What Time of Day Should I Take CBD?

If you’ve hopped on the CBD train and started adding it to your daily routine, you may wonder when the best time is to take it. Is a dose of CBD oil in your morning the ideal way to start your day? Is a gummy before bed the perfect way to wind down for the night? It’s an important question but the answer isn’t going to be the same for each person.

Luckily, The Green Dragon CBD has your back. We’ll run through the things you need to know and the questions you need to ask yourself to optimize your CBD schedule. There’s no better time than right now to learn more about CBD, so let’s make like those morning eggs and get cracking.

What Do You Want From Your CBD?

The first step in figuring out that perfect window to take your CBD is going to be figuring out exactly what you’re hoping to get from your product. If you aren’t up on the basic concept of what exactly CBD is and how CBD works, we’ll do a quick crash course here. 

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a chemical molecule known as a cannabinoid and is one of two major cannabinoids found in the hemp and cannabis plants. These molecules interact with the body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS) which is a system of chemical compounds produced by the body and a network of receptors that bind with those compounds to facilitate various outcomes in the body. When the body gets out of whack, it’s the ECS’s job to restore it to balance. Unfortunately, things like stress, diet, or illness can prevent the ECS from doing that job as effectively as it might normally. This is where CBD comes in. By supplementing your body with CBD, you can give your ECS the boost it needs to get those internal systems back in line. 

So, the next question that needs to be asked is, “What do you want from your CBD?” Because each person has a different biology, and each person’s ECS is stressed in different ways, the effects a person feels from CBD are going to be different. Studies on CBD have shown positive findings on a variety of different therapeutic effects. Some of those effects include:

• Pain relief
• Anxiety relief
• Depression relief
• Alertness and focus
• Sleep aid

Not everyone is going to feel all these effects, nor is everyone going to want to. Once you’ve decided what you’re hoping to get from your CBD you can move on to determining how exactly CBD works for you.

How CBD Works For You

As I mentioned, CBD is one of two major cannabinoids, the other being THC. If you know anything about THC, you’re probably aware that it’s the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana and it is what makes you feel high. CBD, on the other hand, is not psychoactive. It’s not going to get you and the effects it has on your body are going to be more subtle. Now that you know what you want from your CBD, you can tune into your body and get a grasp on how exactly it makes you feel when you take it. Does it make your mind and thinking clearer? Does it take away some of your background anxiety and make it easier to relax? Does it ease your muscle pain and make you feel more loose? Knowing how CBD affects your body and mood makes deciding the perfect time of day to take it that much easier to determine.

Reasons to Take CBD in the Morning

I (very reluctantly) would call myself a morning person. When the sun comes up, I drink my tea, feed my dogs, and get the day going. My wife most certainly is not. I can easily measure the morning in the nine-minute intervals between each time she hits snooze. If starting the day is a struggle for you, adding CBD to your morning routine can have a variety of benefits.

Clear the Morning Fog

A 2014 study has shown that low doses of CBD in the morning may be positively associated with an increased level of alertness in the morning. This effect is going to be more subtle than that caffeine jolt from your morning cup of coffee, but it can help with a smooth and balanced transition from being asleep to being awake. Getting off on a good foot first thing can help you maintain a steady level of energy and focus throughout the day.

Manage Your Daily Stress

Even if you are a morning person, starting the day can be stressful. Your inbox is full, your to-do list is unchecked, and the obstacles of the day loom in front of you like a Ninja Warrior obstacle course. A variety of studies, including this one published in 2015, have noted the potential for CBD to help users manage their stress and anxiety. Being able to manage the stress of the morning more easily can help to make you happier and more productive throughout the day. 

Ease Pain and Loosen Muscles

Though I wake up alert, sometimes I don’t always wake up free of pain. These days, a few inches difference in where I put my head on the pillow can lead to a tight neck, a sore shoulder, or an aching back. CBD’s anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties can help your body feel better faster so you can hit the day running instead of spending the first few hours working out the kinks.

Reasons to Take CBD in the Afternoon

The middle of the day comes with its own problems. Maybe you start the day off great but by mid-afternoon your morning coffee has worn off, that Chipotle you ate for lunch is weighing you down, and you just don’t feel motivated anymore. CBD might be just what you need to keep the ball rolling through those doldrums.

Overcome the Afternoon Slump

Our body is preprogrammed to gear down in the afternoons. Circadian rhythms are a 24-hour cycle of restfulness and wakefulness that affect us both physically and mentally. Between the hours of 1pm and 4pm, our body goes into one of those cycles of restfulness that causes us to feel lethargic and lose focus. Taking CBD in the afternoon can help us maintain that focus and keep our energy levels steady as we plow through the rest of the day.

Help With Digestion

For many of us, lunch is the first big meal of the day and asking the body to digest it in the middle of the workday can be a lot. A review of studies done in 2020 showed that supplementing the ECS with cannabinoids may help to reduce inflammation in the gut and decrease production of gastric acids, allowing for healthier and more comfortable digestion. And since CBD can last for up to six hours, this benefit may even stretch all the way to dinner.

Reasons to Take CBD at Night

Shaking off the wear and tear of a long day can be just as taxing as the day itself. Putting the lingering thoughts of the day away for the night isn’t always easy, and sometimes the things we do to help us unwind can do me more harm than good. With CBD, that transition can be a lot easier.

Ease Into the Night

For some, anxiety peaks at night. If this is the case for you, then maybe it’s better to take your CBD in the evening instead of in the morning. Also, it’s not at all uncommon to unwind after a long day with a couple beers or some glasses of wine. This is totally fine for some, but because of the way the body digests alcohol and carbohydrates, this could leave others with an uncomfortable spike later in the night. With CBD, you can add those sedative effects to your evening routine without the risk of it disrupting your sleep later.

Spice Up the Night

Ray Charles once sang, “The nighttime is the right time to be with the one you love.” But sometimes sex is the last thing on your mind as you hit the sack after a long day. Stress, anxiety, and fatigue might make it hard to get in the mood, but CBD may help you shed some of that weight and get that fire sparked. You can read all about CBD and sex here.

Get More Restful Sleep

Unfortunately, anxiety does not leave the body during sleep. Even while our eyes are closed, the mind can keep running wild. This can disrupt our rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is the cycle of sleep where the body restores itself. A 2012 study found that taking CBD at night can prevent anxiety-induced REM sleep suppression, allowing the body to awake more rested and restored. Also, the anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects of CBD can make it easier to stay asleep if you are nagged by aches and pains throughout the night.

Day or Night, Which is Right?

When it comes to CBD, the question isn’t ‘when is the best time’ but rather ‘when is the best time for you’. Each CBD user has different needs. Once you know yours, you can use the advice above to decide what is going to give you the results you’re looking for. Being patient, listening to your body, and a little trial and error can help you find the perfect schedule for when you take CBD. It may be in the morning, at night, or multiple doses throughout the day. If you still have questions about how CBD can best help you, we would love to hear from you either in the comments or through the contact link on our website. All that’s left now is to have a great day.

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