CANNA FACTS
OUR TEAM AT HIGHLY ENFUSED ARE NOT JUST HERE TO SELL PRODUCTS & PREACH, NOT EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT THE HUGE BENEFITS OF THE HEMP & CANNABIS PLANT - UNTIL WE STARTED DIGGING DEEP AND DOING OUR OWN RESEARCH WE DID NOT KNOW THE AMAZING PROPERTIES, BENEFITS AND ALSO ECO FRIENDLY PRODUCTS THAT CAN BE MADE USING THESE PLANTS EITHER, SO WE ARE HERE TO ENLIGHTEN YOU WITH OUR OWN FINDINGS INTO THESE TWO NATURAL PLANTS WITH SOME FACTS AND CASE STUDIES, SOME DATING BACK THOUSANDS OF YEARS! MAKES YOU WONDER WHY THESE MAGNIFICIENT PLANTS WERE FROWNED UPON AND DEMONISED FOR MANY YEARS WITH SOME COUNTRIES ACROSS THE WORLD STILL BANNING AND MAKING CBD, CBG AND THC DERIVED PRODUCTS ILLEGAL! WHAT MOTHER NATURE INTENDED WE ARE HERE TO HELP ALONG THE WAY...
DID YOU KNOW THAT OUR BODY HAS AN ENDOCANNABINIOD SYSTEM?
Yes it's actually true! Our bodies have an Endocannabinoid system meaning - The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a complex cell-signaling system which is used to regulate a wide range of functions around the body, including hormone regulation, body temperature, sleep, mood, and much, much more.
Cannabinoids from the cannabis plant (such as THC and CBD) work by interacting with this system. The endocannabinoid system is always active, even if you don’t use or have never used cannabis products.
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The ECS was said to be discovered in the 1990s, but to this day, science only has a basic understanding of how it works and what its specific role is in the human body.
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We know that the ECS is present in all life on earth with a central nervous system and that it’s essential for maintaining the internal balance of the body (called homeostasis). When something forces the body out of balance, such as an injury, starvation, or stress, the ECS steps in to help us find balance again.
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Due to its diverse and critically important role in the body, there’s a lot of potential for developing new medicines that leverage this critical system. Many of the conditions being explored were previously considered untreatable but with the help of CBD & THC interacting with our body & helping the balance, more and more remedies are being created, tested & then available on the market where allowed.
WHAT DOES THE ENDOCANNABINIOD SYSTEM DO?
The ECS does a surprising amount of things for the body. Despite how little we know about this system, we know that it’s essential for just about every organ system in the body in one way or another.
Explaining exactly what this system does is difficult because, unlike other body systems, it doesn’t just have one function. It’s involved with tens, if not hundreds, of individual cell functions. Studies have shown that the ECS is involved with controlling when we feel hungry when we feel sleepy, and when our immune system should sound the alarms or when it should relax.
The ECS acts as a facilitator for the nervous system. The nervous system transmits information around the body — telling your organs what to do and when to do it. Without this system, each of our internal organs wouldn’t work together as a whole.
The ECS is an integral part of this system by acting as the “read-receipts” for the nervous system. It performs what’s called “retrograde signaling” — which means the signal is sent in the opposite direction (just like a read-receipt).
The nerve cells transmit a signal from the brain to a specific organ or vice versa. The ECS then sends a message in reverse to let the sender know the message was received.
When the ECS isn’t working properly, we experience all sorts of problems, a few examples are conditions like fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, or migraine headaches. It can also affect our ability to resist or manage stress effectively, make us less fertile, negatively impact our sleep, and may even lead to autoimmune disease.
WHAT ARE THE ENDOCANNABINIOD RECEPTORS & WHAT DO THEY DO?
(The part that performs the action)
The endocannabinoid receptors are found on just about every cell of the human body. This is the part of the system that exerts the effect. When they become active, they cause a change in the cell.
There are two different types of endocannabinoid receptors:
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CB1 Receptors — Primarily found in the central nervous system (spinal cord and brain). They’re involved with regulating the digestive mobility, secretion of gastric fluids, neurotransmitter and hormone function, intestinal permeability, appetite, mood regulation, and more [3].
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CB2 Receptors — Primarily found outside the central nervous system. They’re abundant in the internal organs, peripheral nervous system (the nerve cells located outside the brain and spinal cord), and immune cells.
THE ENDOCANNABINOIDS...
(The messengers that tell receptors what to do and when to do it)
The endocannabinoids are the chemical messengers (eicosanoids) designed to interact with the endocannabinoid receptors. They’re used to transmit messages from one part of the body to another, telling the endocannabinoid receptors what to do.
There are two endocannabinoids. Each one has slightly different roles:
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Arachidonylethanolamide (Anandamide) — primarily involved with the ECS located outside the brain and spinal cord.
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2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) — primarily involved with the ECS located inside the brain and spinal cord. THC closely resembles the shape of 2-AG.
THE ENDOCANNABINOID SYSTEM & CANNABIS
Any cannabinoid that comes from plant sources is referred to as phytocannabinoids (phyto- referring to plant-based sources).
Conversely, cannabinoids produced inside the body are referred to as endocannabinoids (endo- meaning “inside the body”).
Cannabis is the most potent and diverse source of compounds able to interact with the endocannabinoid system.
A cannabinoid, by definition, is any compound that can interact with the endocannabinoid system. Some directly stimulate the ECS receptors (like THC), others bind to it without activating them (like CBD), and some even block its effects. Others work by blocking the enzymes responsible for breaking down endocannabinoids like anandamide or 2-AG.
THC makes us feel high by stimulating endocannabinoid receptors in the brain that are involved with regulating serotonin. Others are more useful for stimulating or inhibiting appetite, and some are involved with immune function or the stress response.
In a lot of case studies, THC & CBD are known to regulate and help diminish certain diseases helping with homeostasis in the body in turn helping the user with pain management and healthy cell growth.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CBD & THC & THE EFFECTS ON OUR SYSTEM
CBD (CANNABIDIOL) is the primary active ingredient in both marijuana and hemp that offers the majority of the medicinal benefits. This cannabinoid is non-psychoactive, which means it doesn’t make users feel high.
This compound doesn’t directly stimulate the endocannabinoid receptors. Instead, it supports the function of our naturally occurring endocannabinoids. It competes for the enzymes that break down anandamide (FAAH), causing our anandamide levels to increase.
Some research suggests CBD may exert many of its actions by binding to a new endocannabinoid receptor that hasn’t been discovered yet.
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THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol)
Delta 9 THC is the primary cannabinoid in marijuana that makes users feel high. The characteristic changes in perception and emotion result from this ingredient’s interaction with the endocannabinoid system.
Delta 9 THC stimulates both the CB1 and CB2 endocannabinoid receptors.
Activating these receptors causes several changes in the body. It increases appetite, stimulates immune activity, and causes a cascade of effects in the brain that lead to the effects we experience while we’re high. This includes euphoria, auditory and visual perception changes, alterations in our interpretation of time, and more. The main cause of this is thought to be the activation of the 5-HT2A receptors caused by CB1 receptor activity in the brain’s prefrontal cortex.
There are three other versions of this compound as well — delta 7 THC, delta 8 THC, and delta 10 THC — but these compounds are about 50% as potent and are only found in trace amounts in the cannabis plant.
ENDOCANNABINOID DEFICIENCY & ITS EFFECTS ON OUR SYSTEM
Scientists & researchers have put forward a theory that certain medical conditions may be caused by deficiency or dysfunction of the endocannabinoid system. This condition has been dubbed clinical endocannabinoid deficiency (CED). This theory could explain an underlying cause for a variety of idiopathic medical conditions.
Idiopathic is a term that refers to medical conditions or symptoms that don’t have any identifiable causes. A few examples include migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome. None of these conditions have a good explanation for what causes them. There Are plenty of theories, but nothing so far has done a great job at explaining what causes them thus far.
The conventional medical system usually refers to these conditions as being “psychosomatic” — which essentially means they’re caused by the mind, rather than any physical causes. This, of course, makes it extremely difficult to treat these conditions. And it’s true; there are very few medical treatments available for these conditions. Most people diagnosed with these disorders will continue to live with them for the rest of their lives.
The endocannabinoid deficiency theory is a promising candidate for all of these conditions — as pointed out in a 2016 article by prominent cannabis researcher Ethan Russo.
Other conditions have also been suggested to have endocannabinoid dysfunction at its origins — such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and depression.
None of these theories have been proven. But they haven’t been disproven yet either. We simply need more research to understand what’s going on here and whether or not the ECS is truly at the root of these perplexing diseases.
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POTENTIAL SIGNS OF CED:
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Poor digestive function
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Mood disorders or instability
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Disruptions in sleep patterns
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Increased sensitivity to pain
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Failure to thrive
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Autoimmune dysfunction
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WHAT CAUSES ENDOCANNABINOID DEFICIENCY?
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Genetic disorders
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Stunted development in early childhood
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Viral infection
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CONDITIONS THAT MAYBE LINKED TO CED
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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
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Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
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Migraine headaches
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Fibromyalgia
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Neonatal failure to thrive
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Cystic fibrosis
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Brachial plexopathy
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Causalgia
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Glaucoma
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Dysmenorrhea
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Phantom limb pain
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Repetitive miscarriages
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Bipolar Disorder
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Huntington’s disease
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Multiple Sclerosis
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Motion sickness
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Parkinson’s disease