Edmonton leads athletic performance CBD study

The Edmonton researcher will lead the study on the role of CBD in athletic performance.

The study will look at pain management, exercise recovery and mental health.

A new research initiative, led by Aurora Cannabis, based on Edmonton, will examine whether cannabidiol (CBD) products from hemp could help athletes with their performance and recovery.

"We are looking for hard and true evidence that this will be beneficial or not," said Jason Dyck, an independent director of the Aurora Cannabis board.

Aurora Cannabis and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the world's largest mixed martial arts organization, have collaborated to carry out research.

Edmonton leads athletic performance CBD study

Dyck is also a professor in the department of pediatrics at the University of Alberta and a Canada Department of Research in Molecular Medicine.

"This is a partnership led by Aurora," said Dyck. "It is not related to my affiliation with the University of Alberta. In my role as independent director, I will provide general surveillance to the planned UFC research."

Dyck said he was told that many athletes from the UFC are already using CBD products, either oral or topical.

"[UFC] felt they needed a strong research component to validate their effectiveness," he said. "They wanted us to collaborate with them and investigate how the CBD derives from hemp helps athletes in a variety of areas."

Dyck and his team will first look at how CBD can reduce inflammation to improve the performance and training of athletes.

Other clinical trials will include pain treatment, injury and exercise recovery, and mental health.

Researchers will also look for any side effects of using CBD.

"Each person's biology is different, so reactions to any drug will be diverse," Dyck said. "We do not anticipate any negative side effects, but we'll look again ... maybe it's increasing the anxiety of some individuals, or maybe it has no effect.

Dyck also suggested that some CBD products might be needed to be personalized for the biology of each athlete.

"We are also working on this so we can re-shape exactly what would work best for each individual athlete," he said.

The research will be conducted at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas, the Nev scientists team. Dyck will travel this week to begin the process of developing the research program.

The UFC sports performance team will participate in the research, in addition to volunteers.

If he discovers that there are positive benefits for the use of CBD for athletes, Dyck said he could have a leakage effect.

"You would assume that it will work for individuals who are ordinary people like me who like to go every day and have muscle pain afterwards," he said.

"Perhaps it will spread to a health and wellness area for all individuals who focus on a bit of exercise and can do more of it or do it less harmfully."

Dyck said he hoped the research project would boost other studies in Canada.

"Canada really has the opportunity to lead the world with regard to cannabis and CBD research."