Education of the Endocannabinoid System
WHAT IS CBD?
CBD is the second most prominent compounds in the cannabis plant, out of over 100 known cannabinoids and terpenes. While most people have heard of THC, the active molecule in cannabis that gets users "high", many are unfamiliar with CBD (cannabidiol). Unlike THC, CBD is non-psychotropic and is not, itself, illegal.
Extensive published medical research suggests that CBD has many potential health benefits, including being a potent anti-inflammatory, anti-psychotic, anti-anxiolytic anti-viral and anti-bacterial compound. The FDA is currently reviewing CBD as a potential anti-spasmodic for use in treating intractable epilepsy in children. While the FDA has yet to confirm or approve of CBD's use for any specific condition, it has been suggest that the CBD molecule has more potential health applications than any other single molecule on the planet.
Interestingly, health benefits of CBD are largely unknown to most consumers
despite existing US Patents, extensive medical research and clinical applications of its therapeutic benefits and potential. We're determined to change that.
HOW DOES CBD WORK?
CBD is the mimetic, or "plant based equivalent', of a chemical which your body naturally produces, called 2-Arachidonoylglycerol, ("2-AG"). 2-AG is used by the body to activate and modulate the Endocannabinoid System, or "ECS" for short which influences and controls a number of physiological processes and systems in the human body, including the immune system, central and peripheral nervous systems, and inflammatory response, among others. CBD can help support the natural endocannabinoid system, by boosting 2-AG levels in the body, there by increasing the effectiveness of the endocannabinoid system.
WHAT IS THE ENDOCANNABINOID SYSTEM AND HOW DOES IT WORK
The endocannabinoid system (ECS) refers to a collection of cell receptors and
corresponding molecules. You can think of cell receptors like little locks on the
surface of your cells. The keys to these locks are chemical molecules called
endocannabinoids. Each time one of these endocannabinoids binds to a cell it relays a message, giving your cell specific direction
Two primary cell receptors make up the ECS, Cannabinoid Receptor 1 (CB1) and
Cannabinoid Receptor 2 (CB2). The keys for these receptors are called
endocannabinoids. Endocannabinoids are the body's natural chemicals, which
mirror the cannabinoids found in the cannabis (and hemp) plant. In fact,
endocannabinoids got their name from cannabis
There are two main endocannabinoid molecules in the human body, named
Anandamide and 2-AG, which are mimicked by THC and CBD in plants, respectively
Funny thing, scientists wouldn't have discovered anandamide without THC.
Psychoactive (THC) was first discovered by Israeli scientist Raphael Mechoulam
back in the 1960s. His finding quickly spurred a rush to figure out how THC worked,
and whether or not our own bodies produced a similar compound. When you
introduce plant based cannabinoids into the human body, they work with your
natural endocannabinoids to fuel the endocannabinoid system, helping it perform
better and more powerfully
For more in depth reading on the mechanics and functions of the ECS, we
recommend the following links:
HOW CAN CBD HELP ME?
Due to DSHEA restrictions, we (and other hemp companies) are not at liberty to
make specific claims about the effects, mechanisms or benefits of our CBD products
However, a 2013 review published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
as well as a 2003 U.S. Government Patents, found that CBD acts as an antioxidant
reducing free radicals that can cause neurodegenerative disorders.
The 2013 study, along with the clinical trials performed in the 2003 patent,
identifies a list many potential health benefits. Additionally, the patent (US Patent 6630507, which is actually owned by the US Government itself) claims that CBD may
be "useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated
diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases "...
and may "have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting
neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the
treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's
disease and HIV dementia. Non-psychoactive cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol, are
particularly advantageous to use because they avoid toxicity that is encountered
with psychoactive cannabinoids at high doses useful in the method of the present
invention." ">
- https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/legislative-activities/testimony-to-congress/2016/biology-potential-therapeutic-effects-cannabidiol
- https://www.nchinim.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4301686
3. https://www.google.com/patents/US6630507 4.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2125.2012.04298.x/full