The Endocannabinoid System is one of the main things hemp products affect. Since NVUS Organics is in this industry, of course, we want to shed light on how our products interact with one of the largest biological systems of receptors in the body.
We hope this article helps understand why we focus on delivering THC-free hemp products.
Key Takeaways
- The Endocannabinoid System (ECS) is a biological system of receptors and neurotransmitters that helps regulate and stabilize our bodily functions and reactions to maintain homeostasis.
- These functions are sleep, appetite, pain sensitivity, inflammation, memory, mood, immunity, and more.
- There are 3 main components that run the ECS – endocannabinoids, receptors, and enzymes that exist throughout the body.
- Endocannabinoids (Anandamide and 2-AG are the most researched ones) are compounds that interact with the receptors within the ECS and are responsible for sending signals to promote homeostasis.
- Receptors (CB1 is found within the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system while CB2 is found in the immune system) and endocannabinoids work together to restrain excessive amounts of chemical activity to restore balance and produce cytokines.
- Enzymes are substances within the body that can cause chemical reactions to occur – they act as the control and recyclers for the endocannabinoids.
- There are some ways to boost the ECS, ranging from exercising regularly and maintaining weight through a balanced diet to avoiding super stressful situations and using CBD-based products.
Table of Contents
Video Guide
What is the Endocannabinoid System?
The Endocannabinoid System (ECS) is a biological system of receptors and neurotransmitters. It helps regulate our internal body’s psychological systems and stabilizing them to ensure that they are all working together in harmony.
It plays a role in different bodily functions and reactions such as:
- Sleep
- Appetite
- Pain Sensitivity
- Inflammation
- Memory
- Mood
- Motor Coordination
- Immune Functions
It can be considered as one of the largest biological systems within a mammalian body. And while there are still quite a number of things we don’t fully understand about the system, it holds the potential to revolutionize our understanding of health.
How the Endocannabinoid System Works?
The Endocannabinoid System promotes homeostasis through interactions between its component. Its main goal is always to provide balance.
Think of the ECS as a system of keys and locks. Every time a key matches a lock, the door opens and causes an effect to occur in the body.
To better understand how they work, let’s discuss the components that make up the ECS.
The Components of the Endocannabinoid System:
There are 3 main components that run the Endocannabinoid System. These are the Endocannabinoids, Receptors and Enzymes. All 3 components interact with each other to execute many functions inside our body that are necessary for survival.
These 3 components exist throughout the body such as in the glands, organs, immune cells, or even the brain and the nervous system itself. They exist in all 11 known psychological systems in the human body.
Let’s take a closer look at each component:
Endocannabinoids:
Endocannabinoids are compounds that interact with the Receptors within the Endocannabinoid System. They are the ones responsible for sending signals to promote homeostasis.
Going back to the keys and lock analogy, the Endocannabinoids are the keys to open a lock. They don’t just open any other locks. They only open locks for which the keys fit in.
There are two types of Endocannabinoids:
- Endogenous Cannabinoids – This type of compound is produced naturally inside the body.
The most researched ones are Anandamide and 2-AG but there are certainly other types that just haven’t been discovered yet.
2-AGs are the most prevalent ones and are known to have an effect on the immune system functions or even appetite and pain responses.
Anandamide, on the other hand, creates feelings of euphoria which is why it is also known as the Bliss Molecule. It is usually generated through rigorous exercise such as running. - Exogenous Cannabinoids – These are compounds found outside the body such as CBD and THC.
Both can produce certain effects depending on which receptors they bind to. The effects they produce are almost similar except that THC can give the “High” feeling while CBD does not have such an effect.
And though they are not produced within the body naturally, they too can be part of the ECS system which has the main goal of maintaining balance within the body.
Check out our post about the difference between CBD and THC for more information about this.
Hemp plants are a prime example where these compounds are commonly found.
Receptors:
Receptors are chemical structures found throughout the body with which the Endocannabinoid compounds can bind and interact. They receive its messages and transmit them throughout the body.
And remember, since Endocannabinoids usually send out messages to promote homeostasis, receptors and Endocannabinoids work together to restrain excessive amounts of chemical activity from restoring balance.
This usually happens when neurotransmitters from other bodily systems, such as the nervous system, send out too many chemical messengers. Therefore, the Endocannabinoid has to interfere.
Using the previous analogy, receptors act like locks for which the keys known as Endocannabinoids can pair so they would open.
There are two known receptors found within the ECS system:
- CB1 Receptors – These receptors usually found within the Brain, Spinal cord and Nervous system.
They work with the Endocannabinoids to regulate functions such as appetite, memory and pain perception. - CB2 Receptors – These receptors usually exist within the cells belonging to the immune system.
Like the CB1 receptor, they work with the Endocannabinoid to modulate the function of the immune system. Its actual effect depends on the cell type and the environment by which they bound from.
Such activation produces cytokines that have broad clinical implications. The primary one is reducing inflammation.
Enzymes:
Enzymes are substances within the body that can cause chemical reactions to occur. They are not exclusively found within the ECS system but they play a huge role in it nonetheless.
Enzymes act as the control and recyclers for the Endocannabinoids once they have carried out their function.
The levels of Endocannabinoids are determined by the balance between synthesis and degradation that occurred through the chemical reactions caused by the enzymes.
Again with the lock system analogy, they are like the actual door. Just because the door is unlocked through the bindings of Endocannabinoids and receptors doesn’t mean the door is wide open.
Ways to Support Your Endocannabinoid System:
Since Endocannabinoids can be produced both internally and externally, there some ways you can do to boost your ECS.
Though these are not an extensive list, these are things you can do every day:
- Perform good exercise every day.
- Control your weight through diet.
- Avoiding super stressful situations.
- CBD-related products can help but make sure their THC content is less than 0.3%. At NVUS Organics, we make sure that our products are virtually THC-Free.
Conclusion:
The Endocannabinoid System is a complex system that plays a huge part in maintaining balance within the internal processes within our body systems.
It performs different tasks with each part of the body but its main function is always the same, to provide homeostasis.
Though a lot is left to be uncovered with this system, it can potentially revolutionize how we tackle health issues. The better we progress into understanding it, the more it is more likely to provide some treatments to several illnesses.