HEMP & the Endocannabinoid System: How Does It Work?

HEMP is growing in popularity, and with it, so is public interest about how HEMP oil and other HEMP products work inside the human body. To understand the science behind HEMP, we’ll take a look at the science behind the endocannabinoid system.

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a regulatory network that extends throughout our bodies.

This system is in charge of the stability and balance, or homeostasis, of multiple essential elements and functions in the body. Researchers have found that the ECS regulates everything from mood and immunity to sleep, appetite, memory, reproduction, inflammation, pain, and more.

In short, the ECS’s function is to keep us stable and healthy.

The ECS has three parts:

• Cannabinoid receptors
• Enzymes
• Endocannabinoids (or endogenous cannabinoids)

Inside the human body, cells receive and send messages to and from other cells. Receptors are the things that let a cell know when a message is sent.

The ECS can receive this feedback - or message - because our bodies produce endocannabinoids, molecules similar to those in a cannabis plant.

Endocannabinoids are in charge of making sure all our internal processes are stable and working correctly, and they do that by interacting with cannabinoid receptors, receptors that exist throughout our bodies. These receptors wait for endocannabinoids to alert them when they need to signal the ECS.

That signal is created by endocannabinoids binding to receptors. Then, the ECS can take action - whether it's knowing to produce an immune response, relieve pain, or just let you know you need to eat.

After the endocannabinoids finish their job, they need to be broken down, which is where enzymes play a role.

So, what does the endocannabinoid system have to do with HEMP?

Scientists have two theories about the interaction behind HEMP and the endocannabinoid system. First, they theorize that HEMP products block enzymes from breaking endocannabinoids down, thus encouraging them to have a more powerful, longer effect.

When endocannabinoids bind to receptors so the ECS can regulate, they are then decomposed by enzymes. But if HEMP blocks those enzymes, the endocannabinoids can extend their action.

Second, it is thought that HEMP products may interact with an undiscovered receptor.

Other cannabis compounds like THC interact with two cannabinoid receptors in the body called CB1 and CB2. Researchers have discovered that HEMP does not interact with those same receptors, which could mean there are other receptors we just haven’t detected yet.

Regardless of the method of interaction, studies have shown that HEMP can be absorbed into the human body like other compounds, and HEMP products offering higher bioavailability are proven to improve absorption power.

Scientists are still finding exciting information about HEMP products and the endocannabinoid system. As research progresses, we will learn more and more about this and other incredible cannabinoid products and how they communicate with our bodies.

Sources

• Journal: Philosophical Reactions of the Royal Society B: Endocannabinoids in Nervous System Health and Disease: The Big Picture in a Nutshell
• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Endocannabinoid System Acts as a Regulator of Immune Homeostasis in the Gut
• National Library of Medicine: The Role of the Endocannabinoid System in the Regulation of Endocrine Function and in the Control of Energy Balance in Humans
• Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal: The Endocannabinoid System, Cannabinoids, and Pain
• Biological Psychiatry Journal: An Introduction to the Endogenous Cannabinoid System
• Harvard: The endocannabinoid system: Essential and mysterious
• Medline Plus: Cannabidiol (Hemp)