As well as a balanced diet, getting enough quality sleep is vital to maintain good mental and physical health. Unfortunately, not all of us get our heads down for enough hours of restful sleep, and we've all suffered from restlessness and a lack of sleep at one time or another. The average adult needs around 6-8 hours of sleep a night, but what if you don't get that? Can cannabis help you sleep? The science suggests it can, but you might want to avoid pulling on any old joint. It's a bit more complex than one puff and pillow time. Different strains do different things, and certain cannabis strains will help you sleep better than others. To help you understand more about sleeping and cannabis, here's a list of cannabis strains for the best sleep. But first, a bit more on how cannabis affects your sleeping.

When you consume cannabis, the cannabinoids it produces bind with your brain's receptors and tell it to increase a brain chemical called adenosine that promotes sleep. Cannabinoids also help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer by repressing the brain's arousal system. The time at which you consume cannabis also plays its part in affecting sleep. If edibles are your thing, take them a few hours before sleeping on an empty stomach to get the full effect. When vaping or smoking, you can consume closer to bedtime.

What is the best cannabis strain for sleep? It largely depends on what you're looking for. If you suffer from pain, restlessness or insomnia, you might consider hybrids with indica properties. Though, if you need to treat nightmares and night terrors, a strain with sativa properties will suit you much better. Sometimes using the labels indica and sativa makes it easier to choose a hybrid, but when it comes to finding a sleep aid, it can confuse things. One of the best ways to find cannabis hybrids to help you sleep is to check the terpene profiles of the plants. Cannabis strains with high Myrcene, Terpinolene and Caryophyllene are known to treat sleep disorders and help users get a healthy amount of rest.

There are a lot of anecdotal reports about cannabis improving people's sleep. However, cannabis affects everyone differently, and it might take some time to find which cannabis products are best for you. You might have a friend that swears they're out like a light or sleep like a rock after a hit of their preferred cannabis hybrid, but that same strain doesn't do it for you. Don't let that put you off. There are different strains for different pains, and it's the same for cannabis and sleeping. The right product is out there for you. You only have to find it. To give you a head start, here are our Top 3 Best Cannabis for Sleep.