Toni Braxton is a “do it all” kind of woman. As a performer, TV star, entrepreneur and mother, she’s often working around the clock. Throughout her career, she’s also been transparent about her battle with Lupus, which she was diagnosed in 2008.
Thankfully, she has found a solution in Cannabidiol – popularly known as CBD. This trendy ingredient is derived from cannabis. It’s known for giving a calming effect without the same hazy high of its cousin chemical THC. Nowadays, it’s found in everything from balms to skincare to bath bombs, and Braxton swears by it. Recently, she’s partnered with the CBD product line Uncle Bud’s™, which she discovered by chance.
Admittedly, Braxton hasn’t been one to dabble in recreational marijuana use (or what she calls “herbal refreshments”) but CBD happened to be a game-changer. “I was really achy one day and I didn’t have my prescribed medication,” Braxton told ESSENCE exclusively. “I’m looking under my bathroom sink and I found a product I had been gifted called Uncle Bud’s. I put it on, and 20 minutes later I was like, ‘Oh wow, I feel better.'” A couple of days later, her manager got in touch about a product called Uncle Bud’s – a sign that convinced her their partnership was meant to be.
Uncle Bud’s recently launched a Maximum Strength CBD collection exclusively at GNC. Not only does it alleviate Braxton’s lupus flare-ups, which are known to cause aches and swelling in the joints, it also has done wonders for her skin. “I have systemic lupus, so it can affect everything from my skin to my organs,” she says. “I’m very leery of anything I’m putting on my body, and these are just products that happen to really work and I really believe in it.”
CBD is just one of the things Braxton is leaning on to take better care of her overall health. At the advice of her doctors, she’s also adopted a plant-based diet and prepares two meatless meals a week for her sons Diezel and Denim. “In the words of my mother Evelyn, ‘let food be your medicine or medicine will be your food.'”
“Some days, having lupus is like waking up with the flu,” she describes. “Every day my body aches, and I don’t always feel my best. But I have good days, so I take them and always try to be positive. I get up every morning and do what I have to do, because I have kids and a family to keep healthy for.”
Most importantly, Braxton does her best to safeguard her mental health. Her secret? Learning not to take life so seriously. “When you’re younger, you care about everything – what they say, what they write, how they feel. You get a little older, you’re like, ‘you know what? I can’t worry about that today. I got to worry about what I think about myself.'”
Amen to that!