Cannabis and your brain: Here’s why you can boost your mood with weed

Approximately 40 million adults are directly impacted by anxiety. Therefore, it makes complete sense that Big Pharma has developed numerous drugs to treat anxiety from Prozac to Xanax to Valium. However, many of us are wary of the potential and common undesirable side-effects like nausea, drowsiness, dizziness, and headaches as well as addictive qualities.

While there are plenty of options available to manage unease and assist in putting you at ease, cannabis is a natural solution that when used consciously, might allow us to forgo the need for pharmaceuticals altogether. What’s more exciting is that this plant is increasingly backed by science. We’ve compiled a few of the ways our brain actually interacts with cannabis to boost your mood.

It all starts with the ECS

The cannabis plant creates and houses a multitude of cannabinoids that work as a “lock and key” with our body’s Endocannabinoid System (ECS), a vast network of chemical compounds and receptors. When activated, the ECS regulates a multitude of functions via the nervous system and our brain.

Cannabis can lower our stress levels

Our nervous system has two sides, the sympathetic (SNS) and parasympathetic (PNS). The SNS is responsible for the fight or flight response and kicks us into action. The PNS allows us to slow down, rest, and restore when our body is no longer on alert.

When we’re stressed, our SNS is in overdrive and overshadows our PNS. We don’t get to properly shut off and rest. According to HiVi’s medical advisor, Dr. June Chin, cannabis is a natural supplement that helps bolster our parasympathetic side with GABA, neurotransmitters that calm us down.

Cannabis mirrors and boosts our anandamide functions

Anandamide was initially discovered in Israel in 1992 by scientists researching THC’s effects on the brain. In the laboratory of Raphael Mechoulam, the godfather of cannabis research, it was theorized that if our brains have receptors that can be affected by THC, then our bodies must produce similar chemicals of their own.

And, indeed it does. Our ECS creates anandamide to maintain homeostasis throughout our body. The molecular shape of anandamide is very similar to THC’s and when consumed, and both bind with CB1 receptors and influence the body and brain. Increased levels of anandamide in our body can ease depression, improve mood, and reverse stress-induced anxiety. Furthermore, low levels of anandamide can negatively correlate with stress, anxiety, and fear response.

While CBD does not directly bind with CB1 receptors, it increases anandamide’s action in the endocannabinoid system and may help brain cells transmit more serotonin signals, helping you to feel uplifted and inspired.

Cannabis decreases pain and inflammation

When your body physically feels less pain, you feel better as a result. Most people actually aren’t aware that inflammation affects almost every aspect of your health: arthritis, celiac disease, cancer, asthma, fibromyalgia, heart disease, diabetes, thyroid problems, and ADD just to name a few. While there are over 110 known cannabinoids, THC and CBD are the two most studied and have been found to provide immune modulation and anti-inflammatory properties by, again, interacting with our ECS to change how our body regulates pain by energizing our body’s self-repair system. CBD actually supports the concentration of endogenous cannabinoids which calms inflammation and gives the body the ability to self-heal and ward off disease and our nerves and tissues time to recover. In 2017, a research study published in the Journal of Pain Research established an association between vaporized cannabis and reduced neuropathic pain.

Furthermore, one of the common problems with treating pain is the tendency to develop tolerance to narcotics. A tolerance can require changing dosages or medications to achieve the desired results. In many cases, regular opioid use for pain relief can result in dependence or addiction, but promising research is emerging that points out the potential of using cannabis to help treat opioid addiction.

Remember: Not all cannabis is created equal.

Cannabis is a complex plant, created to treat a multitude of needs and ailments. Understanding your product or strain’s cannabinoid and terpene formulations will help you make an educated decision on whether or not it’s right for you. For anxiety and mood specifically, the following cannabinoids and terpenes have been studied and shown to help: THCV, CBD, THC, beta-caryophyllene, limonene, and terpineol.

Never compromise on quality. If you are selecting products beyond our curation of high-quality products, remember that product should be clean, compliant, and come with a COA (which you now know how to read through a pro lens).