The ECS is a natural part of our bodies, and is crucial for maintaining homeostasis. Basically, homeostasis is your body’s efforts to keep your internal environment stable and running optimally, regardless of what’s going on in the environment around you. When something is operating outside of the right range, your body activates the ECS to help correct it. For example, when you’re hot and you begin to sweat, that is your ECS working to cool you down.
It is a part of the largest neurotransmitter system in the body, regulating many bodily processes through specific receptors, called CB1 & CB2 receptors which are located throughout the entire body. These receptors have been shown to have influence over pain, inflammation, anxiety, mood, motor control, digestion, appetite, blood pressure, and much more. These receptors are activated by compounds that our body produces called endogenous cannabinoids (anandamide & 2-AG). Other compounds, such as those produced by the cannabis plant (CBD, THC, CBN, and others) also have influence over these receptors in various ways.