The endocannabinoid system: what is it?

Your body is a lot like a symphony—or the chorus of a Mumford & Sons song. It likes to be in harmony. This inner harmony is called “homeostasis,” and the master conductor that keeps everything balanced is your endocannabinoid system. The endo-what? The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a bona fide body system right up there with the digestive, cardiovascular and reproductive systems. “The ECS is an immensely important physiological system that orchestrates much of the communication within and between organs to help maintain health, well-being and balance,” says Carl Germano, RD, CNS, author of Road to Ananda: Simple Guide to the Endocannabinoid System, Hemp Phytocannabinoids/CBD and Your Health . While “regulator of internal balance” sounds nice, the ECS has practical downstream effects on things that are much more concrete. “The ECS governs neurotransmission involved in the regulation of mood, memory, reward, appetite, anxiety, stress and more,” says Germano. And that’s just the beginning—Germano says the ECS also plays a key role in everything from pain signaling to bone building. Yet the ECS was discovered only in 1992. It took so long to find because this new system’s framework is tiny. It’s seen only microscopically on cell membranes—the skin of cells. Here there are receptors, which act as keyholes. Potential keys can be anything from nutrients to viruses. When keys fit into keyholes, the door to the cell is opened and things happen. “Receptors are waiting for a message from outside the cell,” says Alex Capano, DNP, a faculty member and senior fellow at the Lambert Center for the Study of Medicinal Cannabis and Hemp at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. “Then they translate and communicate that message to inside the cell, [which] then influences activity.” Unlocking the system The ECS is a sprawling network of specific receptors on cells […]

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