CBD and the endocannabinoid system

Before we get into today’s blog, let us first note that the following is for information only and is not intended to legitimize CBD and cannabidiol related products as a drug or medicine. This is to aid the consumer in making wise choices and avoid being misled by unscrupulous purveyors of hemp products while furthering their understanding of the effects on the endocannabinoid system.

A couple of years ago, President Donald Trump signed into law the Farm Act of 2018. One amazing part of this declaration was the legalization of CBD as long as it contained zero or less than .3% THC. Therefore, when you removed the THC from the cannabis or hemp plant, you now have a product that was legal to use as a nutritional supplement. Unfortunately, as I have mentioned before, the FDA has been “dragging their feet” in regards to their recognizing these products for their potential health benefits, thereby keeping them “in limbo” so to speak. Hopefully this will change soon but, in the meantime, those who are interested should continue to educate themselves as best they can.

First of all, CBD is now being looked at as not just another supplement. The market has exploded with interest and the conversation lately has been the possible physiological effects that products containing cannabidiol may have on the human body.

In today’s conversation, we are going to try to describe the intense scientific research that is going on around the globe to help us better understand how significant CBD products could be to our health and wellbeing.

First, we have to ask ourselves the question, what is it we actually consider “our health”? Is it a state of mind, the absence of disease or the lack of unhealthy symptoms that lead us to the belief that we are indeed “healthy”? Well, it is really a far more complex question than just that. The real question is, how does human physiology actually work and how is it designed in general?

Ancient philosophers spoke of the balance between polar opposites or what they termed the balance between the yin and the yang. If we were truly in “balance” we were considered in a state of homeostasis. When we look at specific parts of our physiology, like our immune system, the “opposites” would be inflammation and anti-inflammation. Pretty simple but, what happens when the negative and the positive of these two are imbalanced within your immune system? Would your immune system be functioning properly? What about other systems such as our nervous system? Here things become even more complex when we consider the forces of excitation and how they relate to the forces of inhibition and relaxation. Then you add in the endocrine or hormone system where we have forces such as oxidation that can lead to the breaking down of tissue due to catabolic hormones not being in homeostasis with anabolic hormones. Some people think that to combat oxidation one must simply take antioxidants to combat the effects. This is simply not true as these forces must remain in balance for us to achieve homeostasis.

Now, we ask the question, what happens when you are “sick”? What happens when your body is out of balance and you have symptoms that indicate that there may be something wrong? After a time of feeling lousy, you may be inclined to go to a doctor and he decides to give you an FDA approved pharmaceutical drug to enhance the “healing process”. Now remember, the drug is only designed to deal with one symptom and not the entire system that may be out of balance. We also know that many pharmaceutical drugs have many unintended side effects. When that occurs, you may exhibit additional symptoms and now requiring additional medication and so on and so forth. Now you may find yourself on a path to nowhere. The problem is; you are only treating the symptoms and not the condition that caused your system to go haywire in the first place.

This is where we need to take a closer look at CBD and the studies that have been performed to determine the effects of cannabinoids on the endocannabinoid system. In the early 1990’s, a scientist by the name of Raphaela Shulam, from the Hebrew University in Israel, discovered endocannabinoids which were the natural endocannabinoid like molecules produced by the human body. Scientists started realizing that cannabis exerted its effects, in part, by mimicking our endocannabinoids. The main function of this system is to maintain bodily homeostasis otherwise known as biological harmony. These receptors were once thought to be present only in the brain and nerves but more recent studies have shown them to be present throughout the body. We now know that the endocannabinoid system is involved in a wide variety of processes including managing pain, memory function, regulating appetite, controlling stress, improving sleep cycles, heightening immunities, balancing metabolism as well as supporting a host of other processes.

How exactly do studies show that CBD exercises its effects on all of these areas? One first has to understand that, the endocannabinoids in our body are made up of millions of cells. Each of these cells is covered with, what resemble, green receptors that are receptors for the CBD produced by the body. In fact, there are more receptors for CBD in our body than any other kind of receptors. When that CBD binds with the receptor, it sends a message to the cell which travels down to the nucleus of the cell where our entire physiology is contained within our chromosomes. It is within the cell that you will find the actual DNA that controls the code for everything our body does. This is sort of like the genetic codes that run our physiology such as our neurotransmitters that run our nervous system, our hormones that run our endocrine system and our cytokines that run our immune system.  

In this day and age, our immune system is under constant attack from environmental toxins such as insecticides, biological infection, fungus and molds and various viruses including the latest Corona Virus strain. These coupled with the various inflammatory diets, which are often poor in necessary vitamins, proteins and high in sugar, which can allow certain bacterial infections to occur. These infections can often work their way into our blood stream and compromise our autoimmune system even further. Add into that the amount of stress that is heaped on us daily as well as PTSD, auto-immune disease, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia and a plethora of other maladies that didn’t exist some 150 years ago.     

Now, hopefully you can understand why the study, and subsequent approval, of CBD has become such an important topic. In the United States in 2019 alone, there was an estimated 70,980 drug related deaths of which 50,042 involved opioids. Scientists are actively looking for a replacement to help reduce these numbers and are looking more seriously to cannabis and hemp products containing CBD to slow the tide and reduce America’s chemical dependency and prescription costs. Independent studies are being conducted to determine the positive effects CBD might have in enhancing our endocannabinoid system and confront and reduce the cause of several illnesses head on rather than simply treating the symptoms.

Scientists have been able to isolate several phytochemicals from the cannabis and hemp plants. Through these studies, they have they have discovered a web of receptors, enzymes, and bio-chemical pathways that are involved in the manufacture of the body’s own form of cannabinoids.

We have cannabinoid receptors throughout our bodies. The two main receptors are CB1 and CB2. CB1 receptors are essential for a healthy functioning brain and are the most common receptors in the entire nervous system. CB2 receptors are most often found on the cells of our immune system and help moderate inflammation and response to pathogens.

What manufactured cannabis and hemp CBD does is it helps to rebalance the endocannabinoid system by stimulating receptors and pathways that may have become disrupted due to a variety of causes. Hemp CBD is thought to help rebalance this system by stimulating these receptors and neutral pathways by offsetting inflammation and fighting oxidative damage without the chemical THC. This in turn is believed to improve joint and cardiovascular health as well as enhance neuroprotective and overall immune benefits. Research also suggests that CBD can help promote a more calm and balanced mood and support a healthier physical and emotional response to stress. In addition, and as an added bonus, CBD shows no indication of addictive properties.

Well, that’s it for this week. Thanks for reading and we hope that you are finding these messages helpful and enlightening. CBD Doc.