CBD Research - How CBD Works
HOW DOES WORK FOR MITOCHONDRIA
If you keep up on health advances these days, a word continues to become more popular.
Mitochondria.
Barring high school science classes, most people might draw a blank stare.
Don't stare for too long...
Mitochondria may be nothing short of the root of all aging!
Longevity.
That will get your attention back in focus.
We're quickly approaching the point where each year of life will turn back the clock by 2.
There are huge advances in understanding the underpinning of aging and it's related ailments.
Some key factors that show promise:
- Addressing the effects of falling hormones
- Genetic pathways of aging
- Senolytics and removing zombie cells
- Mitochondrial health and numbers
The latter two are the most exciting.
Let's look at mitochondria specifically.
Check out Mitochondria and the Future of Health by Lee Know when you get a chance.
It's a fascinating look at what is coming in this field.
Interestingly, research is showing CBD has a direct effect on mitochondrial function.
It's a stop-gap till we get new technologies but let's start reversing the clock now!!
Even if only the minute hand.
You can jump to the CBD comparison page by price comparison here:
Otherwise, let's get into it here:
- Quick introduction to mitochondria
- The endocannabinoid system and mitochondria
- Research on CBD and mitochondria
- Best CBD for mitochondrial support
- How much CBD to take for mitochondrial health
Let's get started. The clock is ticking!
Quick Introduction To Mitochondria
So... it's a big word and not one in our everyday conversations.
Yet!!
Mitochondria are the little power plants in our cells.
They're actually ancient bacteria that some distant ancestors took hostage about 1.5 billion years ago.
Mitochondria even have their own, separate DNA!
They provide almost all the energy for everything we do.
Human cells usually have 1000-2000 mitochondria per cell with more energy intensive cells demanding more.
Liver and heart cells are some of the most crowded!
There are diseases directly tied to mitochondria dysfunction and many of our most common diseases may be impacted by reduced function in mitochondria as we age.
Mitochondria are very popular right now in research on longevity.
New research is fascinating.
A recent study with mice show the power of mitochondria.
Mice were genetically modified to have reduced mitochondrial activity when given a specific antibiotic.
The target group started to age very quickly with all the tell-tale sizes for mice.
Wrinkles. Hair loss. Low energy. Health issues.
They reversed the process and the aging effects went away!
Aging is thought to only have one direction!
Onward and Upward!
This experiment showed that aging may just be a function of reduced mitochondrial activity.
You can read more here:
A recent study found that constant exercise can reduce the body's genetic and tissue age by 30 years at age 70.
This means that a person at age 70 who exercised throughout middle age had the profile of a 40 year old.
The association with exercise and longevity is curious since every time you exercise, a tremendous amount of inflammation is created.
Most of this is result of energy creation from the very same mitochondria needed to drive muscles.
Why would constant inflammation and caustic waste material make your live longer and better??
Turns out that energy needs drive mitochondrial production.
In fact, they can quickly grow in numbers if there's a need for energy.
They have a simple ring of DNA to aid in this replication.
Finally, there are very specific pathways in the body designed to detect when we have faulty cells.
This is usually as a result of broken mitochondria not providing enough energy to do cellular housekeeping.
MTOR and AMPK are such pathways and the process of getting rid of bad cells is called senescence.
Another hot topic in aging, longevity, and many health issues (cancer as an example).
Look...if you take away one word from this article, it's senescence.
Everyday now, there's a new study on how this may be the key to reversing age and its diseases!
Okay...we set the table on THE exciting new front on aging.
Let's see where the endocannabinoid system fits into the picture.
The Endocannabinoid System And Mitochondria
We have a master system of sorts that helps to balance other key systems in the body.
We share this system with most multicellular organisms (insects missed the cut) going back about 600 million years!
It has receptors across the body and brain but research is showing a strong influence on three key systems:
- Endocrine system (hormones)
- Nervous system (neurotransmitters)
- Immune system (inflammation, immune response, and repair)
Here's a quick visual of the system:
Mitochondria are everywhere (except red blood cells) so the first question is simple... does the endocannabinoid system affect mitochondria?
Yes!
There are CB receptors right on the surface of mitochondria themselves!
These lines of evidence highlight the direct association between mitochondrial CB1R and proper functioning of mitochondria, which has been suggested to participate in many pathological conditions
CB receptors are the way that our own body's natural endocannabinoids and also outside cannabinoids (from the cannabis plant) can influence systems in the body.
Let's look at the mechanisms behind endocannabinoids' system on mitochondrial function.
First, a little preface on how mitochondria work (without too much nonsense).
Mitochondria basically create our energy.
Energy creation anywhere is a very messy process.
Think of oil refining. Nuclear energy.
There's always waste.
Usually it's toxic.
No difference with the mitochondria.
The waste of our mitochondria are called ROS or Reactive Oxygen Species.
Scientists love their sci-fi names.
Basically, it's a supercharged form of oxygen that can wreak havoc in the body.
Oxygen is nature's scissors.
That's why we wash with water.
The oxygen rips apart other substances (dirt, oil, etc).
With enough time, it will whittle down mountains, shores, and your house's roof.
In the body, oxygen is a "waste" product for all that energy mitochondria is producing.
Enough of this damage to the surrounding cell and DNA (both ours and the mitochondria's) and it's time to either repair or replace either.
The body has a whole process for this.
- Autophagy – replace parts in the cells
- Apoptosis – scraps the cell or mitochondria completely
This process is very important to the body's healthy functioning.
As we mentioned before... bad cells can spoil the party for surrounding tissue.
The endocannabinoid is directly involved in this "balancing act" of cellular growth and death.
Two specific examples from research focused on cellular balancing in the immune system and the brain.
The immune system because many auto-immune diseases are characterized by an overabundance of cellular activity in the immune system (psoriasis, etc).
The brain is obviously important for another reason... cell death in key parts of the brain (dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, etc).
The endocannabinoid system was found to balance energy metabolism (translated as mitochondria) directly in the brain:
mtCB(1) receptors directly modulate neuronal energy metabolism, revealing a new mechanism of action of G protein-coupled receptor signaling in the brain.
"Mt" means mitochondria. So...endocannabinoid receptors on the mitochondria regulates neuron energy function!
As for the immune system...
cannabinoid-induced apoptosis in immune cells as a pathway to immunosuppression
Basically, this study shows how immune response can be tied to our cannabinoid system.
This is huge since most of our modern diseases are autoimmune by nature.
Check out CBD and autoimmune here.
As we mentioned above, nature tends to conserve things that work.
Since the endocannabinoid system spans the body, its influence on cellular housekeeping will likely show up everywhere with more research.
This goes back out our original introduction to senescence.
It may be THE key to aging in our bodies.
That's a top down look at endocannabinoids and mitochondria.
Big picture stuff.
Let's dig down deeper.
Interestingly, cannabinoids are lipids...a discrete chunk of fat that's very useful to the body.
The membrane of the mitochondria is also lipid-based.
It was found that cannabinoids can absorb into the outer wall of the mitochondria and allow calcium to flow more easily.
Under periods of stress, calcium can build up and affect the mitochondria's ability to remove waste and/or create energy.
Both bad things for our bodies!
CBD was directly implicated in helping this process so we'll save that for below.
Finally, what about those ROS... little Tasmanian devils (the cartoon...not the animal) made up of oxygen?
Turns out that cannabinoids are very powerful antioxidants.
Just for the record, ROS is the "oxidant" in that sentence.
Oxi = Oxygen!
And it all comes from your mitochondria as it makes energy.
So the endocannabinoid system is all over mitochondrial function.
What about CBD? Can we improve what we've got??
Research On CBD And Mitochondria
This is exciting.
We have this system running through the body which is intimately tied to balancing:
- Cellular repair, death, and growth
- Removing waste products from mitochondrial "respiration"
- Maintaining balance in mitochondria via calcium channels
Can we boost these with CBD?
That's really the question.
Let's look at research!
Remember the apoptosis or removal of overabundant cells in the immune system (such as when they're attacking our own body!!)??
They demonstrated that CBD induced apoptosis in CD4+ and CD8+ T cell populations in a time- and dose-dependent manner.
Here's where things get interesting.
CBD can have different results depending on the state of the endocannabinoid system.
It can block, reduce, or increase cell death as needed!
Very strange.
Usually, substances are dose-dependent.
This means that if you have an effect at one dose, you should have a larger effect at a higher dose.
CBD doesn't behave this way and the cellular repair/death cycle is a great example.
Take cancer for example.
CBD has been shown to have an antitumor effect.
It actually increases ROS in cancer cells which causes them to die!
It doesn't do this to the surrounding healthy cells.
- In times of increased cellular stress, it can reduce ROS or allow damaged cells/mitochondria to be repaired or destroyed.
- In times of lower stress, it does not continue to remove ROS since some cellular oxidation is important for functioning.
That's an elegant example of the beauty of this system.
The endocannabinoid system is about balance!
Interestingly, CBD has been found to be a more powerful anti-oxidant than the much-touted Vitamin A and E!
This is especially important in our most energy-dependent organ...the brain!
Cannabidiol Blocks NMDAr and AMPA and Kainate Receptor-Mediated Neurotoxicity.
Just to show that CBD doesn't just remove bad cells, research is showing it spurs neuronal growth in the hippocampus!
These findings identify the central role of the cannabinoid system in adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus and the lateral ventricles and hence provide insight into the processes underlying post-developmental neurogenesis in the mammalian brain.
It was once thought that adults couldn't grow new neurons.
As for the hippocampus...that's just the seat of learning and memory!
There are huge implications for aging and many age-related brain diseases.
Simply put from the research...
CBD induced a substantial increase in net neurogenesis by a CB1 receptor-dependent mechanism
That might be the single most important thing you'll read in the 1000's of pages on our site.
It's the root of brain plasticity.
The ability to change and grow with life.
Finally, a smoking (mitochondrial) gun that was studied for Parkinson's:
Both acute and chronic injection of CBD increased the activity of the mitochondrial complexes (I, II, II-III, and IV) and CK in the rat brain.
and
CBD seems to protect neurons from death by enhancing the recycle of old/damaged cell components via facilitations of autophagic action.
Game. Set. Match!
So... we looked at how CBD:
- Helps the mitochondria react to stress
- Regulates mitochondrial function
- Helps to manage mitochondria and cellular repair/replacement systems
What's the best CBD to boost our internal systems?
Best CBD For Mitochondrial Support
Mitochondria respond to stress.
Environmental and internal stresses.
For this reason, we want really clean CBD and we want to avoid histamine issues.
CBD Isolate is the cleanest way to get CBD into the system.
Most major brands "push" full-spectrum CBD which can have up to .3% THC and also a great deal of other plant material.
40% of the population (and growing) have issues with allergies and histamines.
The number is closer to 60% for women and it increases as we get older due to hormone changes.
Full-spectrum is more likely to trigger a histamine response and histamine IS inflammation in the body and brain.
If you have ever had allergies, you don't need us to explain how it's a stressor in the body and central nervous system.
It can feel like anxiety or a panic attack.
For this reason, CBD isolate oil is preferred to avoid potential reactions.
CBD oil is the primary way to get CBD into the body.
Check out the CBD Isolates at our comparison page by cost here.
Also, look at these options to improve mitochondrial support:
- Exercise – shown to double the number of mitochondria
- Cold exposure
- Synolytics like quercetin
How Much CBD To Take For Mitochondrial Health
There are some basic guidelines for CBD dosage across many different issues.
Mitochondrial support is quite different unless you have an illness specifically tied to mitochondrial dysfunction.
We can only give general guidelines here.
The basic wellness dosage is typically 25-30 mg twice a day.
Make sure to take after food and away from medications.
For more discreet issues, research typically tested between 300-600 mg.
Doses up to 1500 mg were given with a strong safety profile.
Again...everyone's system is different.
Test and see how you feel.
Let us know your results and what worked for you!
It's time to power back up our cells!
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