By Jeff Gallagher, founder of Made By Hemp. Helping people find real hemp since 2013.
The endocannabinoid system, or ECS, is a signaling network found throughout the human body. It is built from three parts: cannabinoid receptors, endocannabinoids that your body makes itself, and enzymes that break those endocannabinoids down once they have done their job. Its role is to help keep the body in homeostasis, a stable internal state, as conditions around it change. It exists whether or not you have ever encountered a cannabis plant.
The endocannabinoid system interacts with compounds like cannabidiol (CBD), but engaging with cannabis is not what it is for. It responds to plant cannabinoids because those compounds resemble ones the body already produces on its own.
The relationship between the ECS and cannabis is a relatively new area of study, even though the plant has held human interest for thousands of years. Long before the system was discovered, people observed that cannabis affected the body but had no way to explain the biology behind it. The search for that explanation is what led researchers to the endocannabinoid system in the first place.
Homeostasis: a balancing act
The ECS helps regulate a number of the body’s basic processes, and its central role is keeping the body in homeostasis. Homeostasis is the maintenance of a constant internal environment even as the world outside changes. It matters because cells only work properly inside a fairly narrow set of conditions, and the ECS is one of the systems that nudges those conditions back into range.
It really is a balancing act. Like a tightrope walker, the body is constantly being pulled off its point of stability, and it has to keep adjusting to stay there.
How the endocannabinoid system works
The ECS has three components: cannabinoid receptors, endocannabinoids, and metabolic enzymes. They are found throughout the body, in the brain, tissues, and organs.
Endocannabinoids are the messengers. The prefix “endo” means within, and that is the point: these are cannabinoids the body synthesizes for itself, as needed, rather than getting them from a plant. The two best understood are anandamide and 2-AG. For a fuller look at the wider family of these compounds, see what cannabinoids are.
Cannabinoid receptors sit on the cell membrane and read conditions outside the cell. When an endocannabinoid binds to a receptor, the receptor passes that message inside, and the cell responds. A receptor is a sort of telephone, carrying a signal across the cell wall.
The two main receptors are labeled CB1 and CB2. Both occur throughout the body, but CB1 is more concentrated in the brain, while CB2 is more abundant outside the nervous system.
Metabolic enzymes are the cleanup crew. Once an endocannabinoid has delivered its message, enzymes break it down. The two main ones are FAAH and MAGL. This is what keeps endocannabinoids around only as long as they are actually needed.
How CBD interacts with the endocannabinoid system
Cannabinoids come from three places. The body makes its own, plants produce them, and they can be made synthetically. CBD and THC are the two most discussed cannabinoids in the cannabis plant, and both are structurally close enough to endocannabinoids to interact with the same system.
The two do not behave the same way, and that difference is the reason one is intoxicating and the other is not. THC binds directly to the CB1 receptor, which is what produces a high. CBD does not bind to CB1 in that direct way, which is why CBD is non-intoxicating. Exactly how CBD does interact with the ECS is more complicated, and researchers are still working it out.
That is worth being plain about. The ECS was only identified in the early 1990s, which makes it young as far as biology goes, and the science is genuinely still in progress. Anyone selling you certainty about what CBD does inside your body is selling you something we would not. For more on how the two compounds differ, see the difference between CBD and THC.
If you are new to all of this and trying to work out what to actually buy, our CBD buyer’s guide covers how to spot a reputable seller, what the label terms mean, and how to find your serving size.
Questions about CBD and the ECS?
Made By Hemp has been helping people find real hemp since 2013. If you have a question this article did not answer, our West Michigan team is happy to talk it through. Call (844) 887-4367 or email support@madebyhemp.com.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
