Circadian endocannabinoids

We have an endocannabinoid system capable of producing the same effects of phytocannabinoids (and more!)

We wouldn’t know about the endocannabiniod system if not for research into the effects of the cannabis plant, but we don’t need the cannabis plant to activate our endocannabiniod system because it’s a central part of our normal healthy physiology.

It’s thanks to research into Cannabis Sativa, the marijuana plant, that we discovered the endocannabinoid system—which are the cannabis receptors and compounds inside our own bodies.

There are interesting links between quantum health and endocannabinoids in the birthing year I am excited to share with you.

Where to start in this story? Surely many people are going to ask—is cannabis use safe in pregnancy? No broad scientific consensus has been made. We see mixed results in the research and there are huge confounding factors including contaminants, concurrent use of other drugs and medications, individual genetic types, and new cannabis strains and cannabis products that were not used in the earlier base of research knowledge we have built our data upon. So you can dig up tons of studies supporting or negating the validity of using cannabis in pregnancy and the general medical atmosphere therefore is one of either negation or caution.

But I think here are bigger, more interesting and universal questions here: why does cannabis use feel so good to so many people? Can we achieve those good feelings without the plant medicine? And how can we safely activate this in pregnancy, birth, postpartum and lactation?

This all becomes more and more interesting the more we discover about the endocannabinoid systems present in our bodies that operate without phytocannabinoids.

Endocannabinoids vs phytocannabinoids in pregnancy

The question of using cannabis—which is collectively referred to as phytocannabinoids when talking about the active compounds—in pregnancy is a lot like the question of using exogenous versions of any of the other things our bodies make, like melatonin, Vitamin D, and progesterone, which are also all used pharmaceutically to support challenged pregnancies.

What is similar about all of these substances is the fact that our bodies make all of these substances (when healthy).

So that’s why we add the prefix “endo”. Endo means internal or within.

Thus, when I get asked about supplementing, I have to wonder: why isn’t the endogenous system working?

What does the endocannabinoid system do in pregnancy and postpartum?

Here’s a quick rundown of the endogenous cannabinoid system:

• We all have endocannabinioid systems

• The endocannabinoid system is routed through the circadian rhythm

• Endocannabinoids interact with circulating oxytocin

• Endogenous production of endocannabinioids relies on us having healthy fats (particularly DHA from seafood) in our cellular membranes

• The endocannabinoid system is activated by acute exercise and sunlight exposure

• Endocannabionid levels rise in early pregnancy, fall through middle pregnancy, rise in the third trimester and then rise rapidly and to a very high level in labor

• Endocannabinoids can turn into substances like prostaglandins called prostamides, and in fact, are so similar that tests for prostaglandins only recently began distinguishing between prostaglandins and prostamides (meaning many of the effects on labor timing associated with prostaglandins may actually be coming from the endocannabinoid system)

• Endocannabinoids present in breastmilk on a circadian rhythm

• Alcohol consumption and excessive chronic exercise reduce the ability to receive cannabinoid signals and it can take several weeks after quitting for the endocannabinoid system to make new receptors and find a healthy equilibrium

And some other endocannabinoid vocabulary that is helpful to know:

• There are 2 main cannabinoid receptors called CB1R and CB2R (researchers are speculating about a third)

• There are 2 endocannabinoids that have had more research than any of the others and they are abbreviated AEA (anandamide, the “bliss” molecule) and 2-AG, but new ones and variations are being discovered all the time

• Cannabinoid: a compound that interacts with cannabinoid receptors

• Endocannabinoid: a cannabinoid made by the body

• Endocannabinoid system: the body’s receptors and the endocannabinoids

• Endocannabinoidome: the receptors, the endocannabinoids, and all the enzymes and other metabolites discovered and yet-to-be-discovered

Stay tuned for more on all of this!

I’m creating a workshop to support the joyful, transformative, and potent activation of the endocannabinoid system through quantum health practices, which directly target this system. Subscribe to be notified so you can learn the science behind everything I described above:

The endocannabinoid system responds to the cannabis plant, but it doesn’t need cannabis to activate.

Questions? Leave a comment below:

You may also be interested in this post, which also describes some lesser-known activities of the endocannabinoid system in the childbirth process: