CANNABIS CULTURE – Cannabis and mental health are closely connected, with this healing herb supporting good health across multiple facets of the mind, brain & body. As a mild psychedelic, marijuana promotes feelings of well-being but the wellness benefits do not stop there. Here we’ll be taking you through a look at how cannabis can help mental health, highlighting not only the medicinal effects of the active ingredients of medical marijuana but also showing you how clearing your mind with marijuana will ease depression, help you focus, and open up a whole new world of vigor & vitality.

How Cannabis Heals the Brain & Body?

Across the 483 or more active ingredients of medical marijuana, there are countless benefits for the brain & body as a whole, while supporting your emotional well-being as well. Cannabinoid makes up 40% of all marijuana plant extracts, making both smoked herb & oil extracts powerful phytocannabinoid supplements. Phytocannabinoids interact with the endocannabinoid system, acting as powerful antioxidants which protect neurons against degeneration. This makes cannabis a neuroprotective agent which prevents diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Dementia, but more on this soon. Both CBD and THC have profound neuroprotective benefits, with CB1 receptors adding to their protective effect of THC. From preventing liver toxicity to protecting neural networks, cannabis is a healing herb with therapeutic benefits spanning the entire body. Yet, among its most powerful effects is how CB1 and CB2 receptors stimulate emotional & cognitive wellness.

CB1 & CB2 Receptors

The endocannabinoid system mediates body functions including mental faculties, sleep, appetite, reward response, and anxiety. Due it its interaction with the nervous and immune system, cannabinoids show a binding affinity for certain receptors. Molecules from the hundreds of active components within cannabis such as CBD and THC, active cannabinoid receptors termed CB1 and CB2. CB1 & CB2 receptors work on a lock-and-key mechanism, allowing through an influx of endocannabinoids when cannabis is smoked or ingested. Your endocannabinoid system naturally produces endocannabinoids as its main function. Smoking or using marijuana is, therefore, nothing more than a supplement to a natural process which often falls into depression.

CB1 – A Healing High

THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis responsible for feelings of euphoria and altered states of perception used for clearing your mind with cannabis, has the highest binding affinity with CB1 receptors in the brain and body. Supplementing results in pain relief, relief from nausea, and significant alleviation of depression and anxiety. It even lowers inflammation dropping your risk of disease. As CB1 receptors activate, the characteristic yet ever-different high of cannabis is felt. This is due to large concentrations of CB1 being found in the pleasure centers of the brain. Just as we are rewarded by happy feelings when accomplishing something desired, or rewarded in experience, ingested and smoking marijuana makes your neural networks of happiness light up. This opens a constellation of new feelings to be explored granting new perceptions on old thought patterns.

Strands which are particularly high in THC with the right balance of CBD are especially beneficial to working one’s’ emotions. By giving you a new place to evaluate yourself and memories from, one clears anxiety and depression in ways which would not commonly be thought of or even possible from a negative emotional state.

CB2 – Mood & Immunity

The therapeutic benefits of CB2 receptors activating include lowered neuroinflammation, decreased pain, a lowered rate of neuron degeneration, analgesic effects, and even neural interactions which help heal depression & are effective at treating post-traumatic stress disorder. CB2 has neural interactions directly with your serotonin receptors, the neurotransmitters responsible regulating mood and the production of dopamine. CB2 receptors are also in high-concentration in our immune system, making supplementation one of the best ways to fortify our bodies against disease and infections, while at the same time improving our overall organ, body & brain function as well.

One of the most widely beneficial therapeutic benefits to cannabidiol as an anxiolytic is how it helps generalized social anxiety disorder. In a widespread study, a single dose treatment transformed feelings into feebleness into strength, lethargy into energetic enthusiasm, incompetence into confidence and proficiency, and took users from a bored, sad state to interested, happy places. Across the board, discontent and antagonistic behavior showed long-term improvement towards contentment and an amicable nature.

The Effects of a Deficient Endocannabinoid System

Due to the way that the neuroendocrine functions are affected in the hypothalamus, various hormonal systems including stress networks, sex hormones & the thyroid, are all impacted. Many mental and perceptual changes are potentiated by a deficient endocannabinoid system. Here’s a look at some symptoms of deficiency, showing that you may benefit from cannabis or CBD extracts:

Insomnia

Low sex drive

Chronic fatigue

Consistent low motivation

Disinterest in food with poor appetite

Concentration issues & difficulty focusing (brain fog)

Cannabis – Promoting Total Wellness

Whether you’re smoking, vaping, applying a tincture or taking CBD oil extracts, cannabis has a range of different methods of supplementing with this healing herb. Different strains each provide different effects and different benefits. The best online dispensary selections of cannabis will give you notes on what to expect from your high, and what physical benefits are strongest. Regular supplementation with CBD even prevents our own endogenous cannabinoids and anandamide from degrading, improving our long-term mental health. The decreased rate of decline has even been continued to improved vision as we age. Individually, CBD-only extracts cannabis have potent benefits for the mind. Together, the synergy between cannabinoids, terpenoids, and THC will assist symptoms of addiction, anxiety, depression, inflammation, epilepsy, cancer, infections of all types, pain and raise your quality of life. The health of the endocannabinoid system is one of the most important indicators of your total well-being.