The Extraordinary Healing Benefits of the Cannabis Plant and the Endocannabinoid System
Despite the illegality of cannabis, which historically had made it difficult for scientists to study, there exist thousands of studies demonstrating an extraordinary breadth of conditions that cannabis can relieve or heal. The list includes the ability to:
- reverse the aging processes in the brain by increasing learning capacity and memory performance;
- kill cancer cells and further inhibit metastasis and tumor growth;
- moderate autoimmune disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease, relieve symptoms of Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes and ALS;
- lower pain levels associated with a very long list of conditions and either replace the need for opioids or reduce the amount of opioids needed to control pain;
- control seizures of epilepsy;
- reduce blood pressure;
- lower anxiety and treat depression.
Cannabis can help treat conditions that disproportionately affect women:
- relieving menstrual cramps,
- lessen hot flashes,
- reduce symptoms of fibromyalgia,
- control migraines
- protect against age-related bone-loss (osteoporosis).
Diseases as diverse as Crohn’s, asthma, Tourette’s Syndrome and Pulmonary fibrosis - have all been shown to benefit from supplementing with cannabinoids from the plant. And cannabis is able to suppress cytokine production (the hyperinflammation that can kill us when viruses attack the lungs). This is a relatively short list of the benefits of cannabis and yet it’s almost too good to be true. [1] See also All Our Plant Partners & the Benefits to You
How is it possible for one plant to do so much?
We Humans have a Special Relationship with Cannabis
All plants are here to help us, but we are in a more intimate relationship with cannabis. We both have endocannabinoid systems which produce cannabinoids. In our bodies the cannabinoids are called endocannabinoids. In the plant they’re called phytocannabinoids. The two most well-known phytocannabinoids are THC and CBD.
The cannabinoids work as messengers inside our body, providing instructions as to what it needs to regulate for us to stay healthy or to restore a healthy balance. To receive these cannabinoid messengers, whether created by our bodies or by the plant, we have an abundance of cannabinoid receptors, located everywhere throughout our bodies. This is why this plant works so well for us: our bodies are pre-programmed to receive cannabis’s benefits.
Although the existence of the Endocannabinoid System was first discovered in 1992, scientists estimate that this system evolved over 600 million years ago. We evolved with this plant. We are in an intimate and vital relationship with this plant. The Endocannabinoid System is one of, if not the most, important systems in our body.
Unlike our Nervous system or our Cardiovascular system, which are isolated systems, our Endocannabinoid System (ECS) is a master system which regulates all other systems in our body.
The main function of the ECS is to maintain bodily homeostasis, essential for sustaining life. This is our body’s natural balancing system and it regulates a large array of physiological functions, including pain, memory, inflammation, mood, appetite, stress, sleep, metabolism and immune function. Our endocannabinoid system controls diabetes, cancer, your body’s ability to survive a stroke or heart attack, glaucoma, epilepsy, dementia, and on and on. [2]
As we Age we the Production of Cannabinoids in our Body Declines, as does our health: A Daily Dose of the Plant’s Cannabinoids can Restore our Endocannabinoid Levels
On a regular basis our ECS sends cannabinoid messengers to the cannabinoid receptors, with instructions on how to deal with whatever needs attention: for eg. the ECS detects errant cells and directs the cannabinoids to eliminate those cells before they turn into cancer. But sometimes our bodies fall down on the job. We get stressed, depressed, anxious and our body’s ECS can’t keep up. That’s where the plant’s cannabinoids come in to supplement our body’s cannabinoids.
It is well known that most diseases of aging are inflammatory in origin, thus making the cannabis plant’s potent anti-inflammatory cannabinoids the best anti-aging supplement we can take to avoid arthritis, dementia, hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis and cancer.
In one study,[3] scientists found that a daily dose of cannabis with THC reversed the aging process in the brains of mice, dramatically increasing their brain performance up to the same level as the younger mice. Researchers explained how with age we lose cannabinoids and that loss causes rapid aging in the brain. One of the researchers suggested we should all be taking a daily dose of cannabis, indicating it was at least as important as our daily dose of vitamin C or any other vitamin one relies on regularly.
Another cannabinoid scientist, who is also a retired cardiac surgeon, said that the discovery of the Endocannabinoid system is the single most important medical/scientific discovery of our lifetimes and that:
“More people will be saved by manipulation of the Endocannabinoid system than are currently saved by surgery.” - Former Cardiac Surgeon Dr. David Allen
Western medicine has never seen a substance like this and we’re only just beginning to discover the remarkable benefits this plant holds for human beings.
[1] https://norml.org/marijuana/library/recent-medical-marijuana-research/ This report seeks to provide this guidance by highlighting hundreds of relevant, recently published scientific research (2000-2021) on the therapeutic potential of cannabis and cannabinoids for a variety of indications. This summary of the available peer-reviewed research is among the most comprehensive reviews available in the modern literature and is the result of hundreds of hours of research and writing.
In some of these cases, modern science is now affirming longtime anecdotal reports of medical cannabis users (e.g., the use of cannabis to alleviate GI disorders). In other cases, this research is highlighting entirely new potential clinical utilities for cannabinoids (e.g., the use of cannabinoids to modify the progression of diabetes).
And see, 20 Medical Benefits of Marijuana You Probably Never Knew,
[2] The Endocannabinoid System, Our Universal Regulator, https://www.jyi.org/2018-june/2018/6/1/the-endocannabinoid-system-our-universal-regulator
[3]A chronic low dose of Δ 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) restores cognitive function in old mice , https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28481360/
Cannabis reverses aging processes in the brain, study suggests, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170508112400.htm
