What Is CBN? What to Know About the Latest Cannabis-Based Sleep Aid

For the last couple of years, CBD has taken over the beauty, food and drink, and wellness industries in the form of every type of product ranging from bath salts to fruit gummies to seltzer water to chocolate to oil drops. However, there’s a new cannabis-derived chemical that is soon to become just as popular as CBD, thanks to its ability to aid in a good night’s sleep. Meet CBN. It’s a cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant that offers relaxing, sleepy properties, which means your sleep might be more restful after consuming CBN gummies or oil drops.

What Is CBN?

Cannabinol, aka CBN, is derived from hemp plants. “CBN and CBD are both cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant, but they have different chemical structures,” explains Dr. Elizabeth Ardillo. When THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the main active ingredient in cannabis, is heated and exposed to Co2 (oxygen), it converts to what is known as CBN. So what makes it the latest and greatest cannabis-derived product? “CBN products are popular right now because they help promote a better night’s sleep. They have a relaxing effect,” she adds.

Read More >>

For the last couple of years, CBD has taken over the beauty, food and drink, and wellness industries in the form of every type of product ranging from bath salts to fruit gummies to seltzer water to chocolate to oil drops. However, there’s a new cannabis-derived chemical that is soon to become just as popular as CBD, thanks to its ability to aid in a good night’s sleep. Meet CBN. It’s a cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant that offers relaxing, sleepy properties, which means your sleep might be more restful after consuming CBN gummies or oil drops.

What Is CBN?

Cannabinol, aka CBN, is derived from hemp plants. “CBN and CBD are both cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant, but they have different chemical structures,” explains Dr. Elizabeth Ardillo. When THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the main active ingredient in cannabis, is heated and exposed to Co2 (oxygen), it converts to what is known as CBN. So what makes it the latest and greatest cannabis-derived product? “CBN products are popular right now because they help promote a better night’s sleep. They have a relaxing effect,” she adds.

Read More >>

The Cure for My Bad Sleep Turned Out to Be a Lamp

I don’t sleep well, and I’m not sure why.

It’s not like I have trouble falling asleep, because I don’t. It’s the staying asleep that is a bigger problem. The jerking awake an hour later; the tossing and turning at 3 a.m. (my witching hour, perfect for…

I don’t sleep well, and I’m not sure why.

It’s not like I have trouble falling asleep, because I don’t. It’s the staying asleep that is a bigger problem. The jerking awake an hour later; the tossing and turning at 3 a.m. (my witching hour, perfect for both planning and worrying about not planning enough); and eventually, waking up too early for no apparent reason at all.

Read More >>

Herbal Teas Give Me an Anxiety-Free Boost. Here Are My 5 Faves.

It’s easy for some people to write off herbal tea as a wimpy alternative to the caffeinated stuff. Of course, even caffeinated tea has been called a weak replacement for coffee, though we know that’s not at all the case. My point is: Herbal tea can be …

It’s easy for some people to write off herbal tea as a wimpy alternative to the caffeinated stuff. Of course, even caffeinated tea has been called a weak replacement for coffee, though we know that’s not at all the case. My point is: Herbal tea can be vitalizing in its own way.

I’m an anxious person in general, and have become even more so throughout the pandemic. While my morning caffeine is nonnegotiable, when I try to throw in an afternoon cup, my body reacts swiftly and unfavorably. Once I began incorporating herbal teas into my routine, I found that they gave me the boost I’d been looking for, albeit not a caffeinated one. I make a pot of smoothing chamomile tea with oat milk and honey as a sub for an afternoon cup of jitter-inducing coffee (the pastry on the side is, of course, nonnegotiable). A cup of peppermint tea after a meal has a similar invigorating quality as an espresso (without, of course, the caffeine hit), plus it has some amaro-like vibes, thanks to its vegetal notes woven with menthol and a bit of bitterness. Smoky-sweet rooibos tea is even being used by some nonalcoholic drink creators, like the Digesteaf cocktail in Julia Bainbridge’s Good Drinks, which features an "amaro" concentrate from Steven Smith Teamaker, a blend of dried roots, flowers, and rooibos tea leaves. “With almost every sip, it morphs from bitter to sweet and then back again,” writes Bainbridge of the brew.

Read More >>

Want to Be a Minimalist? Here’s What No One Tells You.

Simply Living is a new column by Christine Platt, aka the Afrominimalist. Each month, Christine shares her refreshing approach to living with less, with clever tips for decluttering, making eco-friendly swaps, and creating a more mindful living space t…

Simply Living is a new column by Christine Platt, aka the Afrominimalist. Each month, Christine shares her refreshing approach to living with less, with clever tips for decluttering, making eco-friendly swaps, and creating a more mindful living space that's all you.


I remember the day I began my journey towards minimalism. I had considered the lifestyle for quite a while—each time I had the nagging feeling that I owned too much stuff. To prepare myself, I’d look for inspiration online, and although I was mesmerized by the beautiful, serene spaces I was seeing, I had real concerns about how I’d whittle down my belongings to a hundred items or less. Still, one day in June 2016, I decided the time had come for me to do more than just acknowledge my overconsumption, and actually do something about it.

Read More >>

The Self-Care Practice That Helps Me Be Kinder to Myself

I’ve always been an active person. I can’t remember a time before last year when I wasn’t doing something. Tests, assignments, and projects took up my entire school year, and during holiday breaks, I worked on my blog. So when the pandemic hit, I found…

I’ve always been an active person. I can’t remember a time before last year when I wasn’t doing something. Tests, assignments, and projects took up my entire school year, and during holiday breaks, I worked on my blog. So when the pandemic hit, I found myself in an unusual position. I had loads of free time and no major obligations, since school was temporarily suspended. I could have started a workout routine, written a short novel, or learned a new skill (heck, probably a dozen).

But I just...couldn’t.

Read More >>

10 Cold, Quick Noodle Salads for the Hungry, Hurried & Hot

If I could, I’d eat a bowl of cold noodle salad every noon and night till the fall winds cometh.

Noodles are the softest, squiggliest landing pads for a variety of summer vegetables (not to mention all sorts of cubed cheeses and salty fridge accessori…

If I could, I'd eat a bowl of cold noodle salad every noon and night till the fall winds cometh.

Noodles are the softest, squiggliest landing pads for a variety of summer vegetables (not to mention all sorts of cubed cheeses and salty fridge accessories, like capers, olives, and anchovies). Add a heap of noodles to July tomatoes slicked with olive oil and suddenly, you've got a meal, not a snack. (Add a spoonful of chili paste and suddenly, you're a little chef.)

Read More >>

How Indigenous South African Foods Nourished My Mental Health

I recently received a bunch of kale as a gift. “A bouquet of greens, for your smoothies,” my best friend said, a mischievous smile on her face. As I pulled some of the leaves off their stalks to freeze (because nobody likes kale that’s gone yellow from…

I recently received a bunch of kale as a gift. "A bouquet of greens, for your smoothies," my best friend said, a mischievous smile on her face. As I pulled some of the leaves off their stalks to freeze (because nobody likes kale that’s gone yellow from fridge-burn), a memory pulled me back: I was sharing a kitchen with Delle, a chef with whom I had connected while living in the forest a few months prior.

A week after my father was buried in January of last year, I went on a monthlong retreat in the milkwood forest of the South African Fynbos. I’d previously scheduled the trip, but as I prepared to leave, I was grateful for the timing of it all—it offered the space and respite that I needed during a difficult time for my mental health. I was already severely burned-out (after years of training and working as a psychotherapist), and now I was navigating the particularly complicated process of grief.

Read More >>

Craving Better Sleep? These Home Set-Up Tips Will Help.

A Full Plate is a column about family life and the home by contributing writer Laura Fenton, who explores the intersection of sustainable living and home design through a mother’s eyes.

As a parent, I’ve had my fair share of sleepless nights, but it…

A Full Plate is a column about family life and the home by contributing writer Laura Fenton, who explores the intersection of sustainable living and home design through a mother’s eyes.


As a parent, I’ve had my fair share of sleepless nights, but it wasn’t until this past year that I experienced actual bouts of insomnia (thanks, COVID). I suspect I’m not alone in this struggle. But we all know that a lack of sleep can negatively impact just about everything, so I want to share a few things that are helping me sleep better: Chief among them, I have found that my physical surroundings can make a real and positive difference in how well I rest.

Read More >>

Actionable Ways to Avoid Diet Culture this Year

Each January brings the arrival of resolutions: “New year, new you” is peppered into media cycles, social networks, and our brains, like tea slowly steeping. Much of this dialogue can be characterized as an example of “diet culture,” a set of customs, …

Each January brings the arrival of resolutions: “New year, new you” is peppered into media cycles, social networks, and our brains, like tea slowly steeping. Much of this dialogue can be characterized as an example of “diet culture,” a set of customs, rules, and values—some of which contradict each other—that equate body shape or size with moral value and health. Often, this is done by promoting weight loss, vilifying certain foods while exalting others, and stigmatizing those who don’t match its suggested image of what "healthy" looks like.

Diet culture is bolstered by the health and wellness industry, which in the U.S. alone is an annual business of $707 billion. Yet evidence that most diets are unsuccessful—in fact, they are the leading determinants of weight gain—highlights that aiming for a certain body size is an inaccurate prescription for improved health. (Research supports that tracking BMI, a measure of body fat based on height and weight, is another faulty model of determining physical condition.) What’s more, these external rules usually come at the expense of disassociating from internal cues, like hunger, food preferences, and energy levels. And for all of the aims taken at specifying or promoting an “optimal” path to health, the term itself is innately vague: highly individual and subjectively definable by environment, income and lived experience, to name a few.

Read More >>

Upcycling Old Jars for Self-Care

An object is often worth more than its material form. It can bring with it cultural echoes, family history, and personal memory. In The Things We Treasure, writers tell us about their most priceless possessions—and the irreplaceable stories behind them…

An object is often worth more than its material form. It can bring with it cultural echoes, family history, and personal memory. In The Things We Treasure, writers tell us about their most priceless possessions—and the irreplaceable stories behind them.


2020 was a year of acquired hobbies. We baked sourdough, made puzzles, poured candles, pressed flowers, and knitted sweaters. The bread, we ate, the candles, we burned, the rest, we kept and wove into the fabric of our homes. Like trinkets that remind us of travels past, the objects that kept us busy have become tangible memories of a year past. It is now 2021, and our homes have become museums of our lives on lockdown.

Read More >>