Sex and CBD Oil Online: Hot or Not?
Cannabis has been used as a herbal aphrodisiac for thousands of years, dating back to Ayurvedic practitioners in India who (still) often recommend it to increase male libido. A 2014 review in Biomed Research International cited this historical data to refer to cannabis as a plant the delays ejaculation and improves ejaculatory function.
And today, in the West, there are countless websites with cannabidiol (CBD) products making various claims about how CBD oil can improve your sex life. But are these claims really backed by research? It’s one thing to cite ancient historical texts and alternative medicine, but what about recent scientific studies?
Published Survey Data from Stanford University, and More
In 2018, a Stanford University survey made international headlines when it found that regular cannabis users have 20 percent more sex than non-cannabis users. Even more, a 2016 survey of women published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine (JSM) found that 68% of respondents found cannabis use enhanced their sexual pleasure. However, 16% of women surveyed said cannabis products actually made sex unpleasurable. Hmm. Let’s keep drilling (pardon the pun!).
A 1979 study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology was among the first ever peer-reviewed papers to explore the relationship between cannabis and sexual function. The results showed that “experienced cannabis users” believed the hemp plant improved orgasm, and should even be considered an aphrodisiac.
Similarly, in 1984, a survey of college students published in the Journal of Sex Research found that over 66% of respondents said they had greater sexual pleasure and satisfaction with cannabis use. Even more, 20% of respondents said they used cannabis regularly as preparation for sex.
The Problem with Surveys
All of these studies sound convincing, right? You wouldn’t be wrong in wanting to go out and get some CBD oil online and giving it a try in your sex life! However, if we’re going to look closely at these studies, there’s a slight problem: they are all surveys.
While there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with surveys, the problem with surveys is that responses can be highly subjective. What one person says is ‘pleasurable’ may not mean the same thing to another person, for example. In addition, surveys can be problematic because they rely on recall, or the memory of an event –and do not measure it in realtime (which would be really strange for a study on sex if they did!).
What the surveys from highly reputable sources over the past 50+ years do show, though, is that the relationship between cannabis and sex needs further exploration. There’s something there, but we want science to back it up!
Beyond Surveys: Science on CBD and Sex
According to a 2017 study published in Psychopharmacology, there is indeed some science at play here. And for our regular readers, you might already be guessing what comes into play: the human body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS).
(For those not familiar with the ECS, in short, it’s a major regulatory mechanism in the brain and body that balances many physiological processes. The ECS has cannabinoid receptors, and, guess what? CBD is a cannabinoid. It’s this interplay between the ECS and CBD that has received a lot of research in the past decade in treating things like anxiety, stress, insomnia, and even epilepsy, cancer, and more. We’ve written a lot about the ECS here.)
Moving on, the 2017 study found that cannabis stimulates part of the brain called the right nucleus accumbens, which also plays an important role in controlling sexual arousal. Otherwise known as the brain’s pleasure centre, the nucleus accumbens is densely populated with CB1 cannabinoid receptors –part of the ECS!
In addition, a 2012 study published in the JSM observed a direct correlation between circulating endocannabinoid levels and sexual arousal in women.
More studies? Nope, that’s it. Frustrated, right? We are, too!
Final Thoughts
We scoured the Internet for all the studies we could find, and what did we discover? There aren’t enough to be conclusive yet. Yes, it seems there’s a genuine connection between CBD oil online and potentially improving your sex life, either via increased pleasure, arousal, delaying ejaculation for men –a range of benefits. But is the research conclusive yet? No, it isn’t.
If you are going to buy some CBD oil online, just be sure to check that it has been independently lab tested for potency and purity, like ours are.
What we, and we hope you, have learned is that more research is needed. Clearly, it has been problematic for academics and researchers to get the funding they need to carry out this important work. Still, progress has been made, and more studies come out each day as the green revolution continues.
If you’ve had some experience with CBD oil and sex, and you’re open to sharing, please leave us a comment below. Or, if you have a question, feel free to email us here. We’re always happy help.