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Is CBD Keto Friendly?

Disclaimer: The information provided here is intended solely for informational and entertainment purposes. It should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read here.


When you’re on keto – just as in any diet – the best thing you can do is fall in love with the process. The results to love will come by themselves.

However, as slogans tell us, love is not enough. If you’re just starting keto, or are a faithful keto-er wondering what cannabis—CBD—is and whether it’s worth a try on the keto diet, then your next question would be if CBD is keto-friendly or not.

Are CBD and the keto diet on the same page? Is there some sort of a contradiction between keto and cannabis? If that’s the case, this post will tell you exactly what is the relationship is between cannabidiol, otherwise known as CBD, and the keto diet.

But be prepared: you will also learn why CBD can help you get closer to your keto goals.

Key Takeaways

  • The keto diet – the shortened name for the ketogenic diet, a very-low-carb, high-fat-diet meant to cause the body to enter a state of ketosis – has entered the lexicon.
  • CBD products tend toward the low-carb variety anyway – in the form of CBD capsules and oils. By nature, the CBD keto diet is already low in carbs.
  • Elsewhere, additional ingredients that are often mixed with ingestible CBD, like CBD-fortified food or beverages, may result in higher carbohydrate content.

Keto stands for the ketogenic diet, a low-carbohydrate, high-fat eating plan that promotes the body’s use of fat for energy by inducing a bodily state called ketosis.

A ketosis role reverses how most of us use and store food for fuel, utilizing fat rather than carbohydrates for our energy production.

A keto diet typically involves reducing one’s consumption of carbohydrates, increasing fat, and regulating the amount of protein one eats.

Is CBD Keto-Friendly?

In short, yes, experts do believe CBD is keto-friendly. Keto-friendly products are those that support a healthy and safe ketogenic diet.

CBD capsules (cannacaps) and CBD oils (CBD oil, cannabidiol oil) usually contain no to very few carbs, which makes for a low-carb CBD product.

Since consuming foods with less than 20g of net carbs per day can put you into ketosis, it is safe to say that the keto diet and CBD are indeed friends, with keto dieters allowed to combine it with CBD without putting their ketosis achievements.

However, things change when we speak of CBD edibles as we are not talking about CBD solely but usually about other foods or drinks that are made with CBD, where the ingredient that breaks ketosis is often the food’s one and not the CBD itself.

Who is the Keto Diet Good for?

The keto diet was first formulated as a treatment for epilepsy, and research has shown that a keto diet can drastically reduce the number of seizures suffered by epileptic children.

The bulk of people following the keto diet do so for weight loss, and many studies have been done, that prove it to be much more effective as a weight loss tool than a low calorie diet or a low fat diet.

The Keto craze has heated up even more in the recent years, and many celebrities and athletes attribute losing weight, an increase in energy and a reduction of their inflammation to the diet.

The Keto Flu and CBD

If you’re CBD-naïve and just starting a Keto Diet, supplementing is a great way to mitigate your way through the first phase of Keto Diet, called the ‘Keto Flu’.

As your body adjusts to its new highly fat diet and enters a state called ketosis, you may experience lethargy, fatigue, fogginess, and some grouchiness. It may suck, but this state is simply your body transitioning from burning glucose to burning fat.

Consuming some CBD gummy bears or oils can quell this grouchiness and brain fog. Studies have shown that CBD use significantly decreases daytime sleepiness.

Does CBD Oil Have Carbs?

Short answer: definitely not. CBD by itself contains virtually no carbohydrates so it can’t derail your keto diet.

But, as we just pointed out, there are CBD products – like CBD-infused edibles and beverages – that can include other added ingredients that often make a significant contribution to carb counts.

So, you should always check the nutritional facts panel to ensure the CBD products you choose are compatible with your goals, and don’t throw your keto diet regime off track.

Benefits Of CBD Oil For The Keto Diet

Both CBD and the keto diet can provide different health benefits individually. On the one hand, CBD is shown to have potential benefits for certain inflammatory conditions, pain, anxiety and depression symptoms owing to its interaction with the endocannabinoid system, regulating various bodily systems.

On the other hand, the keto diet continues to gain popularity thanks to its potential benefits for weight loss, hormonal balance, appetite control, visceral adiposity, and improving cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

But using CBD on keto could generate a synergistic effect, thus increasing the keto diet’s effectiveness and the potential benefits that CBD could offer separately.

CBD Oil & Keto For Weight Loss.

In particular, experts suggest that CBD acts on the body’s important endocannabinoid system, which has a central role in regulating metabolic processes including metabolism, hunger and energy balance.

CBD could also have a direct effect on the body’s white fat cells. By acting on the endocannabinoid system and white fat cells, CBD could help the body maintain healthy metabolism and suppress appetite, which in turn could help it shed pounds on a ketogenic diet.

White Fat Cells vs. Brown Fat Cells

CBD could promote the conversion of white fat to brown fat. The latter are easier to burn to produce energy. This promotes utilize insulin sensitivity, helping some people on keto reach their goals more easily.

CBD & Keto For Inflammation

CBD and the keto diet might even be more effective together. That’s because both natural supplements possess anti-inflammatory properties on their own, at least to some degree.

CBD’s compounds interact with your body’s natural endocannabinoid system to modulate the immune system and subsequently reduce inflammation. Similarly, the keto diet might reduce inflammation, too, because it promotes healthy fats and moderate-to-low carbohydrate consumption.

This natural pairing of CBD and the keto diet might increase the effects of each, and thus create a synergistic effect wherein each enhances the performance of the other to relieve inflammation.

Neuroprotective Properties Of CBD

Just as CBD and the keto diet could be great for weight loss and reduction of inflammation, they could partner up for brain health as well.

CBD has well-documented neuroprotective benefits that could complement the keto diet.

Similarly, there’s a few promising findings on the neuroprotective benefits of the keto diet that could complement the neuroprotective benefits of CBD for certain neurological diseases like epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease.

Using CBD Oil On A Keto Diet

Incorporating CBD into a ketogenic regimen is actually quite simple. To do so, choose CBD products free of added sugars or carbohydrates, such as CBD oils, tinctures, capsules, flowers, or pre-rolls.

You can easily incorporate these products into meals and drinks or simply consume them separately, depending on the product you choose, to provide additional support to your ketogenic lifestyle and diet.

Final Thoughts

To summarize, CBD is keto-friendly. Firstly, it is not a supplement where you have to worry about carbohydrates in the product that put you out of the keto regime.

Secondly, it is a beneficial supplement that offers more than just adhering to the keto diet. Like the keto diet, CBD offers its benefits towards weight loss, inflammation control and neuroprotection, so why not go for these extra perks by adding CBD on top of keto?

However, as long as you don’t take CBD products with added sugars or carbohydrates, the effects work almost as perfectly as if they were keto-specific products.

Finally, we recommend consulting a health professional before making a drastic change in your diet, be it if keto doesn’t fit with your present condition or if you are interested in trying out CBD as part of your keto regime to ensure it is the right fit for you, your conditions and goals.

Links:

  • https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/cannabidiol-cbd-what-we-know-and-what-we-dont-2018082414476
  • https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-drug-comprised-active-ingredient-derived-marijuana-treat-rare-severe-forms
  • https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11910-018-0814-x
  • https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/can.2017.0018
  • https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19049574/
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8153354/
  • https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2021.21111138

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The content provided on Botany Farms’ website, including blog posts and articles, is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

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