09/08/2026
🌱 The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a signaling system found throughout the body that helps regulate multiple physiologic processes & contributes to homeostasis—your body's ongoing effort to maintain internal balance.
🌿Your body produces its own signaling molecules called endocannabinoids, including anandamide (AEA) & 2-AG. These interact with cannabinoid receptors—including CB1 & CB2—& are then synthesized or broken down by enzymes as needed.
👉So why are we talking about this during our series on stress? Because the ECS interacts directly with the body's stress-response circuitry. Research suggests endocannabinoid signaling participates in both the activation & recovery phases of the HPA-axis response to stress. In other words, this isn't simply a “C*D system.” It's one of the body's own regulatory systems.
🌿And that's where our conversation about C*D actually begins. Not with cannabis. With human physiology. 🧠🌱
💚 Simply You Integrative Health | Restore • Nourish • Heal
1. Morena M, Patel S, Bains JS, Hill MN. Neurobiological Interactions Between Stress and the Endocannabinoid System. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2016 Jan;41(1):80-102. doi: 10.1038/npp.2015.166. Epub 2015 Jun 12. PMID: 26068727; PMCID: PMC4677118.
2. Hill MN, Patel S, Campolongo P, Tasker JG, Wotjak CT, Bains JS. Functional interactions between stress and the endocannabinoid system: from synaptic signaling to behavioral output. J Neurosci. 2010 Nov 10;30(45):14980-6. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4283-10.2010. PMID: 21068301; PMCID: PMC3073528.
