Andrew Talansky is almost always sore. The 29-year-old spent seven years as a professional cyclist racing for Slipstream Sports. He recently switched to triathlon and now spends hours training both on and off the bike. “I’m using muscles I haven’t used in years,” Talansky says. “My body is constantly inflamed.” Many athletes in his situation rely on common pain relief like ibuprofen, but when Talansky strained a hip flexor last fall, he reached for a bottle of cannabidiol (CBD), an extract from the cannabis plant, instead.
“I took it for a couple of weeks, and there was a noticeable difference immediately,” Talansky says. “And it wasn’t just that my hip was feeling better. I was less anxious, and I was sleeping better.”
Marijuana has long been considered an alternative pain medication, with THC, the principle psychoactive compound in the plant, getting most of the attention. CBD is another active component and could offer some of the same medical benefits (anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety, analgesic), but without the side effect of getting high. CBD interacts with serotonin and vanilloid receptors in the brain, which affect mood and the perception of pain. It also has antioxidant properties. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) removed CBD from its list of banned substances in January, which prompted many professional athletes, including ultrarunner Avery Collins and mountain biker Teal Stetson-Lee, to eschew ibuprofen for CBD. Some believe it’s a safer alternative to drugstore pain relievers and anti-inflammatories.
More than a dozen countries have CBD-based medications on the market, including Canada and Israel. But, in the US, advanced clinical trials are wtill in thier infancy.
Research on CBD has been slow to accumulate, largely because the federal government considers marijuana a Schedule I drug—the same classification given to heroin and LSD—making it difficult for researchers to gain access to it for study. And because many states have already legalized the drug for medical use, pharmaceutical companies have little incentive to conduct costly clinical trials demonstrating its efficacy. (CBD remains illegal in several states that have yet to pass medical-marijuana or CBD exemptions.)
Still, the market for CBD is booming. According to a study by the Brightfield Group, a market-research firm based in Tampa, Florida, hemp CBD generated $170 million in revenue in 2016. With annual sales growing at a rate of 55 percent, it’s poised to be a $1 billion industry by 2020. Charlotte’s Web, which bottles the extract in Colorado, is one of the largest producers in the industry. Talansky’s CBD of choice comes from Floyd’s of Leadville, also in Colorado, which was launched in 2016 by former pro cyclist Floyd Landis. Floyd’s of Leadville markets its products directly to athletes looking for a natural recovery supplement. “Think of your 40-year-old endurance athlete who wants to feel good when he wakes up in the morning,” Landis says. “That’s our target.”
Landis uses CBD to manage pain from a hip replacement he had in 2006. He relied on WADA-approved opioid-based painkillers for years, both before and after he was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France victory for using synthetic testosterone. Eventually, Landis leaned on pot smoking to kick his opioid habit, and in 2015 a friend in the burgeoning marijuana industry suggested Landis try CBD instead.
“It’s the only thing I use now,” Landis says. “I try not to oversell it, because I don’t want to sound insane. But if you can stop taking other pain medications, if you have a natural solution, that’s probably the better option.”
Before You Buy
The lack of industry standards can make purchasing CBD risky. If you plan on stocking up, here are some basic questions to keep in mind.
Is it legal where you live?
Most states have passed some medical marijuana or CBD exemptions, but it’s completely illegal in four states: Idaho, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas.
Has it been tested by a third party?
Independent labs check for potency, pesticides, and residual solvents. If the company doesn’t list these results, move on.
Does the company make unsubstantiated claims?
CBD has not been proven to kill cancer cells, halt Alzheimer’s, or treat schizophrenia. Avoid products that promise to cure everything that ails you.
Read the full article on Outside.com | Why Athletes Are Ditching Ibuprofen for CBD