CBD & Liver Health

The liver performs hundreds of functions to keep your dog and cat’s body functioning properly. It works closely with the gallbladder and pancreas in its digestive functions, and can store vitamins for use later on. Perhaps its most well known functions, however, are to neutralize toxic substances and metabolize nutrients. It’s the latter function that brings CBD into the picture because CBD lowers the production of a main metabolic enzyme, cytochrome p450. This can work for or against your pet and we’re here to teach you the difference. 

Let’s trace the path of a commonly prescribed drug for neurological conditions, phenobarbital, through the body. While its absorption is relatively simple, the complexity of liver metabolism means this drug can have effects several days after the last dose. That’s because it takes time for the liver to produce enough p450 enzyme to properly metabolize the compound. Once p450 is up and running, the phenobarbital breakdown products reenter the bloodstream and go to work helping the nervous system. 

The more p450 the liver produces, the higher the potential toxic dose of breakdown products, which is why it’s so important to check phenobarbital levels with your veterinarian. The more p450 the liver produces, the harder it has to work and it’s not uncommon for liver stress enzymes to increase in pets taking phenobarbital. As the liver becomes more stressed, it has a harder time metabolizing phenobarbital and the drug can build up in the body, creating further stress on the liver. 

Because CBD is a p450 inhibitor, it has the ability to reduce or even stop the healthy metabolism of drugs like phenobarbital. This action is dose dependent – high doses will unbalance the body. When this occurs, it causes a different imbalance with the liver that is equally stressful as long term phenobarbital administration. Thankfully, the cannabis receptor system is flexible and when it’s provided with multiple compounds like THC, CBG, CBC & CBN, it can remain balanced and help the liver remain balanced. 

With a low-dose balanced CBD pet product, the combination of compounds keeps CBD’s p450 enzyme reduction effects in check while also reducing cellular stress within the liver and nervous system. This results in healthy phenobarbital metabolism, a happily functioning liver with little to no stress enzyme elevation, and a calmly functioning, balanced nervous system.