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Motion Sickness On The Road? CBD Can Save Your Holiday!

Can’t wait to go on holiday again? We know just what you mean – but make sure to read up on this CBD and motion sickness blog before you leave! Motion sickness can make you feel nauseous and ill enough to ruin your holiday trip, but fortunately, it appears that CBD can help. Perhaps you are prone to motion sickness yourself, or – possibly worse – maybe your kids are. It’s no serious condition at all, but spending a long car journey sick to your stomach is a terrible way to start your vacation. You could be tired, nauseous and completely annoyed before you even arrive at your destination. And if you plan a trip into the mountains, you’ll find that those winding mountain roads are pure horror for anyone going through motion sickness. Then again, getting sick on the road may be a thing of the past this summer: research shows that CBD Oil could be your golden ticket to stop motion sickness once and for all!

The Causes Of Motion Sickness

We’re all looking forward to going on holiday again: time to hit the road for some fun and leisure, a few family outings, and visiting places we’ve never been before. Packing those bags and heading off into the sunset does come with one major drawback, however: motion sickness. Though it doesn’t affect every one of us, about 33% of all people report getting dizzy or nauseous when travelling by car, boat, or plane. The reason why motion sickness affects some but not all is unclear.

But what is the underlying cause of motion sickness? Problems start when our central nerve system receives conflicting messages. Suppose you are in the back seat of a car, reading a book. Your skin and inner ear are equipped with sensors that detect motion. As long as the car is moving, bouncing, making turns and switching lanes, your body gets the message that it is moving. However, your eyes only see the pages of the book you’re reading. This is conflicting information: you feel motion but at the same time, you see a static image. This conflict makes you feel nauseous and dizzy, sometimes even forcing you to stop over and throw up.

Other symptoms of motion sickness include:

• Headaches;
• Cold sweat;
• Drowsiness;
• Pale complexion;
• Excessive saliva production

Not everyone is affected by all symptoms to the same extent. In addition, they can be elicited by different triggers from one person to the next. Some people are able to read in a moving car without breaking a sweat, while they get sick as soon as they set foot on a boat.

Options For Treating Motion Sickness

All available options for treating motion sickness address only the symptoms. The usual treatment consists of antihistamines. You simply take a tablet one hour before departure. Although these drugs are effective for most people, they do come with a number of side-effects, with drowsiness as the most annoying one. Obviously, you’ll want to enjoy the view while travelling. Even worse, you’ll have a hard time driving safely after taking these medications. An alternative is available in the form of scopolamine dermal patches. They can help counter nausea, but children under 18 are not allowed to use them.

The unwanted side-effects of regular anti-motion sickness medication make CBD an interesting natural alternative, however. Several studies seem to indicate that this cannabinoid can help counter the symptoms of this unpleasant condition.

CBD For Motion Sickness

The fact that CBD may help against motion sickness stems from the cannabinoid’s involvement in the mechanism controlling nausea and vomiting. Like all other mammals, humans have an endocannabinoid system (ECS), which is constantly at work to maintain the homeostatic balance in our body.

To do so, our body needs cannabinoids. These compounds engage with cell receptors to either increase or decrease their activity. Research has demonstrated that CBD activates 5-HT1A receptors (a type of serotonin receptor). This reduces the sense of nausea as well as any accompanying gag reflexes.

Lack Of Cannabinoids In The Bloodstream

A 2010 study showed how this is an effective way to tackle motion sickness. A team of German scientists studied blood samples taken from volunteers who took part in a parabolic flight. This is a flying manoeuvre used to simulate zero-gravity conditions. The airplane is taken through several steep nosedive procedures followed by rapid ascents. This manoeuvre is known to make even trained astronauts feel sick.

The blood tests showed that the subjects who experienced the most nausea during the flight were also the people with the lowest blood cannabinoid levels. Those who did not get sick turned out to have more cannabinoids in their bloodstream. This indicates that both the ECS and cannabinoids are involved in the sense of nausea caused by motion sickness.

The Link Between Endocannabinoids And Nausea

In 2014, a study looked into the link between endocannabinoid levels and dexamethasone use. This is an anti-inflammatory drug that can help prevent production of inflammatory agents. In this study rats with motion sickness were given dexamethasone. It turned out that this drug boosts the endocannabinoid system without any serious side-effects. Blood readings also showed that motion sickness effects had depleted cannabinoid levels, although delivering dexamethasone replenished these afterwards. This is another indication of the link between motion sickness and cannabinoids.

If you are interested in a natural way to treat motion sickness this summer, you may want to try CBD for yourself. This cannabinoid-based supplement does not make you high, because it is non-psychoactive, and it hardly produces any side-effects. In the SupMedi webshop, you’ll find easy-to-use CBD Tablets that are perfect to take with you as you travel. And since having a bite to eat can also help prevent motion sickness, perhaps our CBD Gummies are an even better idea. Having some candy with you on the road is a treat for your children and for yourself, and these tasty gummies contain 4mg of CBD each: just enough for smart dosing. All our CBD supplements are suited for children older than 4 years, so if you worry about nausea on the road, make sure you’re packing some CBD this summer!