How CBD Helps Animals and People Alike
By Parker Muck - February 18, 2022
If you have ever heard bananas are 85% related to humans you probably deposited that information into your fact bank and moved on with your life. Because truly, what good does knowing that information do anyways? The absurdity of the fact somewhat does a disservice to what it is trying to convey. The Idea that genetically Humans are 85% similar to bananas feels absurd because what do we have incommon with a yellow tropical fruit? To answer this question it takes more than just visual observations to truly understand that a good majority of the tiny molecules and enzymes that are made by a banana plant are fundamental to its functions to live. While a banana may photosynthesize, something humans can't do, they also respire. Which is something humans do too. Genetically what this means is that like humans bananas use their genetic code to produce remarkably similar molecules to allow it to use sugar for energy and release co2 in the process.
What is the point of this bannan rambling on a website about CBD you may ask? Well, its to demonstrate that CBD isn't just for humans. Dogs, cats and horses all can individually benefit from CBD. Just like how we share relatedness to a banana in a fundamental way, mammals all share something called an endocannabinoid system. These systems are sets of signal pathways in our bodies to change how proteins are expressed and ultimately how they behave. When we ingest CBD. in an immune context this may mean reducing inflammation responses that cause pain. In a cerebral response it can affect how our brain responds to stressful stimuli. A quick google search would confirm that CBD helps animals in very similar ways to humans. Whether it's helping a dog with separation anxiety, aiding a horse with arthritis, or calming a fractious cat CBD can help. Tke horse illustrated article 'CBD for horses' discussed that while CBD for horses is in its infancy but Colorado State University research suggest that it is beneficial for anxiety and mild pain but becomes more cost prohibitive for treating severe pain. This article points out that the preliminary results of this study are similar to the ones in dogs and humans. Its intriguing to be able to look at a 20 Lb dog or a 1500 Lb horse and find that there are entire systems of molecules what we all share in common. While it seems easy to set yourself apart from animals in an increasingly human centric world, the effects of CBD on both humans and animals demonstrates that we aren't all that different from animals in many fundamental ways.