There’s been an explosion of interest in CBD in the past couple of years. The food supplement is beginning to gain mainstream acceptance, even hitting the shelves of high-street health stores and pharmacies. Oils, creams and edibles (including chocolates, yum) are commonly bought to augment prescription treatments, with many consumers saying they help with issues like anxiety or arthritis, or even just drifting off to sleep.
While CBD is a compound that comes from the cannabis plant, it’s not illegal as it’s not the psychoactive element of cannabis. A turning point came in 2017 when a World Health Organisation report found CBD users didn’t display any signs of adverse health outcomes like addiction; the report also included early evidence of potential medical applications, which sparked a rush of scientific trials to establish which potential benefits are real.
For athletes, CBD became an option in 2018 when the World Anti Doping Organisation (Wada) made a specific exception for CBD. While the scientific jury is still out on how (and how much) CBD can help humans, some professional athletes have added CBD to their recovery routines, using it for its claimed pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory qualities to help the body recover from knocks and injuries. These include international rugby players George Kruis and Dominic Day, former Saracens teammates who both consumed it following surgical procedures. They were so convinced by its effectiveness that they added it to their daily routine – and they’ve launched their own premium CBD brand, fourfivecbd.
It’s not just elite athletes who have to bounce back from surgeries or withstand a regular pasting on the pitch that can benefit. If you want to get the most out of whatever physical activity you do, sleep is the crucial state of recovery. It’s when your body has the greatest chance to adapt to the training stimulus you’ve subjected it to – whether you’re building muscle or training for a marathon. If you find CBD improves the quality of your slumber, you’ll see more benefit from the training time you put in.
It’s crucial to ensure, especially if you’re subject to Wada rules like Kruis and Day, that you’re using a CBD product with no trace of THC. “Full spectrum” CBD oil contains minuscule (and legal) amounts of THC, but the UK’s anti-doping agency UKAD has warned that some products may contain more THC than stated on the product. This could cause athletes to fall foul of Wada testing – or even mean you take a psychoactive substance when you don’t want to, although normally in quantities small enough not to have a noticeable effect.
For this reason, online retailer SeedsmanCBD doesn’t take manufacturer’s testing certificates at face value. Instead, each product is sent to an independent lab to be tested again to make sure the claims about what’s in it and in what amounts are true.
That’s why SeedsmanCBD is happy to offer fourfivecbd on its website, and even happier to offer an incredible prize package for two people to watch Kruis compete for Saracens at the Allianz Park stadium in London. As well as watching the action from two of the best seats available at the match of your choice, you’ll get to meet Kruis and others in the Players’ Lounge. You’ll also walk away from the experience with a Saracens shirt signed by the squad, a package of CBD products worth £300 to try for yourself, and £1,000 to cover your expenses (and anything else you like!).
To enter, and to find out more about the CBD products SeedsmanCBD offers athletes, visit seedsmancbd.com/competitions-and-giveaways
