THE ENDOCANNABINOID SYSTEM
THE ENDOCANNABINOID SYSTEM AND CBD
At Suu Kuu, we design plant-based blends to promote healing and overall wellness in the body. Some of our products contain pure cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabinoid with significant impact to the body’s endocannabinoid system, so we'd like to give a brief introduction to the ECS. The three basic elements of the endocannabinoid system are different lipids known as endocannabinoids, the enzymes that synthesize those lipids, and a network of neurological receptors that can modulate physiological systems in the body.
Among the processes that the ECS regulates are: mood, memory, appetite, fertility, stress response, immune function, sleep, and pain. Regulation, in this case, means balancing physiological functions and mitigating extremes, especially inflammation. “Modulating the activity of the endocannabinoid system [turns] out to hold therapeutic promise in a wide range of disparate diseases and pathological conditions, ranging from mood and anxiety disorders, movement disorders such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease, neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury, to cancer, atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, stroke, hypertension, glaucoma, obesity/metabolic syndrome, and osteoporosis, to name just a few.”
“Ethan Russo, a neurologist and psychopharmacology researcher and expert on cannabis has said there are more cannabinoid receptors in the brain than there are for all of the neurotransmitters put together.” CBD can help protect the ECS receptors, allowing the system to maintain balance and harmony in the body. “Extensive preclinical research—much of it sponsored by the U.S. government—indicates that CBD has potent anti-tumoral, antioxidant, anti-spasmodic, anti-psychotic, anti-convulsive, and neuroprotective properties. CBD directly activates serotonin receptors, causing an anti-anxiety effect, as well.” While there is not a ton of research currently available on the ECS, CBD, or other cannabinoids, it does seem like there may be far reaching health implications in nourishing and protecting the ECS, and that there are some potential gains to health and wellness by introducing external organic cannabinoids to the body. We have experienced some of these benefits ourselves, and witnessed transformation in others, encouraging us to keep on our path of facilitating wellness for those who use our products.
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1. PÁL PACHER, SÁNDOR BÁTKAI, and GEORGE KUNOS, The Endocannabinoid System as an Emerging Target of Pharmacotherapy, Pharmacol Rev. 2006 Sep; 58(3): 389–462.
2. Emily Shaw. “Home.” https://ama-veda.com/category/home, July 10, 2018, website.
3. Project CBD, “The Endocannabinoid System.” https://www.projectcbd.org/science/endocannabinoid-system-0, 2018, website.