“Endogenous cannabinoids are helping the body withstand all kinds of damage.”
Professor Mechoulam (1).
CBD products are recognised as being good for you because they are derived from whole plants. They also have no additives, so thought to be safer and easier to for the body to digest. People that take CBD products often report experiencing benefits in addition to their therapeutic goal. As previously discussed, researchers report that the ECS is involved in almost every disease and health condition known to man, so while some may take it to ensure good sleep patterns, they could also find that it improves a previously poor appetite, increases energy, help them lose weight, or experience other benefits from a long list of possibilities. Many people, for example, report a reduction in their stress levels and mood – something that appears to be quite common.
Scientists have also discovered that there can sometimes be problems in the ECS signalling. This condition, which is called Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency, occurs for a number of reasons, including: (a) an abundance of enzymes that break down the cannabinoids; (b) our body failing to create enough endocannabinoids; (c) our bodies not synthesizing enough endocannabinoids; and (d) consuming products, taking medications, or eating foods that interfere with ECS signalling. CBD supplements help to rectify these issue by triggering the endocannabinoid system, thus stimulating, and supporting its function. CBD products can also help to decrease any deficiencies in the ECS. This means that a multitude of health conditions and problems can be addressed through stimulating and supporting the endocannabinoid system with CBD products.
Besides regulating many different functions of the human body, endogenous cannabinoids are also healing agents that are believed to play a very significant role in regulating sleep, pain response, memory, immunity, appetite, metabolism, body temperature, blood pressure, anxiety levels, as well as reproduction. The developing embryo, for example, expresses cannabinoid receptors that are responsive to anandamide secreted in the uterus. In other words, the ECS is involved in essentially all human disease. “One of the major effects of the endogenous cannabinoids,” explains Professor Mechoulam, “is to regulate the release of dopamine, serotonin, and other neurotransmitters. They [CB receptors] seem to be major regulators” (2).
Research shows that when our ECS become dysfunctional, people become ill with conditions such as fibromyalgia, chronic pain, depression, anxiety, and insomnia, as well as with neuro-degenerative diseases, including multiple sclerosis, autoimmune diseases, epilepsy, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines or chronic headaches, and many other health conditions and diseases. The ECS works by recognizing errors that the body creates and then correcting the errors through increasing or reducing the production of endogenous cannabinoids. Its incredible accuracy is aided by CB1 and CB2 receptors that receive messages throughout the body and brain.
Many scientists have reported that the underlying cause of disease, health disorders and other ailments, especially those associated with a poorly functioning immune system and inflammation, could be caused by the ECS failing to function properly. This condition, which has been termed ‘Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency,’ is believed to occur when a problem in signalling occurs, which results in a failure to produce the required number of endocannabinoids or receptors. It’s a theory that was first proposed by the renowned cannabinoid researcher Dr. Ethan Russo.
Based on a robust and extensive review of current medical cannabis literature, Russo found evidence showing that lower levels of endocannabinoids and/or receptors in various different diseases and health conditions “could explain why supplementing with cannabinoids found in cannabis were proving so effective in treating various conditions and alleviating symptoms. Migraine, fibromyalgia, [irritable bowel syndrome] and related conditions display common clinical, biochemical, and pathophysiological patterns that suggests an underlying clinical endocannabinoid deficiency that may be suitably treated with cannabinoid medicines” (3). Please note, that these studies, like the vast majority of current research, used cannabis plants that included high levels of THC.
It is important to realise that scientists are still learning about the ECS and its role on health, so research is ongoing. However, what is known is that when the endocannabinoid system functions as it should, it helps to regulate many different body functions, whereas when failures in signalling occur or a process is disrupted in some way, the body fails to produce enough endocannabinoids, which causes an imbalance in the homeostasis, resulting in disorders, poor health, and disease. Consequently, outcomes such as this can be addressed through supplementing with plant cannabinoids. The discovery of the endocannabinoid system, therefore, has fundamentally changed the way we perceive health and, in particular, our treatment options.
Pharmaceutical treatments and drugs are often not safe, as shown by the current global opiate crisis, and the number of people who lose their lives every year because of the known side effects of various pharmaceutical treatments. Until now, they have been our only choice. CBD products, therefore, are like a ray of sunshine on the horizon, offering hope to a multitude of people with many different types of health issues that pharmaceutical drugs are unable to treat or do not give patients such effective relief as cannabis medicines.
Scientists, however, are still unsure of the correlation between illness and ECS deficiency, which is why research is ongoing. Cannabinoids such as THC and CBD interact with the human body in several different ways. They mimic and augment the effects of the endocannabinoids naturally made within the human body by the endocannabinoid system (ECS). Discovered in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the function of our ECS has significant implications for almost every pathological and physiological condition known to man and is now recognised as an important factor in the understanding of health and disease. The ECS plays a vital role in regulating many different processes that impact everyday life, affecting how we experience hunger, stress, and pain, and influencing factors such as blood pressure, immune activity, glucose metabolism, immune activity, intestinal health, bone density and more. So what happens if our ECS fails to function properly? What are the consequences of an underactive or overactive endocannabinoid system? The answer? Disease and poor health.
Scientists have made tremendous advances in their endeavours to find out more about the cannabis plant and its healing properties, but the ECS was, beyond any doubt their most important discovery. Despite the public not knowing until quite recently about this discovery, scientists have been diligently studying how the ECS functions and, most importantly, its role in human health for the past thirty years. So, while scientists are not exactly sure of certain details, they know how the ECS works, the significance of its role in human health, and that poor health is associated with a deficient endocannabinoid system. In fact, scientists report that ECS deficiency is present in almost all pathological conditions, and, as such, they believe that ‘modulating the endocannabinoid system may have therapeutic potential in almost all diseases affecting humans’ (4).
Research reports that cannabinoids such as CBD are “analogous to the endocannabinoids naturally produced by the body,” and that they “interact with the cannabinoid receptors of the endocannabinoid system to elicit chemical responses that help bring about homeostasis” (55). In addition, recent research has not only confirmed the link between endocannabinoid deficiency and health disorders such as IBS, fibromyalgia, and migraine, but also many other ailments, including Parkinson’s disease. Although further research is needed, current literature suggests that cannabinoids derived from cannabis and hemp plants “are essential nutrients that can minimise certain diseases and health conditions by assisting the endocannabinoid system and ensuring that it functions properly” (6).
Cannabis products can be used to modulate and enhance our ECS, because as researchers have shown, cannabinoids such as THC and CBD can slow, or in some cases, even stop, disease progression. They also repair and strengthen various processes, such as poor sleep patterns, they help relieve symptoms like pain and inflammation, they influence mood, treat depression, and they regulate many important functions that are vital to our wellbeing. But, best of all, is that this knowledge can help us all to take back the responsibility for our health to some degree, to make better decisions about our healthcare and the choices we have and, with the help of cannabis products, live happier and healthier live
References:
- Mechoulam, Professor (2018). Online Interview: ‘Raphael Mechoulam and the history of cannabis research.’ Retrieved 18/11/2020 from: https://www.ilae.org/journals/epigraph/epigraph-vol-21-issue-1-winter-2019/raphael-mechoulam-and-the-history-of-cannabis-research
- Ibid.
- Gordon, Dani (2020). The CBD Bible (p.51). Publisher: Orion Spring, 2020.
- Ibid. Gordon (2020).
- Ibid. Gordon (2020).
- Mechoulam, Professor (2018).
