80’s pop quiz ~ can you name perhaps the most important physiological function in our entire body, discovered circa 1988?
If you answered “endocannabinoid system”, you aleady know the first secret of Rockstar RollOn: our blends help nurture & balance your endocannabinoid system to help you look & feel better.
If you didn’t answer, well here’s a quick description that I couldn’t have said better myself.
“Cannabinoid” comes from “cannabis,” and “endo” is short for “endogenous,” which means that it is produced naturally inside of your body. So “endocannabinoid” simply means cannabis-like substances that naturally occur inside us.
If it sounds like weed, that’s because the observed beneficial effects of cannabis use over time finally led researchers to research why cannabis works on the human body the way it does.
What they found is an an extraordinarily important physiological system comprised of neurotransmitters that bind to cannabis-like proteins produced naturally in our bodies. Not just in our brains – everywhere!
Collectively speaking, the main job of the endocannabinoid system is to maintain homeostasis, or balance, within our body. Overheated and need to cool down? Your endocannabinoids helps trigger the sweat that gets you back toward normal. Overtired and need to sleep? Endocannabinoids shut your system down. How about your appetite? Endocannabinoids are most insistent when your body needs to eat.
Is your digestion off? How about your mood? Or your ability to feel pleasure? Do we dare talk hormonal balance? How about your pain threshold? or your body’s ability to regulate inflammation? We produce endocannabinoids to help keep all of these functions and more, performing optimally.
CB1 Receptors
So far scientists have identified at least two types of cannabinoid receptors within our body. First are CB1 receptors in our central nervous system, think brain and spinal cord.
Fun fact: our bodies naturally produce anandamide, a neurotransmitter known as the “bliss molecule” (named after the sanskrit word for bliss) which attaches to our CB1 receptors to keep us “blissed out”. The cannabinoid known as “THC” also attaches to our CB1 receptors, hence the blissed out effects of being “high’ or “stoned”.
CB2 Receptors
CB2 receptors are G protein coupled receptors located mostly in the immune system and the digestive system. And here is the really good news about introducing CBD: activated CB2 receptors provide analgesic effects in the peripheral nervous system. In other words, they help get rid of pain!
Great studies are being done on cannabinoids and bowel diseases as endocannbinoids help regulate the immune response in our gut. As a colon cancer survivior, I think this is amazing research with amazing potential to help people.
Enzymes
The final piece of the endocannabinoid system are the enzymes our bodies naturally produce to break down the endocannabinoids when their job is done. Think of it this way: when we we are having an inflammatory response, or our hormones are out of whack, or we are super sad, endocannabinoids will be rushed to the scene and temporarily “flood the zone” to balance us out. Once the job is done, these enzymes come to clean up, to make sure we don’t tip the balance in opposite direction. So if we introduce additional cannabinoids to our bodies to support apparent deficiencies, our endocannabinoid systems appear to have a plan for that, too.
Homeostasis.
Balance.
When I first started formulating Rockstar RollOn, I wasn’t thinking of homeostasis. But in retrospect, that pretty much sums it all up: empowering our body’s own natural ability to maintain balance with the gifts of nature’s own botanical magic.