CBD and Your Endocannabinoid System
To properly explain the way CBD helps people, first we need to explore how CBD works with your body, and a thing called your Endocannabinoid System (ECS).
We all know that our body self-regulates, for example we sleep when we are tired (or try to). This is just an example of our body seeking homeostasis, the state that all biological systems are continuously striving towards to stay within optimal levels (i.e. equilibrium). The human body’s built-in ability to balance itself is what keeps things like blood sugar and body temperature just right. Transmitter systems within our body are also not a new thing, one example is the sympathetic nervous system responsible for our fight-or-flight response.
Your ECS is an internal system critical for almost every aspect of our moment-to-moment functioning. The human ECS is a vast internal biological system made up of chemical signals (endocannabinoids, being cannabinoids produced by our bodies) and cell receptors densely packed throughout our brains and bodies. Together these help regulate and maintain homeostasis (or balance) within your body.
CBD & Your Endocannabinoid System
To properly explain the way CBD helps people, first we need to explore how CBD works with your body, and a thing called your Endocannabinoid System (ECS).
We all know that our body self-regulates, for example we sleep when we are tired (or try to). This is just an example of our body seeking homeostasis, the state that all biological systems are continuously striving towards to stay within optimal levels (i.e. equilibrium). The human body’s built-in ability to balance itself is what keeps things like blood sugar and body temperature just right. Transmitter systems within our body are also not a new thing, one example is the sympathetic nervous system responsible for our fight-or-flight response.
Your ECS is an internal system critical for almost every aspect of our moment-to-moment functioning. The human ECS is a vast internal biological system made up of chemical signals (endocannabinoids, being cannabinoids produced by our bodies) and cell receptors densely packed throughout our brains and bodies. Together these help regulate and maintain homeostasis (or balance) within your body.
The human ECS was recognised in 1992 with the discovery of N-arachidonoylethanolamine, the first endogenous cannabinoid neurotransmitter identified by scientists. (A neurotransmitter is a chemical that nerve cells use to send signals to other neurons.) In 1992, a trio of researchers at Hebrew University in Jerusalem – Raphael Mechoulam, William Devane, and Lumir Hanus – isolated a novel lipid neurotransmitter that binds with the CB1 receptor in pig brain tissue. They called it “anandamide,” Sanskrit for bliss, a word suggestive of its mood-altering effects.
This discovery of internally produced cannabinoids was a groundbreaking moment, the foundation of health and wellness based on cannabinoids activating cell receptors within the body, which in turn causes the body to take action and change our state of being.
Healthline notes that endocannabinoids, also called endogenous cannabinoids, are molecules made by your body. They’re similar to cannabinoids, but they’re produced by your body. Experts have identified two key endocannabinoids so far:
- Anandamide (AEA)
- 2-arachidonoylglyerol (2-AG)
These endocannabinoids help keep internal functions running smoothly and your body produces them as needed. There are two main types of cannabinoid cell receptors in your ECS:
- CB1 Receptors: located in the brain and central nervous system, in particular the midbrain and spinal cord regions that are responsible for pain perception; and
- CB2 Receptors: located in the peripheral nervous system (including immune cells).
Harvard Medical School reports that the “cannabinoid” receptors in the brain — the CB1 receptors — outnumber many of the other receptor types on the brain.
So how does this system work? Endocannabinoids (human-made) and phytocannabinoids (plant-made) such as CBD bind to the CB1 and CB2 cell receptors in the body and match up like a lock & key. When this happens, it is believed that they stimulate the cell receptor signalling that the ECS needs to take action.
So say for example you’re cruising along on your skateboard, get a bit cocky and take a fall. You cut your leg. Your immune cells notice the change (infection) and release molecules to defend the body, including back-up immune cells, pro-inflammatory cells, and endocannabinoid cells as a response. It is believed that endocannabinoids stimulate cell receptors in the central nervous system to modulate pain. Others bind to receptors in your immune cells signalling that your body is experiencing inflammation that needs to be addressed. This is an example of how cannabinoids control and regulate things within our body, by providing immediate necessary feedback, and turning up or down the activity of whichever system needs to be adjusted.
Recent research has now revealed that ECS regulates more than 15 critical bodily functions that are vital to your daily health and well-being. These include sleep, mood, stress/anxiety, pain control, inflammatory and other immune responses, temperature control, learning and memory, motor control, and appetite/digestion to name a few.
Maintaining a healthy ECS is important to your wellbeing and longevity. There are two ways you can upregulate your ECS:
- You can increase a number of natural healthy activities that increase endocannabinoids created in your body, such as your diet, hydration, exercise, exposure to sunlight, meditation, breathwork and other stress relieving activities; and/or
- You can boost and stimulate your ECS through naturally occuring, plant-made cannabinoids (phytocannabinoids).