CBD 101: Are You Supporting or Sabotaging Your Endocannabinoid System?

Confused about the bottle of CBD you purchased? Here’s the scoop on the fantastic ways Cannabidiol can support your EC system. 

What’s the big fuss about CBD? Separating fact from fiction online can be confusing. If you want to experience the most benefits from your CBD products, it’s essential to understand how it works in tandem with your body to support your endocannabinoid system.  

It’s easy to shake your head at the complexity of CBD and dismiss it as another “snake oil cure,”- but your body will thank you. Cannabis has been used for thousands of years with great effect! 

Your body and mind will thank you for learning how to utilize CBD products to help you better protect the balance of your EC system. 

Does your EC system need additional support from the phytocannabinoids found in hemp?

If you lived in a world free from stress, pain, or illness – perhaps the Endocannabinoid System within our own bodies would be sufficient to maintain homeostasis.  

But that’s not the world we live in. Illness and stress happen. Your EC system could need additional assistance.

Maybe this situation speaks more to your struggles:  

You spent the entire weekend doing yard work. Laying in bed on Monday morning, you reflect back on how much you accomplished. 

Your yard has never looked better. It would be lovely to sit and enjoy your hard work. 

Sigh. Not today. It’s time to grab a shower before rushing to work. 

Just as you start to reach over to turn off your alarm– you feel it.  You overworked an old injury, and now leaning over in your bed is painful. 

As you hobble off to the shower, every step hurts. You may have gotten a lot checked off your to-do list, but your EC system may need extra support to accomplish your tasks. 

You’re experiencing the result of an inflammatory response.

Why you need CBD in your home remedy toolkit. 

Those old injuries, daily aches, and frequent stressors are never planned in advance. Having CBD as your first line of defense is a healthier choice than a diet of NSAIDs! 

If you sprain your ankle, you know the drill: wrap, rest, elevate, and ice! Add the extra support to the injured area in the form of CBD – and see for yourself if it helps. 

When your endocannabinoid system is stressed mentally or physically, the phytocannabinoids found within the cannabis plant can help balance or supplement a possible EC system deficiency. 

Scientists have barely scratched the surface of the potential benefits the cannabis plant contains for humans and Mother Nature.  

Understanding Your EC System 

It’s crucial to understand how the endocannabinoid system functions within your body before attempting supplementation. What was once an unknown molecular signaling system discovered in the 1990’s is actually a complex system responsible for maintaining balance – or homeostasis – inside and outside your body. 

The EC system is a vast network of chemical signals and receptors responsible for managing many bodily functions such as: 

• Sleep
• Temperature Control
• Learning 
• Memory
• Emotional regulation
• Pain control
• Inflammation control
• Immune responses

When your body reacts to outside stressors, the EC system sends a message to other systems to tell them when it’s safe to return to normal. CBD works to help this process by slowing your EC signals, allowing your body to draw from a reserve of cannabinoids. This enables the entire body to return to normal faster. 

There are two primary receptors found in your Endocannabinoid System: CB1 and CB2.  

CB1 receptors – 

The CB1 receptors are packed tightly in your brain and spinal cord. In fact, these CB1 receptors outnumber all other receptors in your brain! 

CB1 receptors act like traffic guards, controlling the levels and function of other neurotransmitters. They can turn up and down the activity of whichever system requires regulation, as long as your EC system is already in homeostasis. 

CB2 receptors – 

Meanwhile, CB2 receptors in the EC system are located primarily in the immune system and gut, though they appear elsewhere throughout the body.  

The CB2 receptors are responsible for controlling the function of your immune system. In addition, these CB2 receptors manage gut inflammation and pain from inflammatory bowel conditions. 

What happens when the EC system is out of balance?

Stress happens internally and externally – both of which affect your endocannabinoid system. The EC system’s primary goal is to keep your body in a state of homeostasis. However, medications, pollution, poor nutrition, pain and even stress can affect your body negatively.  

When those outside stressors affect you internally, your EC system stimulates a chemical response. By releasing endocannabinoids, your EC system brings your body back into healthy homeostasis. 

However, sometimes our personal EC system is unable to keep our bodies in a happy place of homeostasis. Many factors contribute to a body with an imbalanced endocannabinoid system. 

When your body struggles to maintain homeostasis in your EC system, it is commonly due to poor signaling receptors. Other outside factors such as diet and medications can interfere with the body’s ability to utilize the endocannabinoids made within your body.  

Thankfully, we have CBD that can step in to help do the heavy lifting when your own EC system cannot keep up with day-to-day stressors. ⚖️

When the endocannabinoid system functions optimally, many people report experiencing relief from many health conditions.  

But isn’t CBD actually cannabis? Won’t it make you high? 

This is an important question to broach if your knowledge of cannabis is limited to its psychotropic effects. However, to set your mind at ease, the molecule cannabinol found in CBD is not intoxicating. 

Endocannabinoid receptors work very much like a lock and cannabinoids are the keys. Both endocannabinoids and THC will bind to the receptors, with THC producing the “high” affect that it’s known for. CBD works a bit differently than THC though – instead of binding to the receptors with the endocannabinoids, it makes the metabolic enzymes work slower. This causes endocannabinoids to build up and help the body respond more effectively to the things that happen in the world around it and generally run smoother.