You’ve made your way here, so chances are you’re already aware that CBD has taken the world by storm. But what you may not know, is how CBD works.
If that’s the case, don’t worry – you’re not alone! The interactions that cannabinoids such as CBD have with the body are so vast that it can be hard to get your head around. But, by the end of this article, you’ll be clued up on the basics, and hopefully feel far better informed to be able to decide whether or not CBD oil is the right product for you.
What is CBD
We know it can be found in oral drops, capsules, sweets, trips, muscle rubs and sleep sprays, but what actually is CBD?
CBD, or cannabidiol, is one of over 140 cannabinoids (molecules) found in the cannabis, or hemp, plant. It’s what’s known as a pleotropic, which means it has multiple actions via numerous pathways in the body.
Although many have been identified since, this particular compound was first discovered and isolated in the 1940s, along with currently controlled cannabinoids THC and CBN. Its therapeutic potential, as the most abundant cannabinoid in the hemp plant, was of great interest even back then.
In the 1980s, Dr. Raphael Mechoulam conducted a breakthrough study into the application of CBD for epilepsy, where 8 subjects received a dose of 300mg CBD a day for four months. As a result, half the participants stopped having seizures altogether, while others experienced a dramatic decrease. However, it wasn’t until the discovery of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in the early 90s, that we really started to understand how and why CBD had the effects it was being demonstrated to have.
Since then, there have been over 40,000 studies exploring cannabis, cannabinoids and the ECS. That’s more than any other physiological system or pharmaceutical medication.
What is the endocannabinoid system?
The endocannabinoid system is a sprawling network of receptors and activating neurotransmitters (endocannabinoids) which helps regulate all (yes, all) bodily processes. It’s considered by many experts to be one of the most important major physiological systems in the human body, if not the most important. Other examples of physiological systems include the nervous system, the immune system, the digestive system and so on.
The receptors (CB1 and CB2) can be found just about everywhere in the body – in every skin cell, muscle and joint, in the brain and every major organ, throughout all other physiological systems, even within mitochondrial cell walls! The very fabric of our being.
These are activated by endocannabinoids (the two we know most about are called Anandamide and 2-AG), which are synthesised and released as and when the body needs to be brought back into balance.
Upon activating the receptors, these endocannabinoids relay information from outside of a cell, into the cell, to then trigger the appropriate response to help the body regain, or maintain, equilibrium.
What does CBD have to do with the endocannabinoid system?
To say that CBD has a lot of potential is an understatement, and this may begin to answer why that is.
When our body falls out of balance, it will release endocannabinoids to send the appropriate messages to rectify whatever problem has arisen. However, some experts believe that it is possible to suffer from an ‘endocannabinoid deficiency’, perhaps as a result of chronic stress, poor quality sleep or diet, or other negative lifestyle factors.
Now you know a little something about how the ECS works, it will come as no surprise to you that when this system is not working as it should, just about anything can go wrong. World leading cannabinoid researcher, Dr Ethan Russo, has even written a paper theorising that a variety of treatment resistant conditions may be a direct cause of this.
There are a number of ways to support your ECS, such as exercise, yoga, meditation, certain foods like truffles and turmeric and, also, CBD oil.
When the CBD molecule enters your body, it binds to and blocks ECS receptors while it inhibits the enzyme which ordinarily breaks down endocannabinoids. This results in elevated levels of endocannabinoids which, rather than enter the first receptor they come across, make their way further around your body, therefore indirectly supporting the ECS.
Anandamide (named after the Sanskrit word for ‘Bliss’), also plays a vital role in stress, effectively acting rather like a gatekeeper for stress in the brain. Low levels of Anandamide in the brain results in a runaway cascade of the fight or flight response – without it, there’s nothing there to tell you brain that there’s no emergency, it’s just the phone ringing. With higher levels of Anandamide, stress hormones can be better kept under control.
CBD isn’t the only cannabinoid that interacts with the ECS either. CBG and THC both directly activate both CB1 and CB2 receptors, just like our own endocannabinoids. Just one reason why ‘full spectrum’ CBD products, which often contain both of these (albeit only very low, legal limits of THC), offer a whole lot more than ‘CBD isolate’ products (just the CBD molecule on its own).
Does CBD elevate serotonin?
As mentioned right at the start, CBD works via multiple pathways in the body. So if the vast potential of interacting with the ECS wasn’t enough to blow your mind, now we’ll move onto serotonin.
The CBD molecule directly activates serotonin receptors (5-HT1A), which effectively mimics the action of serotonin exactly. A 2014 animal study found that CBD’s effect on these receptors in the brain produced both antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects. But serotonin doesn’t only influence mood, it also plays a major role in digestion, regulating sexual function and sleep (to name a few!). A serotonin deficiency is thought to have the potential to cause anxiety, depression, muscle pain, headaches, insomnia and more.
One 2018 study demonstrated exciting promise for the treatment of the effects of chronic stress. The test rats showed that induced stress over the course of 24 days resulted in decreased serotonin activity. After seven days of treatment with CBD, these levels were completely normalised. However, CBD might not be the serotonin superstar in the cannabis plant! Preclinical trials have indicated that CBDA (Cannabidiolic acid – the raw version of CBD which can be found in whole plant CBD oils) potentially has an even stronger affinity to serotonin receptors than CBD, with one study showing CBDa to be 1000 times more effective at combating nausea and anxiety than CBD, via serotonin receptor activation.
And it doesn’t stop there!
Unbelievably, this is only scratching the surface of how the CBD molecule interacts with the body – and that’s only 1 of over 140 cannabinoids, not to mention cannabidiolic acids such as CBDa, terpenes and flavonoids that found in raw or whole plant CBD oils, like Sweet Pink.
In addition to what we’ve already covered here, CBD also activates vanillioid receptors (involved in pain transmission), and a partial activation of dopamine receptors (involved in the potential treatment of Parkinson’s), among other actions.
Ready to try CBD?
Want to try CBD but not sure where to start? Take a look at this handy guide on how to choose a CBD product that’s right for you, and how to use it.
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