Not being classified by WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, as a doping substance, CBD is perfectly intertwined with the sporting field, bringing numerous benefits to athletes who avidly consume it. Let's review the scientific literature on it and definitively clarify its legality in sport.
CBD and sport: WADA directives
Since 2018, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) removed CBD from the list of prohibited substances, declaring CBD one safe substance for athletes.
However, the widespread guidelines are very precise and are keen to underline that, although cannabidiol extracted from cannabis plants could contain traces of other cannabinoids, these remain strictly prohibited.
These include THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, sometimes present in minimal concentrations (according to legal limits) in products with high CBD content. Therefore, to avoid failing any doping tests, incurring sanctions and being disqualified from the competition, it is essential to ensure that CBD has been strictly separated from any other cannabinoid.
The benefits of CBD for athletes
Despite today's scientific studies which - for the moment - have not provided precise indications on the lhe link between CBD and sport, athletes who use it, both amateur and professional, have reported numerous advantages.
In particular, the main ones benefits of CBD recorded by athletes exploit:
- le anti-inflammatory qualities of CBD: effective for muscle pain and to prevent inflammatory processes;
- le analgesic properties: CBD both soothes pain and prevents trauma and muscle cramps, thus limiting injuries and improving athletic performance;
- le anxiolytic abilities, as CBD proves to be a valid ally for easing performance anxiety caused by strong psychological pressures and intense physical effort;
- the qualities muscle relaxants of cannabidiol, which, combined with the anxiolytic ones, guarantee a deep and restorative sleep, essential for recovering energy and tackling future training and competitions in the best possible way;
- finally, CBD promotes muscle recovery and reduces forced rest times.
Sport and CBD: what the studies say
An article titled Potential Role of Cannabidiol on Sports Recovery: A Narrative Review, recently published in August 2021, highlights that CBD has known neuroprotective, analgesic, anxiolytic, antidepressant, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Qualities for which, despite requiring further studies, lead athletes to take cannabidiol.
Research published in 2020 in the scientific journal International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, tested the effects of CBD on rugby players, particularly for post-match recovery, muscle and joint pain and sleep quality. The study highlighted that over 41% of players over 28 take CBD, and that 80% say they use it to control pain, 78% for sleep, and 68%, finally, report receiving a general benefit from it.
In conclusion, we can say that the beneficial link between CBD and sports performance it is validated by the experience of athletes themselves and by the properties of cannabidiol, widely confirmed by countless scientific studies.
Research which in recent years, given the ever-growing interest in the therapeutic qualities of CBD, has marked a historic boom, which will soon fill the gaps gaps regarding sport with certainly more in-depth analyses.
