{"id":619,"date":"2023-02-21T21:23:18","date_gmt":"2023-02-21T21:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/colombiangoldextracts.com\/?p=619"},"modified":"2023-02-21T21:23:20","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T21:23:20","slug":"the-endocannabinoid-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/colombiangoldextracts.com\/es\/the-endocannabinoid-system\/","title":{"rendered":"The endocannabinoid system"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many of us have heard of some of the transmitter systems within our bodies, such as the sympathetic nervous system, which gives us our fight-or-flight response. Fewer have heard of the more recently discovered endocannabinoid system (ECS), which is amazing when you consider that the ECS is critical for almost every aspect of our moment-to-moment functioning. The ECS\u00a0regulates and controls many of our most critical bodily functions<\/a>\u00a0such as learning and memory, emotional processing, sleep, temperature control, pain control, inflammatory and immune responses, and eating. The ECS is currently at the center of renewed international research and drug development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the ECS?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The ECS comprises a vast network of chemical signals and cellular receptors that are densely packed throughout our brains and bodies. The “cannabinoid” receptors in the brain \u2014 the CB1 receptors \u2014 outnumber many of the other receptor types on the brain. They act like traffic cops to control the levels and activity of most of the other neurotransmitters. This is how they regulate things: by immediate feedback, turning up or down the activity of whichever system needs to be adjusted, whether that is hunger, temperature, or alertness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To stimulate these receptors, our bodies produce molecules called endocannabinoids, which have a structural similarity to molecules in the cannabis plant. The first endocannabinoid that was discovered was named anandamide after the Sanskrit word\u00a0ananda<\/em>\u00a0for bliss. All of us have tiny cannabis-like molecules floating around in our brains. The cannabis plant, which humans have been using for about 5,000 years, essentially works its effect by hijacking this ancient cellular machinery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CBD and Our Body<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

THC\u00a0binds directly to both\u00a0CB1\u00a0and\u00a0CB2\u00a0cannabinoid receptors like a key fitting into a lock and activates these receptors, causing them to send a signal that culminates in a physiological response (less pain, less inflammation, lower blood pressure, mild euphoria, relaxation, etc.). But\u00a0CBD\u00a0doesn\u2019t work this way. Instead of binding with cannabinoid receptors to initiate a signal itself,\u00a0CBD\u00a0fine-tunes the signaling that\u2019s been triggered by\u00a0THC\u00a0or an endogenous cannabinoid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studies indicate that\u00a0CBD\u00a0functions as an allosteric modulator at the\u00a0CB1\u00a0receptor, meaning that it influences how the receptor signals without actually causing it to signal. Think of the\u00a0CB1\u00a0receptor as a dimmer switch or volume control knob \u2014\u00a0CBD\u00a0turns it down slightly but not all the way. This appears to be one of the mechanisms whereby\u00a0CBD\u00a0lowers the ceiling on\u00a0THC\u2019s tricky psychoactivity and lessens the high, which is caused by direct\u00a0CB1\u00a0receptor activation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time,\u00a0CBD\u00a0augments\u00a0CB2\u00a0receptor signaling, which regulates inflammation and immune cell activity. How and why\u00a0CBD\u00a0triggers an anti-inflammatory response and other\u00a0CB2-mediated outcomes without directly binding to the\u00a0CB2\u00a0receptor is still somewhat of a scientific mystery. But this much is evident:\u00a0CBD\u00a0can fine-tune the\u00a0ECS\u00a0by modulating\u00a0CB1\u00a0and\u00a0CB2\u00a0receptor activity in different directions, tempering the former while amplifying the latter. And this combination can have profound, health-positive effects, particularly for metabolic disorders, obesity, liver disease, and other diseases linked to unhealthy diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CBD\u00a0can elevate the levels of your endogenous cannabinoid compounds, anandamide and\u00a02AG, which activate your cannabinoid receptors causing them to signal.\u00a0CBD\u00a0can also balance the way your cannabinoid receptors function, turning down the volume at\u00a0CB1\u00a0while augmenting\u00a0CB2\u00a0in a way that balances the body and promotes good health.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many of us have heard of some of the transmitter systems within our bodies, such as the sympathetic nervous system, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/colombiangoldextracts.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/colombiangoldextracts.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/colombiangoldextracts.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colombiangoldextracts.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colombiangoldextracts.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/colombiangoldextracts.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":620,"href":"https:\/\/colombiangoldextracts.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619\/revisions\/620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/colombiangoldextracts.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colombiangoldextracts.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colombiangoldextracts.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}