Since the introduction of legislation in May 2019 that permitted the sale and distribution of low-dose Cannabidiol (CBD) products to the public, there’s been an explosion of CBD-laced products on the market. The makers claim all manner of benefits, from the relief of chronic pain to treatment of anxiety & depression, and from the alleviation of the symptoms associated with cancer treatment to having a positive effect on the heart and circulatory system. Now professional athletes are using approved products containing CBD to legally help enhance their recovery from injury.

CBD is one of over a hundred chemical compounds known as cannabinoids, found in hemp plants. Hemp is a variety of cannabis that contains less than 0.3% Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the psychoactive compound in marijuana that delivers a ‘high’ – by dry weight. Hemp is non-intoxicating cannabis and has been harvested for over 10 000 years to produce things like food, rope, clothing, paper and housing material. CBD, when extracted properly from hemp plants, does not have any psychoactive properties in the way that marijuana does, and is one of the few products recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as being “generally well tolerated with a good safety profile” – it also doesn’t produce an excessive release of dopamine, which could lead to addiction.

The human body has, as part of its natural composition, an Endocannabinoid System (ECS). The ECS is a complex network of cell receptors and neurotransmitters that are responsible for maintaining homeostasis in the body. These receptors are spread throughout the body, and concentrated in the central & peripheral nervous systems and the immune system. The ECS improves the communication between all those systems and is believed to also affect and control a wide range of biological functions, including sleep, mood, temperature control, immune response, the perception of pain and pleasure, fertility, memory, and appetite. Whenever the brain senses that something is wrong within the body, the ECS releases natural cannabinoids (endocannabinoids) to restore the balance.

Taking CBD products stimulates the ECS to produce its own cannabinoids and, by inhibiting a specific enzyme, helps them stay in your body for longer – rather than interacting with the cannabinoid receptors, themselves.

Saracens and England rugby union player George Kruis and his club team mate Dom Day came across CBD after they both underwent surgery for injuries in 2018. Kruis was won two European titles and three Premiership trophies in his ten-year career. Day played professionally for 14 years, with over 250 top flight games in England, Australia and Japan – representing England at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. “Dom had just had a knee surgery and I was undergoing another ankle operation. That sparked the interest in looking into alternative supplements to the ones we already took – and it also coincided with CBD being made a legal supplement by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA),” says Kruis, who came off the bench for England in the World Cup Final against the Springboks in Yokohama last year. He says that neither he nor Day switched completely from regular legal supplements to CBD to aid their recovery, but instead incorporated CBD oil as an additional natural alternative. “As athletes, we are always looking for those marginal gains across our programme on and off the field and CBD was something that stuck out as a supplement that became part of our daily programme. We take it along with other supplements as a balanced approach to help support and maintain our active lifestyle,” he says.

The duo – with Day since retired from professional sport – started CBD product business fourfivecbd in the UK, and have developed a range of CBD-infused products as general lifestyle supplements, which are now available in SA. The products are Banned Substance Control Group (BSCG) batch tested to make them WADA compliant. Two products – a muscle rub and joint gel – are both BSCG tested and the 0% THC level in one specific CBD oil in the range makes it legal for use in WADA-tested sports. Kruis says that THC – and all other cannabinoids aside from CBD – are classified under WADA as banned substances. “The BSCG tests for our products are done to ensure that they are free from contamination and banned substances, to ensure we have done all we can to provide a clean and safe product,” he says.

Their feeling is that safe CBD products should be used as part of a daily supplement regime for anyone – not just the range of sports people from the ‘weekend warrior’ to athletes at the pinnacle of the game. “We think CBD is here for the long term and in five to ten years, it will be seen as a staple supplement, along with fish oils and multivitamins,” says Kruis. Though there are no psychoactive effects – and the worst noted side effects of using huge amounts of CDB include nausea, diarrhoea, drowsiness and anxiety – but the recommendation is that the product should safely be taken by anyone aged over 18. CBD is known to interact with prescribed medications that come with a ‘grapefruit warning’, which include medications for cholesterol, blood pressure, heart rhythm, antibiotics, antidepressants, some blood thinners and pain medications. One 2019 study also raised concerns about the potential for CBD to cause liver damage by increasing liver enzyme levels.

Dr Elisabeth Philipps, a registered Nutritional Therapist with a BSc in Nutritional Medicine and PhD in Neuropharmacology from Oxford University, advises the fourfivecbd team on their products. She says that although CBD clinical research is still in its infancy, there aren’t any clinical studies showing direct improvement in sports recovery or performance, yet. “That said, CBD has been demonstrated to reduce pro-inflammatory markers in the blood that cause pain and swelling in joints and tissues, as well as reducing tissue damage associated with inflammation,” she says – which could be linked to improving sports performance.

She says that CBD has also been linked to improvements in sleep, which have benefits for athletes. As part of a sleep programme, doses of 25-40mg CBD have been shown in clinical trials to reduce anxiety and pain and improve sleep experience, which may improve strength training and recovery in athletes. “In a study of 800 elite South African athletes, nearly three quarters reported sleeping less than 8 hours, while 11% reported sleeping less than 6 hours, attributed to heavy training schedules and anxiety disturbances before competitions,” she says. “Training availability is a primary determinant of athletic success, so injuries & illnesses are the greatest obstacle to training participation. A study of high school athletes found that sleeping less than 8 hours per night increased injury reports by 70%, compared to those who slept more than 8 hours”.

In a study of learning, accuracy and reaction time, there was a demonstrable decline in the split-second decision-making of basketball players, following poor sleep, compared to an increased accuracy, as well as improved mood, in well-rested subjects. A sleep study conducted on tennis players showed that a single night of 5 hours of sleep was associated with a decrease in serving accuracy of up to 53% compared with 8 hours’ sleep.

Locally, athletes including Protea cricketer Aiden Markram, pro golfer Haydn Porteous, Sharks star Curwin Bosch and Springbok-capped hooker Akker van der Merwe have all praised the effects of CBD on their performance, for a variety of reasons. If trying out a safe, reputable CBD supplement can help you recover quicker, shoot more accurately or swing more smoothly, maybe it’s worth a try.