Can It Make Sex Better?

According to experts, proper stress hygiene, balanced hormones, increased blood flow, and reduced discomfort is going to help you achieve better sexual life — but what about bringing CBD oil to your bedroom? Does CBD enhance sex life?

There’s CBD in plenty of health supplements and skincare products. They even put CBD in toothpaste, face serum, and honey sticks.

CBD is known for its ability to reduce stress, calm the mind, and balance the endocannabinoid system (ECS), the master self-regulatory network controlling a vast range of physiological functions, including sex and reproduction.

As it turns out, CBD oil has a number of applications in the bedroom, from reducing stress and physical discomfort to making you more relaxed and eager for intimate contact.

Ready to learn the science behind the effects of CBD on sexual life?

Let’s dive in.

Does CBD Oil Really Improve Sex Life?

Heather Huff-Bogart, a woman who had her IUD removed, experienced drastic changes in her sex life. The once satisfying experience now had her “curled over in discomfort with cramps.” Desperate to find relief, she decided to try a CBD-infused lubricant for six months and noticed consistent improvements.

“It helped reduce the discomfort I experienced during intercourse. My husband noticed that I draw more pleasure from sex, and it’s been beneficial for both of us,” admitted Huff-Bogart.

While relatively popular as a general wellness supplement, CBD is new to the mainstream market when it comes to sex and libido.

However, there are already several sex-dedicated CBD products out there, such as:

• Massage lotions
• Personal lubricants
• Oral sprays
• Edibles

But can CBD really improve your life in the bedroom? What’s the connection between CBD oil and sex?

How Does CBD Correspond with Sex?

People use CBD for sex for a few reasons, the most common being relief from physical discomfort and stress reduction.

Other reasons include:

• Setting the right mood
• Calming the mind
• Increasing blood flow to the muscles and organs.

According to Alex Capano, medical director and faculty member at the Lambert Center for the Study of Medical Cannabis and Hemp at Thomas Jefferson Univesity, CBD may help if you have problems with lubrication during sex.

“There are so many cannabinoid receptors in reproductive organs and sexual tissue. CBD increases blood flow to tissues, which increases sensitivity and promotes the body’s own natural lubricants,” she says. “It relaxes my muscles and allows for much more enjoyable sex, providing a feeling of warmth and relaxation. I was surprised by how well it worked. It allowed me to focus on the intimacy of the act instead of my muscle tension.”

Interestingly, CBD might just promote the right mood for romance. Studies indicate that CBD may be effective in regulating the stress response. Relaxation can make you more resistant to distractions and worrying thoughts that can mitigate a positive sexual experience.

Capano also mentions the importance of the mind in enjoying the process, especially for women in heterosexual couples, who often feel pressured to achieve orgasms.

While CBD doesn’t get you high, it increases the levels of a neurotransmitter called anandamide. This is one of the two major endocannabinoids, one that’s associated with oxytocin, also known as the cuddle hormone. Thanks to its indirect effects on the ECS, CBD can increase the natural endorphins that your body makes, ultimately leading to more satisfying sex.

5 Ways CBD Can Improve Sex

It’s been almost 100 years since everything cannabis-related became off-limits. Given this, there’s not much human research to back up CBD’s claims and potential benefits for sex.

Nevertheless, science has made significant progress in this area, especially after the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp and its derivatives at the federal level.

If you feel blocked when it comes to achieving full satisfaction from your sex, the following benefits of CBD oil may help you overcome the obstacles.

Reduced Tension and Discomfort

One of the most common uses of CBD is to relieve physical discomfort. If your body feels achy and you’re overly sensitive to touch — a barrier that keeps upwards of 40% of women from experiencing intimacy and pleasure — CBD oil may come in handy.

There are several ways topical CBD products can help. Lubricants and suppositories infused with cannabidiol may increase pleasure and have a positive influence on your libido by increasing lubrication and sensation and easing tense muscles.

Humans have been using cannabis as a relaxant and aphrodisiac for centuries, if not for millennia, according to the latest research. Not without a good reason, as it turns out, because, in a 2019 survey run by Remedy Review, 98% of female respondents said CBD helped reduce discomfort during sex.

More Satisfying Orgasms

If you’ve been struggling with the big O for quite some time, CBD and cannabis may help. A 2019 review paper showed that women who use cannabis achieve more satisfying orgasms.

How is it possible? CBD can increase blood flow to tissues, improving nerve sensation. As a result, your body is more reactive to pleasant stimuli, intensifying an orgasm.

“There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that the direct application of CBD-infused topicals to the genitalia increases blood flow to the area,” says Robert Flannery, Ph.D. “An increase of blood flow to female genitalia has shown to increase sexual arousal and the intensity of orgasms. Both very good things.”

Higher Libido

Every time you’re getting stressed, sex drifts farther and farther away from your mind. Scientists agree — research has shown that too much cortisol (the stress hormone) can negatively impact your libido.

Anxiety and stress have been widely studied when it comes to their influence on sexual performance. This, in turn, can reduce a woman’s sexual arousal. One of the most prominent benefits of CBD oil for sex life is its ability to calm the mind and improve stress response thanks to its modulatory effects on the nervous system.

Balanced Well-Being

We live in a fast-paced world today, so it’s easy for our hormones to get out of whack. Hormonal imbalances are responsible for many disorders, including sexual dysfunction in men and women.

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is engaged in hormonal regulation; it’s one of the mediating pathways for promoting and maintaining homeostasis in the body.

So, CBD’s relationship with sex may have something to do with the way it signals the ECS to recalibrate hormones.

It’s a kind of desired domino effect. By addressing stress, you’re getting the right gears in motion to level hormone imbalances.

More Intimacy

Remember when we mentioned an increase in anandamide as one of CBD’s main benefits for sex?

Here’s how it works:

CBD increases the serum levels of anandamide, which is closely related to oxytocin, known as the ‘hug hormone,’ ‘love hormone,’ ‘moral molecule,’ or ‘cuddle chemical. ’ Studies have shown that anandamide increases during social contact, including sexual intercourse.

Conversely, anandamide deficiencies have been associated with elevated anxiety and depression.

The word “anandamide” stems from the Sanskrit (ancient Hindu) language, translating to “joy, bliss, delight”, which is a clear indicator of its functions in the body.

Concerns About CBD and Sex Due to Limited Research

Despite promising initial results, not all researchers are enthusiastic when it comes to using CBD oil for sex. Some of them say more studies are needed, especially ones conducted in the double-blind, randomized-controlled formula.

Others claim CBD is wholly ineffective for sexual performance and any effects related to that are comparable to placebo.

Many studies on cannabis and sex are centered around THC-rich cannabis (marijuana), which has been known to arouse sexuality for quite some time.

However, THC is less accessible due to its federal status as a controlled substance — not to mention obvious concerns about getting too high and triggering the biphasic nature of THC.

Doctors and professionals who’ve seen improvements in patients’ sexual satisfaction after using CBD products are now skeptics-turned-believers, despite the lack of clinical studies.

Dr. Evan Goldstein, a gynecologist with over 20 years of experience, says he’s witnessed the positive effect of CBD on his patients. “These products work. They obviously need to be taken into context and used correctly, but they can enhance the experience and make things a little more pleasurable,” he says.

What to Know About Using CBD for Sex

Now that you know how CBD may improve your sex life, here are a few things to keep in mind when shopping for CBD oils and topical products.

Buy a High-quality Product

Don’t just go for any CBD product that pops up when you type “best CBD oil for sex.” Do your homework and run a thorough background check on your potential suppliers.

Do they use organic hemp or marijuana? Are these CBD products extracted with CO2? Have they been third-party tested, and if yes, do they come with complete, batch-specific lab reports? What’s the company’s reputation in the cannabis community? Has it ever received a warning letter from the FDA or is facing a lawsuit for being dishonest with customers?

Not to mention the legal status of CBD in your country. In the USA, hemp-derived CBD oils are legal as long as they contain no more than 0.3% THC.

CBD oils from marijuana are subject to different regulations. They’re only allowed in the states that have legalized the medical or recreational use o marijuana.

Find Your Optimal Dosage

There’s no such thing as the universal CBD dosage for every person out there. Dosing CBD requires a personalized approach that takes into account factors such as weight, age, metabolism, tolerance to CBD, previous experience with CBD oils, and expected effects.

If you don’t know where to start, check out the instructions on your product’s packaging. Start with a low dose, gradually increasing the amount of CBD until you feel its positive influence with no side effects.

Use It Before Going to the Bedroom

CBD oil doesn’t always work the moment you decide to take it, so give it some time to kick in. Whether you apply it orally or as a lubricant, plan ahead and start 15–60 minutes before you head into the bedroom to get the most out of your dose.

Take Care About Other Aspects of Your Health

Make no mistake, CBD won’t cure you of any disease, nor will it directly boost your libido and make you an animal in the bedroom.

BUT! It can influence one of the most important systems in your body, optimizing the biological processes that affect your sexual performance, satisfaction from sex, and your confidence before engaging in an intimate relationship.

When you take CBD oil, your endocannabinoid system receives additional support, and your other systems and organs can return to balance more effectively. This is the time to act. Improve other areas of your health, such as diet, physical activity, stress hygiene, and additional supplementation, and nurture healthy relationships because not only substances can be toxic — humans can have this trait, too.

CBD and Sex: The Bottom Line

Although clinical research is lacking, there clearly IS a link between CBD and sex. With so many cannabinoid receptors in reproductive tissues and organs, it would be counterintuitive to think CBD has no influence on our sexual life.

Of course, CBD oil isn’t a libido booster or some kind of liquid viagra. It’s just a natural tool that helps calibrate the endocannabinoid system and thus promote balance in other systems and organs throughout the body.

Using CBD, along with introducing positive lifestyle changes in your life, can enhance your satisfaction from sex and approach it with less tension.

Sources:

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2. Gurganus, M. (2021). 68% People Says CBD Improves Sex. Remedyreviev.com. Retrieved from: https://www.remedyreview.com/health/sex-and-cbd/
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