Cannabidiol (CBD) has many potential benefits for heart health. But what about the negative side effects? Can CBD make your heart race?
Based on the current research, no, CBD won’t make your heart race or cause heart palpitations. However, cannabis, which contains high levels of THC, may cause your heart to race or otherwise beat irregularly.
In this article, we’re going to talk about why CBD won’t raise your heart rate and how CBD affects your heart rate.
Can CBD Make Your Heart Race?
No, CBD does not make your heart race. However, THC, another cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant, may cause increased heart rate or heart arrhythmia.
There has been scientific inquiry into whether CBD converts to THC in the stomach, because this would cause your heart to race.
However, it was shown that CBD stays as CBD after being consumed, so this possibility was eliminated — therefore, all the research we have suggests that CBD does not increase heart rate [1].
On the contrary, CBD’s vasorelaxant properties actually help it reduce the increase in heart rate caused by THC.
Does CBD increase your heart rate?
No, research suggests CBD has no effect on resting blood pressure or heart rate, nor will it lead to any sort of heart arrhythmia.
However, THC, which occurs in the cannabis sativa plant along with CBD, may lead to an increase in heart rate.
Does CBD lower your heart rate?
Studies on both humans and rodents have shown that CBD may lower blood pressure and heart rate [2,3]. However, more research is needed on CBD’s potential benefits for heart issues caused by hypertension, and it’s not a treatment for high blood pressure.
Is CBD safe for heart patients?
Yes and no. CBD by itself won’t cause any problems for heart patients, but if you’re taking medication, CBD may cause drug interactions that can lead to liver damage.
To avoid this, be sure to speak to your doctor before taking CBD if you’re on heart medications.
How CBD Affects Your Heart: What Science Says
Research has found that CBD has a variety of effects on the heart, and most of them seem to be positive.
Here’s a look at how CBD works in the heart and what its potential effects are:
How CBD works: the endocannabinoid system
CBD works in the body via a receptor system called the endocannabinoid system (ECS). The purpose of the ECS is to maintain homeostasis, or balance.
The ECS helps regulate a laundry list of brain and bodily functions, including your pain and inflammatory response, sleep-wake cycle, mood, and body temperature.
Normally, the ECS functions fine on its own. But during times of bodily stress, the ECS can become overworked. When this happens, CBD and THC may help it to promote homeostasis, or a normal, balanced state of mental and physical health.
CBD and other cannabinoids can interact with the ECS in a variety of ways. However, the way CBD specifically influences heart health is by blocking activity in the CB1 receptors in your ECS.
As CB1 is responsible in large part for the inflammatory response, this blocking function may induce vasorelaxation, or relaxing of the blood vessels.
The good: CBD’s impact on blood vessel inflammation
A major cause of heart problems is vasculitis, or inflammation of the blood vessels. Vasculitis can cause problems such as high blood pressure, damage to organs and tissue, and nerve damage.
Research shows that CBD has anti-inflammatory properties — including for the blood vessels.
One study found that CBD has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and another noted that CBD has shown vasorelaxant (or blood vessel-relaxing) properties in both humans and rats [4,5].
Overall, research so far shows that CBD has therapeutic potential for vasculitis as well as hypertension (high blood pressure), which is a key cause of many heart conditions. However, CBD isn’t a proven treatment for heart conditions, and more research on this is needed.
The bad: CBD interferes with heart medications
While CBD has many potential benefits for heart health, it may pose a risk for heart patients who are on medications, especially blood thinners.
CBD may interfere with your liver’s metabolization of certain medications, causing them to build up in the body and potentially result in liver toxicity.
CBD Won’t Make Your Heart Race, But THC and Cannabis Will
Unlike CBD, THC causes your heart to race — and this is true of THC in hemp-derived products (like we sell), as well as THC in marijuana, because it’s the same thing.
The reason we’re mentioning this is that THC is present in some CBD products. And if you use a very large dose of one of these products, you may experience an increase in heart rate.
There are three types of CBD:
- Full-spectrum CBD: Contains CBD, cannabinoids that naturally occur along with it (including small amounts of THC), and terpenes.
- Broad-spectrum CBD: Is the same as full spectrum CBD, but with the THC removed.
- CBD isolate: Just CBD, with nothing else.
So if you take a full-spectrum CBD product, which contains THC, you may experience an increase in heart rate. Broad-spectrum CBD and CBD isolate contain no THC, so there’s no risk of your heart racing after consuming these products.
However, even in full-spectrum CBD products, the THC levels are typically very low – you likely won’t experience any change in heart rate after taing these products.
Still, if this is something you’re concerned about, the safest possible option is a broad-spectrum or CBD isolate product.
Side Effects of CBD
While CBD won’t cause an increase in heart rate, it has the potential to create other side effects:
- Dry mouth
- Drowsiness
- Diarrhea
- Reduced appetite
- Fatigue
Proper CBD dosing can drastically reduce the chance that you feel any of these side effects. Still, they’re important to be aware of.
Conclusion: Can CBD Make Your Heart Race?
You can take CBD and rest easy knowing it won’t make your heart race. Just be sure that the product you’re using doens’t contain THC — choose a broad-spectrum CBD or CBD isolate product over full-spectrum CBD.
We also recommend that you speak to your doctor before using CBD of any kind if you have a heart condition, especially if you’re taking prescription medications.
They’ll be able to determine if CBD is right for your situation, and if so, how you should be taking it to see the best results.
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Can CBD Make Your Heart Race: Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some frequently asked questions about CBD and heart rate.
Can CBD gummies make your heart race?
Not unless they are full-spectrum CBD gummies, which contain THC. CBD by itself will not increase your heart rate.
Can CBD cause irregular heartbeat?
No — the only known effect of CBD on the heartbeat is that it can lower heart rate. However, THC can cause heart arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat).
Can CBD cause heart flutters?
No, CBD by itself will not cause heart flutters. However, THC might.
Can too much make you feel jittery?
While jittery feelings aren’t a typical side effect of CBD, taking too much CBD may cause feelings of dizziness and jitteriness in some rare cases.
Can CBD trigger atrial fibrillation?
CBD alone will not trigger atrial fibrillation, however, cannabis, which contains THC, might.
Does CBD water increase heart rate?
No, CBD water and other similar products will not increase your heart rate unless they also contain significant amounts of THC.
Are there side effects to CBD?
Yes, there are side effects to CBD. Potential side effects include dry mouth, drowsiness, diarrhea, reduced appetite, and fatigue.
Sources
[1] Merrick, John et al. “Identification of Psychoactive Degradants of Cannabidiol in Simulated Gastric and Physiological Fluid.” Cannabis and cannabinoid research vol. 1,1 102-112. 1 Apr. 2016, doi:10.1089/can.2015.0004
[2] Jadoon, Khalid A et al. “A single dose of cannabidiol reduces blood pressure in healthy volunteers in a randomized crossover study.” JCI insight vol. 2,12 e93760. 15 Jun. 2017, doi:10.1172/jci.insight.93760
[3] Resstel, Leonardo B M et al. “5-HT1A receptors are involved in the cannabidiol-induced attenuation of behavioural and cardiovascular responses to acute restraint stress in rats.” British journal of pharmacology vol. 156,1 (2009): 181-8. doi:10.1111/j.1476-5381.2008.00046.x
[4] Atalay, Sinemyiz et al. “Antioxidative and Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Cannabidiol.” Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) vol. 9,1 21. 25 Dec. 2019, doi:10.3390/antiox9010021
[5] Stanley, Christopher P et al. “Is the cardiovascular system a therapeutic target for cannabidiol?.” British journal of clinical pharmacology vol. 75,2 (2013): 313-22. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2125.2012.04351.x
