Full Spectrum CBD and The Endocannabinoid System: What It Is and How It Works.
Scientific research has demonstrated that the cannabis sativa plant has a multitude of compounds that have potential therapeutic properties. CBD (cannabidiol) is one of the two most extensively researched compounds called phytocannabinoids (plant based cannabinoids) found in the cannabis sativa plant. The other most researched cannabinoid is THC. Both of these cannabinoids have therapeutic properties with the most noted difference being that THC produces a psychoactive “high’, in concentrations over 0.3%, and CBD is non-psychoactive. Early research into ‘how’ THC and CBD work to impact human health led to the discovery of a vast network of endocannabinoid receptors throughout the body. This system was termed the endocannabinoids system (ECS). In order to understand how Full-Spectrum CBD works in the body to provide a multitude of benefits, it is necessary to understand the basics of what the endocannabinoid system is and how it works.
What Is The Endocannabinoid System?
The endocannabinoid system is a biological regulating system that stretches across the body and plays a vital role in fundamental processes. This system is found in the central and peripheral nervous systems, which include the brain along with the organs, muscles, tissues, immune system and skeletal system.
The endocannabinoid system is composed of three main components:
- Endocannabinoids: lipid based retrograde neurotransmitters naturally produced by the body that bind to cannabinoid receptors.
- Cannabinoid Receptors: are embedded in cell membranes and endocannabinoids bind to these receptors. It is this binding action that signals the ECS to take a designated action for various functions necessary to maintain homeostasis (balance/equilibrium) when the body is in distress due to environmental or internal attacks, such as injury or bacterial infection.
- Enzymes that break down the endocannabinoids after they have completed their particular function.
The ECS regulates functions like pain, stress, appetite, cardiovascular function, reproduction, sleep, cognitive function, and more. The overarching goal of the ECS is to maintain homeostasis (balance) in the body, which allows for the experience of peak health.
Full Spectrum CBD and The Endocannabinoid System
Cannabinoids like CBD and THC are plant based cannabinoids that also interact with the endocannabinoid system. The research is inconclusive about whether CBD and other phytocannabinoids actually mimic the body’s endocannabinoid receptor activity that signal regulation and support for various functions. However, research does recognize the direct binding of THC to CB1 and CB2 receptors and indirect interaction of CBD with the functions and processes that regulate pain response, anxiety, mood, sleep and immune system response that are vital functions regulated and supported by the ECS.
There is also an increasing body of research into the other beneficial compounds found in cannabis sativa that include the other minor cannabinoids such as CBN, CBG and CBC, to name a few, along with terpenes and flavonoids. There are many indications that they may also play an interactive role with the ECS and other body systems that maintain physiological, mental and emotional equilibrium and health.
The synergy of naturally occurring beneficial cannabis sativa compounds working together, particularly the cannabinoids and terpenes, in the human body has been termed, by the early cannabis researchers Dr. Mechoulam and Dr. Ben-Shabat, as the ‘entourage effect’. This points to the phenomenon that consuming whole plant cannabis produces an enhanced beneficial effect that is greater than the plant’s isolated compounds.
Natural Organic Hemp Flower and Organic Full Spectrum CBD Hemp Extract has a full spectrum profile of hemp's natural compounds and therefore provides optimal support for the regulation activities of the ECS and other systems associated with maintaining vibrant overall health and well being.
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