CBD oil, a product that’s extracted from a member of the Cannabis family, the hemp plant, is an all-natural supplement that has many medicinal benefits. Touted for its ability to heal health ailments without any negative psychological effects, CBD is quickly gaining popularity. Used as a main or alternative treatment option, consumers have to do their research to be sure that it doesn’t interfere with any other medications they may be taking. For those who are using CBD to help regulate their blood pressure, check the labels of your other prescribed or over the counter meds to see if your regimen is safe. 

CBD and the Cytochrome Enzyme System

Though generally safe to consume, it is important to note that CBD may have potential interactions with other medications. These interactions are based on how the body metabolizes varying substances. 

When you take different pharmaceutical drugs, they must be metabolized by your body, which means they have to be broken down in order to be absorbed and take effect. This happens in different areas of your body, normally your gut, and your liver is a key component as well. When converting or changing foreign substances that enter the body, there is a group of enzymes called cytochrome P450. CYP450 breaks these substances down so that they can be expelled from our bodies more easily. Certain medications alter the CYP450, this can occur through speeding or slowing the metabolism of the drugs. This metabolic rate change has the ability to affect how our bodies process meds; this is what is meant by a drug interaction between varying substances. 

How CBD interacts with other drugs

The way in which CBD comes into play is because as the CYP450 enzymes metabolize Cannabinoids in the system, CBD has the capacity to affect a specific enzyme in the cytochrome family-CYP3A4. This particular enzyme has the responsibility of metabolizing close to sixty percent of all clinically prescribed meds. If CBD inhibits the CYP3A4 enzyme, then it won’t be as effective at doing its job to breakdown the drugs in your system. Other medications also have the ability to inhibit this enzyme which could then affect the CBD in your body and how it’s processed. 

What does all of this mean? Well, if your body is not metabolizing a medication fast enough then that means that you’ll have too much of that substance in your body at once; the sane is true for the reverse if it’s metabolizing it too quickly then it’ll be quickly eliminated without you feeling the full effects of it. 

Ultimately, CBD is a wonderful option to treat high blood pressure as it’s effective and all-natural. However, always ensure that the dosages are appropriate and that there won’t be any interference with other medications that are commonly prescribed for hypertension (valsartan, metoprolol beta-blocker, lisinopril, amlodipine besylate, or hydrochlorothiazide).