months to see a physio. Last time I spoke with the doctor, he told me it could be another year. As can be the case, the doctor then just wrote me a prescription for what was, after my own research, a very very addictive painkiller, which is often used in place of heroin and has a large street resale number. Obviously, I want to avoid being addicted to pharmaceuticals as much as possible, so I didn’t take them. This is why I harp on week in and week out about sources and knowing how to find (valid) evidence. I was able to find a reputable source, which were peer reviewed studies on this drug. I then went to an expert, which in this case was the pharmacist and asked for information on the evidence I had found. They confirmed this information and I made a well rounded decision. Tik Tok wasn’t involved at any point. However, this didn’t change the fact that I was in pain. So I decided to do an investigation into CBD oil. Why? Well, because it’s a huge market, with athletes and fitness influencers in their droves recommending CBD gummies or topical creams. Now, it would be entirely fallacious for me to buy something because my favourite athlete uses it. And that’s not even because I don’t have a favourite athlete. Joke, I do, it’s Pierce LePage, who is the decathlon World Champion. Why decathlon? Well, if you listen to the show, I am a fan of being well rounded and with 10 events, I would say this makes for a well rounded athlete. Don’t email me if you are a CrossFit acolyte. Anyway, enough waffle, let’s dig into CBD.
First of all, what on earth is CBD? Well, it stands for ‘cannabidiol’. It is one of over 100 chemical components of the cannabis plant. Others include CBC and THC. THC being the compound most strongly associated with the psychotropic effects of cannabis. CBC is marketed as being effective for training recovery due to its unique properties. Having a look at the website for one of the biggest CBD cream companies, specifically targeting the fitness and athletic market, I found a lot of rhetoric. If you recall, I recently covered ethos, pathos and logos and rhetorical devices in an argument. Logos would be evidence and ethos and pathos are appeals to emotion or appeals from a voice of authority. What was interesting, was that, in spite of the main holding page making statements such as: “Many people with chronic pain use our CBD products to reduce inflammation and act as pain relief”, I also found them admitting that some people BELIEVE that CBD is useful for pain management, then dropped a huge pathos bomb, with the story of a chronically bedridden father who has a new lease of life from CBD. They also linked what they called a study showing that CBD eased chronic pain. When I read the study, it only had 15 participants. All participants showed greater response to pain management when they were told they had taken CBD, in spite of the fact they received placebo. Therefore, the study concluded that “CBD analgesia was driven by psychological expectancies…”
I was actually quite keen to see if I could uncover ANY evidence at all that CBD products meet their claims. Remember before sending me any links that a blog post written by a CBD company isn’t evidence. Studies only please and also remember that you taking a CBD gummy before bed for a week isn’t a study. Thank you. I did, myself, find a 2019 meta-analysis of 83 different studies done on CBD for symptoms of anxiety, another of the major selling points for these companies. The conclusion of the meta-analysis was that “There is a lack of evidence that cannabidiol improves disorders. There remains insufficient evidence to provide guidance on the use of cannabinoids within a regulatory framework.”
A 2019 study in a Canadian medical cannabis setting of 205 chronic pain sufferers concluded that “Further investigation is required, but as of now the hyped and often illegally marketed claims of CBD as a wellness product are unsubstantiated.”.
So there you have it. As always, my goal is to have a question, which in this case was ‘do CBD products work for pain and recovery?’. Then I will look for evidence of weight and currency to back this up. I will then look for evidence or claims against that position and conclude or leave listeners to conclude. In this case, just like with many of the other expensive and unregulated products out there, there is NO quality evidence that supports CBD use for pain management. Most of the companies selling CBD products have made the claim that there are no studies being done on the human effects of CBD. I would say that a meta analysis of 83 studies says otherwise, 83 being more than zero.
As I noted in previous episodes about products that make very broad claims, it’s a bit of a red flag for me when it’s claimed that a single gummy bear will help pain, seizures, anxiety, sleep issues, mental health, PTSD and skin problems. It’s very rare that we find a Swiss army knife type product that addresses everything in one. With the self-proclaimed purest and broad spectrum CBD products costing sometimes in excess of 100 bucks a month, it’s easy to see why companies would want to get on the bandwagon. Unfortunately because of economic conditions and because ethos (claims to authority) work, we see many athletes and influencers recommending CBD and getting a kickback through their discount code. I know one such athlete and her position is that even if it’s placebo, it’s not harmful. No one is gonna have an adverse reaction to CBD health-wise and it’s on customers to do their due diligence. I can’t say I agree. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. If I make a claim about a product, which can be proven false, then in some territories, that is a basis for legal intervention against false claims. There also COULD be some negative side effects from CBD, particularly in large doses.
I do want to note also, because quite rightly, someone will email me to bring it up, that although CBD gummies, sprays and creams being sold for pain and anxiety have literally no evidence and are most likely an expensive placebo, there is a pharmaceutical CBD derived product. It is called Epidiolex and is used in the US and Europe in conjunction with other medications to aid in controlling seizures brought about by 3 rare conditions. It is very potent stuff compared with what you may buy off amazon, so please don’t read a study that Epidiolex works for SOME seizures and then extrapolate and assume that this means CBD dummies will work for yours. The starting dose only of Epidiolex for a 200lb person (I use this because I am 200lbs) is 450mg a day and after a week would be bumped up to 900mg a day. To put that into context, most CBD products have 25mg in each serving. So this drug at starting dose would have 18-36 times the CBD being consumed per day.
Also, bear in mind the legal status of CBD in your locality. I lived in Hong Kong for over a decade and in February 2023, Hong Kong banned all CBD products, including for academic or scientific research because of the high prevalence of CBD products tainted with THC (the psychoactive chemical in cannabis) which is illegal in the territory. So bear in mind that if you do decide to have an expensive placebo before bed each night, you may run into problems with the law.
If you have a question or just want to say hi, then email me at getfitguy@quickanddirtytips.com and you too can be featured on the show. Don’t forget to share the podcast with your friends!
Get-Fit Guy is a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast. Thanks to the team at Quick and Dirty Tips Morgan Christianson, Holly Hutchings, Davina Tomlin (Duh-VEE-nuh TOM-lin), Kamryn Lacey, and our new Director of Podcasts, Brannan Goetschius (Get-CHUSS). I’m your host, Kevin Don. If you have a question for me, leave me a voicemail at 510-353-3104 or send me an email at
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