• Appetite, digestion, and hunger
• Cellular energy
• Emotions
• Memory
• MetabolismMetabolism is a term that is used to describe the chemical reactions that take place within the body’s cells. The body gets the energy it…
• Mood
• Motivation, pleasure, and reward
• Motor control
• Immune function
• Inflammation
• Pain
• Reproduction and fertility
• Sleep
• Stress response
• Temperature regulation
In the human body, the ECS is believed to have more cellular receptor sites than any other receptor system. This opened up the possibility that components of cannabis, called cannabinoids, might have specific healing properties by locking into the ECS receptors. The body also makes cannabinoids from fats in your diet, so this discovery isn’t just relevant to cannabis products such as CBD oil, sales of which are booming. This is a part of the plant that doesn’t get you high. THC is the main ingredient in cannabis that does that. But it, and other substances may help your body make it’s own endocannabinoids that lock onto the ECS receptors. The first discovered by Dr. Mechoulam’s team they called anandamide, from the Sanskrit word ‘ananda’ which means bliss because it does produce a mild state of bliss and a calming effect. Who wouldn’t want that?
Apart from the known role of cannabis and CBD oil in pain relief, glaucoma, nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, there’s not much hard evidence yet for the treatment of various diseases. Anecdotally, many people report relief of insomnia, and depression and also epilepsy.
Last year, I met a mother whose child was having numerous epileptic fits a day, now reduced to less than one a week with the use of CBD oil. She actually found the combination of THC and CBD oil even more effective. Despite the lack of clinical studies we can expect them to come soon. Since the discovery of the ECS there’s been over 20,000 studies published in the last 20 years containing the word “cannabinoid.”
If you’d like to get up to speed on what’s happening in this exciting new area of medicine I am delighted to share with you a comprehensive and well written and easy to understand 32 page report by Professor Giovanni Appendino, one of the world’s leading experts, co-authored by naturopaths Dr Michael Murray and Gaetano Morello.
Click here for their report ‘The Healing Power of the Endocannabinoid System’
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