Southwest Florida's Health and Wellness Magazine Health and Wellness Articles
By Hans Doherty – Growing in Health Florida
Cannabis has been used as medicine for thousands of years. Samples of the plant have been discovered in the ancient tombs of the Egyptian pharos. It is believed the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung was the first to describe its therapeutic affects in 2737B.C.E. It was uses to relieve the symptoms of malaria, pain during childbirth, and rheumatoid problems, even constipation.
Today, there is a much clearer understanding of how cannabis works in conjunction with our bodies endocannabinoid system or (ECS). When you think endo, that means internal. When you think of cannabinoids, we are referring to THC, CBD, CBG, CBN, and many others. The ECS assists our own ability to obtain and maintain homeostasis or balance.
Pain, stress, diet, sleep, and cognitive function are all regulated by this system.
There are a variety of ways to administer cannabis and its various cannabinoids like CBD. For many, topical application often provides INSTANT relief from localized pain. Ingestion, or consuming it orally, works by helping to boost the cannabinoid levels in our own system.
Your body silently speaks to you by sending signals from the brain to various parts of the body. Think of hunger. When it’s time to eat, you can feel it. It’s that simple. That’s the ECS telling the body it needs something. In this case it’s food. If you don’t satisfy that craving the signaling gets stronger and you feel hungrier and hungrier.
You might even feel a little ‘hangry’. That’s when you get a little angry because you haven’t eaten. We know this will lead to death eventually, if you don’t satisfy those signals being sent from the brain to the body.
Sleep is also crucial in regulating how our ECS functions. It allows vital mental, emotional reprograming during periods of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, the deepest and most beneficial to our health. Every moment of every day the ECS is working to eliminate any yellow and red lights. It’s removing the inflammation, its reducing pain, its allowing trauma to slowly fade into the past. This is how our body heals itself.
CBD or Cannabidiol has been given the “green” light by the medical community. Because it doesn’t create any euphoric effects the doctor is more apt to say give it a try. “all of the healing but none of the feeling” is an easy way to think of it.
CBG or Cannabigerol also provides significant relief from common ailments. Known as the mother of cannabinoids, CBG can be converted in the lab to all the other cannabinoids. You will see more and more products with CBG in the ingredients on the market as it’s popularity grows.
Full Spectrum CBD (the one most request) includes a tiny percentage of THC and other cannabinoids too. Not enough THC to get you high, but enough to create the entourage effect. That is when the various cannabis compounds interact synergistically to magnify the therapeutic benefits of a single compound. In other words, the medicinal benefits of the whole plant (including a variety of terpenes) are greater than a single cannabinoid.
There is also Broad Spectrum (no THC) plus other cannabinoids and terpenes, and last is CBD isolate with no other cannabinoids or terpenes.
For more information, please message me at info@growinginhealthflorida.org, come by the store, or give me a call. I’m always happy to answer your questions. The more informed people are about cannabis the more they will seek it out as an alternative to other pharmaceutical drugs. That’s a big step in a more natural direction.
Thank you for reading!
Growing in Health Florida
7211 Vanderbilt Beach Rd., Suite. 3
Naples, FL 34119
239-331-4807
www.growinginhealthflorida.org
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