Safety and Side Effects of Cannabidiol

Cannabidiol is one of the most prevalent cannabinoids in the cannabis plant. It can react with many different enzymes within the human body, most notably the CYP450 family of liver enzymes. The CYP450 enzyme family are vital for metabolizing most prescription medicines as well as many foods we eat.

If you have ever taken a medicine that has a warning label that says "Do Not Consume Grapefruit or Grapefruit Juice With This Medication" you have "disabled" your CYP450 enzymes! That warning is because grapefruit juice blocks the CYP450 enzymes so much so that other molecules may not be metabolized. This leads to higher concentrations of the discarded molecules in your blood stream; with some prescriptions this could lead to serious issues as it would be equivalent to taking a higher dosage. With this effect some doctors are able to recommend/prescribe lower doses of prescription medicine alongside cannabis oil.