What is the endocannabinoid system? Often referred to as the ECS, the endocannabinoid system is a regulatory system that helps your entire body — including your skin — maintain homeostasis.

While only discovered in the 1990s, scientists estimate that the ECS evolved in primitive animals more than 600 million years ago. So even if you didn’t learn about it in school, the ECS is actually an ancient part of how our bodies work, and fundamental to our other systems, including the nervous, respiratory, reproductive and digestive systems.

The ECS is a complex network that regulates many of our most basic functions, including mood, memory, appetite, pain, reproduction, and yes, our skin. 

Cannabinoids are naturally-occurring compounds found in the flowering tops of the Cannabis sativa plant, as well as in the human body. Plants make phytocannabinoids and our bodies make endocannabinoids (see below).

Cannabis and hemp are different common names for the same plant, Cannabis sativa, and both are loaded with different types of cannabinoids. The key difference is that hemp has lower-to-nonexistent levels of THC.

Whether made by the plant or the body, cannabinoids regulate how cells communicate — how they send, receive or process messages. Through this regulation, different cannabinoids produce different effects in the body, from easing pain and inflammation, controlling seizures, releasing the “feel good” chemical dopamine, to balancing the sebum glands in our skin so it’s not too oily and not too dry.

Terpenes and flavonoids are organic compounds that give the scent, flavor and pigmentation to almost every flower, herb and fruit on earth (not just cannabis). Cannabinoids, flavonoids and terpenes all have beneficial antioxidant, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties, and they work even better together. This is called the ‘entourage effect‘ or ‘ensemble effect’ and why we prefer to use as much of the plant in our formulations as possible, which is what ‘whole plant’ and ‘full-spectrum’ mean. 

CBG

You often hear CBG referred to as “the mother cannabinoid” because it’s a building block for the most abundant cannabinoids.

In July 2021, the science journal Fitoterapia proved that cannabigerol (CBG) is the most powerful antioxidant of all the cannabinoids and vitamins studied. Other studies conclude that CBG increases sebaceous lipid synthesis, which means it keeps your skin supple and hydrated. CBG also has such strong antibacterial benefits that it has even been studied to stand up to MRSA.   

We use hemp CBG from Sonoma Hills Farm and other small farms in our Quench Moisturizer.

How does the endocannabinoid system work?

The ECS is a vast network of densely packed cellular receptors and chemical signals throughout our brains and bodies, including our skin. As Dr. Peter Grinspoon explains in Harvard Medical School’s Harvard Health Publishing, the “cannabinoid” receptors in the brain, called CB1 receptors, outnumber other types of receptors in the brain and “act like traffic cops to control the levels and activity of most of the other neurotransmitters. This is how they regulate things: by immediate feedback, turning up or down the activity of whichever system needs to be adjusted, whether that is hunger, temperature, or alertness.” In skin, that translates to regulating things like  dryness, oiliness, inflammation, pain, itch, acne and oxidation.

“Study of the endocannabinoid system was initially focused on attempts to understand (and demonize) an illegal drug, but new research has since flourished into a far more broad-based exploration into what is an astoundingly intricate and far-reaching system by which our bodies learn, feel, motivate, and keep themselves in balance. We are truly at the dawn of an age of discovery of the ECS.”

Peter Grinspoon, MD, Harvard Medical School Health Publishing 

Our bodies make endocannabinoids

The human body makes endocannabinoids. That’s right. We all have tiny cannabis-like molecules floating around in our brains and bodies. There’s some in mothers’ milk, and it’s what researchers think is behind runner’s high. The cannabinoids our body creates regulate pretty much everything from head to toe. 

This regulating works when these endocannabinoids stimulate the receptors throughout the ECS. 

Plants make phytocannabinoids 

Why did scientists name them endocannabinoids and how are they related to the cannabis plant? At the time of the discovery, scientists were studying the cannabis plant. They discovered that the phytocannabinoids were nearly identical to molecules in the human body!

The cannabis plant, which humans have been using for about 5,000 years, essentially works by taking over this ancient cellular machinery within our bodies.

Cannabinoids from plants, like CBD and THC, as well as the many lesser known cannabinoids like CBG and CBN, can help to balance the ECS. It does this by increasing its ability to regulate these systems and keep them in homeostasis. The endocannabinoid system maintains balance in your body. By feeding it plant-based cannabinoids, you can keep your body running optimally. 

Did you know that the first endocannabinoid discovered was named anandamide – named after the Sanskrit word ananda for bliss? Now you know.  

There are cannabinoid receptors all over your skin, and in every layer of it, including the surface of the skin (epidermis), oil glands (sebaceous glands), hair follicles, nerves, immune cells, and subcutaneous fat. This is why, research shows that cannabis/ CBD and other cannabinoids in cannabis, including CBG and THC, can aid in the healing of at least these common skin issues:

1. Too dry
2. Too oily
3. Acne and acne scars
4. Inflammation, itchiness and redness (including psoriasis and eczema)
5. Oxidative stress (the main cause of premature aging)
6. Environmental and sun damage

While research is still in early stages and clinical studies need to be done to confirm the benefits of cannabis for the skin, science already explains how your skin’s ECS influences and balances every layer, cell, and component of the skin. And as more research is conducted now that cannabis is no longer illegal in most states, proof of additional skin benefits will continue to surface.

How can it help with all of this?

Since the plant evolved into mimicking our bodies inner workings, cannabis effects can be felt all over, from your gut to your skin. It’s not just about the high; cannabinoids have immense healing powers. So think of it as your vitamin for everything — body and soul.