CBD Biology & Effects

Cannabidiol’s Beneficial Effects in the Human Body

CBD is an isomer of the more well-known THC, which means it has the same number of atoms in its molecule, but a very slight difference in the way those carbon, oxygen and hydrogen atoms are arranged. The resultant effects in the human body are vastly different, though these chemistries still target the same receptors, called the Endocannabinoid Receptor System (ECS). CBD for example has none of the psychoactive effects THC has, and is not a controlled substance as such. CBD is extremely well tolerated, even at doses tens of times the upper limits of THC which has negative effects given its potent psychotropic activity and negative influence on cognitive performance. CBD alternatively is extremely safe and customers integrating CBD into their own personal care regimens regularly find great benefits in improving a variety of human diseases and maladies.

CBD achieves these results by targeting ECS receptors that are present on a vast variety of cell types, not just in our nervous system. This enables CBD and its family to modulate ECS signaling in many different physiological processes that begin to malfunction as we age.

Hundreds of researchers work every day to describe the effects CBD has on the human state, and peer-reviewed papers are published on a daily basis.  

One of the described pathways of ECS interaction with NMDA receptors involves CB1 and NMDA, when CB1 is bound to cannabinoids, it can complex with NMDA and reduces its activity. As NMDA is the ion channel which when activated enables ion flux through neural membranes and signal transductions, its implications in pain transmission are obvious. Downregulating NMDA activity is also neuroprotective, as hyperexicitation is known to lead to cell death.

Integration of CBD with topical magnesium supplementation creates a dual effect product which targets NMDA hyperactivity via two different mechanisms, potentially compounding overall benefits.

CBD has many other targets beyond the ECS involved in modulating immune response and inflammation, cellular protection from ischemic injury, neurogenesis and neuroprotection.

Cannabinoids have been studied and found to have clinical effects in a variety of diseases including:

Despite CBD’s vast utility in the human body, a major reason native CBD has not been further developed by the pharma industry in the classical mode for FDA-approved treatment of clinical disease is because it’s open source and there is no way to protect it with intellectual property. Pharmaceutical companies therefore have no incentive to pursue multi-million dollar clinical trials if they cannot dominate the market with proprietary chemistry.

Thankfully this does not restrain academic research into mechanisms of CBD action, and the increasing tacit knowledge of its utility in the marketplace supports its real value in treating maladies modern medicine struggles to resolve, including chronic pain.  

CBD’s half-life has been shown to be 9 hours, which provides some guidance on optimal dosing.

An excellent review on neurological effects of phytocannabinoids, which details more specific research on beneficial activities, animal models and biochemistry.